--- Entering the second half of the season, we were sitting in a good position as the only remaining unbeaten team in the Mountain Division. Unfortunately, our two conference games had come against cross-division opponents, leaving all five Mountain Division opponents remaining on the schedule. The first one up would be New Mexico. The Lobos entered the game at 3-2 on the year, their two losses both coming in conference play.
It would be a potentially tough day with Brian Paris still sidelined with an injury, to go along with New Mexico having the #5 passing defense in the nation. The good thing for us, their rushing defense was ranked #114 nationally. As long as Benjamin Silva could get some momentum going early on and use that to build on as the game progressed, we would be in good shape. Luckily for our defense, the Lobos had a very poor offense, with the #119th total offense and #120th passing offense. Their only bright spot offensively was their rushing game, ranked #58 in the nation.
The keys to the game would be get our rushing game established and shut down Wyoming’s own rushing game, and based on those pass defense numbers, pass as sparingly as we can to avoid any unnecessary turnovers. The question would be just how good New Mexico would truly be. This was a two who we beat 87-7 in our first two years, only to blow a 17-7 halftime lead and lose 21-17 to last year as New Mexico crashed their way into a BCS bowl. If New Mexico had indeed suffered losses in graduation and failed to recover fully then we would be a favorable position today. If they had just had a couple bad losses but were still fully talented, today could be a long and rough day, especially with Paris out of the game. New Mexico would win the coin toss and elect to kick.
A 26 yard kickoff return by Leonard Hart would give us the ball to start at our 30 yard line. Starting our drive on the ground, Benjamin Silva would get right to work against New Mexico’s weak rushing defense, taking the first down handoff up the middle for 9 yard gain, followed by a 5 yard carry to get a new set of downs at the 43 yard line. A 7 yard rush by Silva on first down would be followed up with another 5 yard carry, giving us a first down at the New Mexico 45 yard line. Continuing to bring it right at the Lobos defense, Silva got the handoff on first down, fighting his way to an 8 yard carry, before a four yard rush would move the chains to the Lobos 33 yard line. Changing it up with a play action pass on first down, Jason Barnes would find Raymond Watson coming out of the backfield, but New Mexico would not bite on the fake, the pass going for no gain on the play. Returning to the ground, Silva would only gain two yards on the carry, bringing up third and 8. Lining up in the shotgun on third down, an 11 yard completion from Barnes to Aaron Allen would save the drive, moving the chains to the 20 yard line. Going back to the ground game on first down, Silva took the ball from Barnes for a four yard gain, followed by a big 9 yard rush by Kyle Hall, setting us up with first and goal from the New Mexico 6 yard line. Silva would return to the backfield on first down, weaving his way straight up the middle and fighting through two defenders to fall forward into the end zone for a 6 yard touchdown, giving us a 7-0 lead with 5:16 left in the first quarter.
A touchback on the kickoff would give New Mexico the ball at their 25 yard line. Lining up in the shotgun on first down, Alex Thomas would drop back and roll out to his right looking to pass down field, only to end up tripped by a dive at the ankles by our defensive tackle, sacked for a 10 yard loss on the play to put New Mexico into an immediate second and 20 hole. The Lobos would get those yards right back as a failed interception attempt allowed David Turner to haul in a pass from Thomas, good for a 10 yard gain, to bring up third and 10. Unfortunately for Thomas, our defensive line would prove better than New Mexico’s offensive line, as the pocket collapsed almost immediately right on top of Thomas, resulting in him being sacked for a 6 yard loss and forcing New Mexico to punt on fourth and 16. A 10 yard return on the 34 yard punt would give us the ball at the New Mexico 44 yard line.
Starting our drive in Lobos territory after the punt return, we decided to go right back to what worked best last drive, handing the ball off to Silva for a four yard gain up the gut, followed by a second gain of four yards to leave us with third and two. Putting the ball into the hands of Silva on third down, somehow, despite essentially being met at the line of scrimmage, he would somehow slip past the blitzing linebacker and fall forward onto a pile of bodies, body surfing his way to a third consecutive four yard gain and a new first down at the 31 yard line. Showing one hell of a streak of consistency, Silva would reel off a fourth straight four yard gain to give us second and 6. Silva’s run of four yard rushes would end on second down, but in a good way, as he found a huge gap and raced ahead for an 11 yard gain, giving us a first down at the 17 yard line. A first down rush by Silva would go for a three yard gain, followed by a 6 yard rush by Hall as he spun and high stepped his way out of three different tackle attempts, bringing up third and inches. Silva would get the call on third down and get the job down with a three yard rush, setting up first and goal from the four yard line. Silva would take the first crack at the end zone, rushing ahead for a three yard gain to the one yard line. Lining up on second and goal, Silva would get the job done as he plowed into the end zone for a one yard touchdown, giving us a 14-0 lead with 5 seconds left in the first quarter.
Another touchback on the kickoff would give New Mexico the ball at their 25 yard line. Running the ball on first down, the Lobos would find signs of life as Patrick Brown took the handoff and broke two tackles on his way to a 22 yard gain, a diving tackle at the ankles likely the only thing keeping it from being a 75 yard touchdown. That would be the final play of the first quarter, our lead standing at 14-0.
Opening up the second quarter, the Lobos would end up going backwards this time as Brown was tackled for a one yard loss to bring up second and 11. A second down screen pass to Dante Tyler would pick up 9 yards, bringing up third and two. Thomas would prove to be an elusive little fucker as he took off on a QB option, weaving his way up back and forth at top sprint speed before turning up the field and racing for a 25 yard gain, giving New Mexico a first down at our 21 yard line. Brown would get the call on first down, but our defense would trap him for a two yard loss to leave second and 12. Dropping back to pass on second down, Thomas would throw up an extremely questionable pass, his throw ending up nowhere near the receiver but rather straight to cornerback Leonard Hart, who standing in the middle of the field completely alone, made probably the easiest interception of his career, returning it 8 yards to the 21 yard line.
Lining up after the interception, we thankfully got back on the field without any damage. Silva would get our next drive started on the ground with a four yard rush around the right end, followed by a three yard gain to bring up third down and three to go. Despite the overwhelming success of our running game, we elected to go into the shotgun on third down, the pass from Barnes to our go to man Allen gaining us 13 yards and a new first down at the 41 yard line. Going back to our ground game on first down, Silva would get us right back on the move with an 8 yard carry, followed by a four yard rush to move the chains to the New Mexico 48 yard line. Two straight four yard rushes by Silva would leave us looking at third and two. Hall would get the call on third down, taking it straight up the middle of a HUGE gap for a 9 yard gain to move the chains to the 32. Silva would continue to punish the Lobos defense with a 7 yard carry on first down, followed by a gain of four yards to get another first down at the 20 yard line. Silva would rush his way to a four yard gain on first down, bringing up second and 6. Hall would get the call on second down, rushing straight up the middle, and despite being stuck in the middle of a pile of bodies, somehow, after a few seconds, Hall would manage to escape the mass and somehow stumble his way forward into the end zone for a shocking 16 yard touchdown, his first touchdown of his career, giving us a 21-0 lead with 4:02 left in the second quarter.
A touchback on the kickoff would set New Mexico up from their 25 yard line. Brown would get the Lobos off and running with a 13 yard carry and a first down at the 38 yard line. James Larson would get the ball on an end around on first down, picking up three yards on the play. Unfortunately for New Mexico, another pass attempt by Thomas would again end up intercepted by Hart, his second of the day and his second interception on consecutive New Mexico drives. Even worse for the Lobos, Hart would come up from behind the receiver and intercept the ball in stride, returning it 44 yards for a pick six touchdown, giving us a 28-0 lead with 3:17 left in the second quarter.
Another kickoff resulted in another touchback, New Mexico again lining up from their 25 yard line desperately looking for offense. A first down screen pass to Brown would pick up 8 yards, followed by another screen pass to Brown that would result in a six yard loss, bringing up third and 8. Unbelievably, chucking up a deep pass down the left sideline, cornerback Mike Moses would somehow fail to either intercept or knock down the pass, despite his entire body being between the receiver and the ball, allowing Jordan Curry to pull the pass in for a 59 yard completion and a first down at our 14 yard line. A QB option keeper on first down would see Thomas gain three yards, New Mexico calling their first timeout with 1:59 remaining. Brown would get the call on second down, rushing for a three yard gain before being tripped up from behind, leaving third and 5. A screen pass on third down would unfortunately let New Mexico find the end zone, as Edward Davis pull in the pass from Thomas and, thanks to our defense both biting on the screen and being sealed off in the end zone, moon walking into the end zone for a 9 yard touchdown, cutting our lead to 28-7 with 1:32 left before halftime.
A 31 yard kickoff return by Hart would give us the ball at our 36 yard line with only 1:26 left to play. Due to limited time, we came out in the shotgun on first down, but the pass intended for Adam Washington would be knocked down from behind by Super Man, leaving second down. Going under center on second down, the pass intended for Watson would get broken up, leaving third down. Thankfully, Allen would again come through for us when needed on third down, pulling in a pass from Barnes for a 17 yard gain, giving us a new set of downs at the New Mexico 47 yard line, our first timeout taken with 1:15 remaining. Washington would manage to pull in a pass from Barnes on first down, a comeback route getting him separation for a gain of 15 yards and a new set of downs at the 32 yard line. However we would go backwards on the next play as we rushed to the line, Barnes ending up tackled for a two yard loss on a failed option play to leave second and 12, our second timeout called with 1:06 to go. A second down pass to Hall would pick up just four yards on the play. Running to the line of scrimmage with the clock ticking, Barnes would try to connect with David Douglas over the middle, only to have the pass broken up by the middle linebacker, leaving fourth and 8. The 47 yard field goal attempt by Doug Marcus would end up just short of the cross bar, giving New Mexico the ball at their 30 yard line with 41 seconds to go.
Taking over after the failed field goal attempt, New Mexico came out passing on first down. Too bad for the Lobos, our defense was ready and would leave Thomas with no open receivers to pass to, allowing our defensive line to close down the pocket and sack him for a 6 yard loss, leaving second and 16. The Lobos wouldn’t take one of their two timeouts, letting the clock continue ticking under 30 seconds. In fact, the Lobos would take their time getting to the line and seemingly ready to go into halftime, as they wouldn’t snap the ball until there were two seconds left, an incomplete pass over the middle being the final play of the half and taking us into the locker room with a 28-7 lead.
Opening up the second half, a touchback on the kickoff would give New Mexico the ball at their 25 yard line to start the third quarter. A QB option keeper on first down would torch our offense, as Thomas escaped up the left sideline for a gain of 22 yard, giving the Lobos a quick first down at their 47 yard line. A first down rush by Brown would go for 14 yards and another first down for the Lobos at our 39 yard line as the game apparently decided to turn our defense into a bunch of fucking morons. Once again, our defense would just stand still as Davis took the handoff from Thomas and cakewalked his way to a 25 yard gain, giving New Mexico a first down at our 14 yard line. More bullshit would ensue as Thomas ran any direction he wanted at full speed like he was on fucking ice skates, picking up 13 yards on the QB keeper to give New Mexico first and goal at our one yard line, clearly the game deciding to bullshit me the entire second half. A one yard rush by Brown would cap off the five play 75 yard touchdown drive (that consisted solely of rushes of 22, 14, 25, 13 and 1 yards) to cut our lead to 28-14 with 8:51 left in the third quarter.
Naturally, our kickoff return team completely ignores half of the Lobos players coming down the field, limiting Hart to a return of just 20 yards to leave us starting at the 23 yard line. Getting us started on the ground, thankfully our running game still reigned supreme as Silva took the handoff for a 10 yard gain, leaving second and inches. Silva would take the second down carry around the right end for a four yard gain, giving us the early first down at the 37 yard line. Another rush by Silva would gain 7 yards, followed by a 6 yard rush by Hall to move the chains to the 50 yard line. Silva would keep us moving on first down with a two yard rush, before a 6 yard carry by Hall would leave third and two. Hall would get the call on third down, plowing his way forward for a 6 yard gain and a first down at the New Mexico 36 yard line. Silva would return to the backfield on first down, rushing for a gain of 7 yards, followed by a three yard rush to bring up third and inches. Hall would again get the call on third down, but he would get stood up for no gain on the play. Due to the failures of our kicker earlier in the game, we elected to go for it on fourth down, Silva fighting his way forward for a three yard gain and a first down at the 23 yard line. Hall would take over on first down with a 5 yard carry, followed by a 6 yard rush by Silva to move the chains to the 12 yard line. Continuing on the ground, Silva would fight to a three yard gain on first down, before a 7 yard rush by Hall would leave us looking at third and inches from the two yard line. Silva would get the call on third and down and just manage to gain a single yard on the play, setting us up with first and goal from the one yard line. Hall would try to punch it in on first down, only to end up going backwards one yard to leave second and goal from the two yard line. A two yard second down rush by Silva would advance the ball to just outside of the goal line, leaving third and goal. Hall would again try to punch it in on third down, only to end up tackled for no gain on the play. With the ball just outside the goal line, we elected to go for it on fourth down once more, this time Hall would get the job down with a one yard touchdown, capping off a monster 20 play drive that lasted over 7 ½ minutes, increasing our lead to 35-14 with 1:18 left in the third quarter.
Another kickoff, another touchback, another New Mexico drive starting from the 25 yard line. Dropping back to pass on first down, Thomas would try to connect with Turner deep over the middle, only to have the pass intercepted by cornerback Jesse Breedlove, giving the ball right back to our offense at the New Mexico 47 yard line.
Lining up in New Mexico territory following the interception, Hall would get our drive started on the ground with a four yard rush up the middle, followed by a two yard carry to leave us looking at third and four. Going into the shotgun on third down, Barnes was able to find Allen for a gain of 10 yards and a drive saving first down at the 31 yard line. That would be the final play of the third quarter, our lead standing at 35-14.
Opening up the fourth quarter, we lined up at the New Mexico 31 yard line on first down, looking to increase our three touchdown advantage. Starting the quarter back on the ground, Hall would get the ball for an 8 yard carry, followed by a rush for no gain to bring up third and two. Watson would get the call on third down, fighting his way to a three yard gain to pick up the first down at the 19 yard line. Hall would dash ahead on first down for a gain of four yards, followed by a one yard gain by Watson to bring up third and 5. Forced into the air on third down, Allen would again get the call from Barnes, only to have the initially caught pass dropped as he was blasted from behind by the safety to force fourth and 5. Settling for a field goal, the 31 yard field goal by Marcus would sail through the uprights, increasing our lead to 38-14 with 7:55 left in the fourth quarter.
New Mexico would again take over at their 25 yard line following a touchback on the kickoff. A screen pass to Brown would result in an 18 yard gain, as Brown would shake off three tackles and stiff arm TWO defenders simultaneously for an extra 10 yards, giving New Mexico a first down at the 43 yard line. Scrambling to avoid a collapsing pocket, Thomas would shake off a tackle and pick up two yards on the play before being speared into the ground to leave second and 8. A second down pass intended for Larsen would end up batted away incomplete, leaving the Lobos with third down. Another pass deflection on third down, this time by Jesse Breedlove on a pass intended for Turner, would leave the Lobos with fourth and 8, and the offense electing to go for it. New Mexico would attempt a screen pass on fourth down, only picking up two yards on the play and seemingly turning the ball over on downs. Of course, because the game is in the middle of trying to fuck me over, in a moment of typical bullshit, I suddenly and magically get flagged for a facemask penalty after the play, and New Mexico gets a brand new set of downs at our 38 yard line. Going into the air on first down, Thomas would find Curry for a gain of 17 yards and another new set of downs at our 21. Changing up our man defense and bringing a blitz on first down, Thomas was finally pressured and forced to throw the ball away, leaving the Lobos with second down. Continuing to blitz on second down, Thomas was forced to hurry a pass over the middle of the field, in the process overthrowing Turner for an incomplete pass to leave third and 10. Unfortunately for the Lobos, our four man pass rush would defeat their opponents and hit Thomas as he went to throw, his pass ending up a wounded duck in the middle of the field and incomplete to leave fourth and 10. New Mexico would elect to go for it on fourth down, and naturally, Thomas would throw a perfect pass right past our defender and into the hands of Turner for a 21 yard touchdown. Not content to just be behind by 17, the Lobos would go for the two point conversion, but our defense would manage to hold Brown to no gain on the rush, only cutting our lead to 38-20 with 6:08 left in the game.
We would line up for an onside kick on the following kickoff, but surprisingly the Lobos would kick it off deep, a 17 yard return by Douglas giving us the ball at our 22 yard line. Starting the drive on the ground on first down, Hall would rush forward for a gain of 6 yards on the play, followed by a four yard rush to leave us looking at third and inches. Watson would get the call on third down, fighting his way forward for a gain of 6 yards to give us a first down at the 37 yard line and keep the clock ticking. Hall would return to the backfield on first down, sprinting straight up the middle and through a huge gap for a gain of 16 yards and an instant first down at the New Mexico 47 yard line. That rush would give Hall his first career 100 yard rushing game, to go along with his first two touchdowns of his career. Watson would get the next carry, taking it for a 6 yard gain, followed by a three yard rush by Hall to leave third and one. Watson would get the call on third down, fighting forward for an 8 yard gain and a first down at the 30 yard line. Hall would return to the backfield on first down, but he would be quickly brought down for a single yard gain, leaving second and 9. Trying our luck with a play action pass on second down, despite the Lobos defense not falling for the fake, tight end Gerald Woods would still somehow manage to catch the pass behind the defender and work his way up the field for a 19 yard completion, giving us a first down at the 11 yard line. A three yard rush by Hall would be followed by a 5 yard rush by Watson, leaving us looking at third and two from the three yard line, the clock ticking underneath one minute as the Lobos seemingly accepted defeat with three timeouts remaining. Hall would take the handoff from Barnes and plow straight forward and into the end zone for a three yard touchdown, his third of the game, increasing our lead to 45-20 with 29 seconds left in the game.
A touchback on the kickoff would give New Mexico the ball at their 25 yard line, just 29 seconds left to play. New Mexico would seemingly raise the white flag as they handed the ball off to Brown for a one yard rush, but the Lobos would then immediately, and head scratchingly, call their first time out, stopping the clock with 26 seconds to go. Thomas would fake a hand off and keep the ball on the QB option play, only to be quickly brought down in the backfield for a loss of three yards, leaving New Mexico facing third and 12, their second timeout called to stop the clock with 22 seconds remaining. Lining up in the shotgun, Thomas would try to chuck up a pass to Larsen along the left sideline, only to have the pass intercepted by Moses to give us possession at the New Mexico 38 yard line with 16 seconds left to play.
Lining up on offense following the interception, it would be one of the simplest drives as Barnes would immediately drop to a knee on first down, running off the final seconds to seal our 45-20 victory over New Mexico.
With the win, we improve to 5-2, 3-0 in Mountain West action. With the loss, New Mexico drops to 3-3, 0-3 in Mountain West play. Up next, it’s back on the road to take on Colorado State. The Rams enter the game 2-5, 1-2 in Mountain West action. Colorado State started their year with a 31-17 loss to rival Colorado, then won 21-20 at Florida Atlantic. They would then go on a three game losing streak, losing 41-14 to UTSA, 34-15 at Minnesota and 14-0 to #7 Fresno State. The Rams would break back into the win column with a 45-24 victory at Wyoming before falling 31-24 at Hawaii.
Final Score
45,
20
Stat(s) of the Game:
Utah State Offense - A fairly quite day for Barnes, going only 8-12 for 89 yards and zero touchdowns. Rushing, Silva led the way with 177 yards and two touchdowns on 38 carries. Hall wasn't far behind as he had a career day, rushing for 124 yards and three touchdowns on 25 attempts. Watson finished with 29 yards on 6 rushes. Receiving, Allen was the main guy today with 51 yards on four catches. In all, five receivers caught a pass today, three of them for double digit yards.
Utah State Defense/Special Teams – The tale of two halves. The first half, the defense was incredible. The second half, the defense couldn't pull their heads out of their asses. Still, despite the failures of the second half, we still had some big performances, none bigger than Leonard Hart, who intercepted two passes for a total of 52 yards, including the 44 yard pick six that gave us a four touchdown lead not long before halftime. Jesse Breedlove and Mike Moses (to give us the ball back with just seconds left) would add interceptions in a hell of a pass defense performance.
Utah State Kicking – An imperfect day for Marcus going 1-2 in field goals with a 31 yard field goal but a miss short from 47 yards. He did however end up going 6-6 in PATs.
Scoring Summary
| Team |
1st Quarter |
2nd Quarter |
3rd Quarter |
4th Quarter |
Final Score |
|
0 |
7 |
14 |
6 |
20 |
|
14 |
14 |
7 |
10 |
45 |
| Time |
Team |
Result |
Play |
Score |
| First Quarter |
| 5:16 |
|
Touchdown |
B. Silva, 6 yard run (D. Marcus kick) |
7-0 |
| 0:05 |
|
Touchdown |
B. Silva, 1 yard run (D. Marcus kick) |
14-0 |
|
| Second Quarter |
| 4:02 |
|
Touchdown |
K. Hall, 16 yard run (D. Marcus kick) |
21-0 |
| 3:17 |
|
Touchdown |
L. Hart, returned interception 44 yards (D. Marcus kick) |
28-0 |
| 1:32 |
|
Touchdown |
E. Davis, 9 yard pass from A. Thomas (K. Allen kick) |
28-7 |
|
| Third Quarter |
| 8:51 |
|
Touchdown |
P. Brown, 1 yard run (K. Allen kick) |
28-14 |
| 1:18 |
|
Touchdown |
K. Hall, 1 yard run (D. Marcus kick) |
35-14 |
|
| Fourth Quarter |
| 7:55 |
|
Field Goal |
D. Marcus, 31 yard field goal |
38-14 |
| 6:08 |
|
Touchdown |
D. Turner, 21 yard pass from A. Thomas (2-point conversion failed) |
38-20 |
| 0:29 |
|
Touchdown |
K. Hall, 3 yard run (D. Marcus kick) |
45-20 |
| New Mexico |
Stat |
Utah State |
| 20 |
Score |
45 |
| 11 |
First Downs |
26 |
| 266 |
Total Offense |
415 |
| 19 - 119 - 1 |
Rushes - Yards - TD |
71 - 326 - 5 |
| 10 - 20 - 2 |
Comp - Att - TD |
8 - 12 - 0 |
| 147 |
Passing Yards |
89 |
| 3 |
Times Sacked |
0 |
| 3 - 7 (42%) |
3rd Down Conversion |
13 - 17 (76%) |
| 2 - 2 (100%) |
4th Down Conversion |
2 - 2 (100%) |
| 0 - 1 (0%) |
2-Point Conv |
0 - 0 (0%) |
| 2 - 2 - 0 (100%) |
Red Zone - TD - FG |
6 - 5 - 1 (75%) |
| 4 |
Turnovers |
0 |
| 0 |
Fumbles Lost |
0 |
| 4 |
Intercepted |
0 |
| 0 |
Punt Return Yards |
10 |
| 0 |
Kick Return Yards |
91 |
| 226 |
Total Yards |
516 |
| 1 – 35.0 |
Punts - Average |
0 - 0.0 |
| 0 - 0 |
Penalties |
1 - 15 |
| 11:04 |
Time of Possession |
28:56 |
| Goal |
XP Reward |
Completed |
| Win a Game |
100 |
x1 |
| Score a Touchdown |
25 |
x6 |
| Score a Defensive Touchdown |
50 |
x1 |
| Force a Turnover |
25 |
x4 |
| Rush for 100 Yards |
25 |
x1 |
| Kneel Last Minute Q4 While Ahead |
10 |
x1 |
| 3+ Sacks |
50 |
x1 |
| Opponent Under 150 Rush Yards |
50 |
x1 |
| Opponent Under 300 Pass Yards |
50 |
x1 |
| Pass Completion Over 50% |
30 |
x1 |
| 100% Red Zone Efficiency |
50 |
x1 |
| Score 21 or More Points |
50 |
x1 |
| 350+ Offensive Yards |
50 |
x1 |
| 10+ First Downs |
50 |
x1 |
| 4+ 3rd Down Conversions |
25 |
x1 |
| Goal |
Expectations |
Progress |
| Target Wins Per Season |
8 |
5 |
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