--- It was off on the road for another contest following our home victory over San Jose State. This time it was a date with New Mexico, who came into the contest at 3-3 on the season and 1-1 conference play. New Mexico had always been a thorn in our side over the years, and this was expected to still be the case this season. But a win today was necessary if we were going to stay within a game of Boise State and have any hope of winning the Mountain Division this season. New Mexico won the coin toss and elected to kickoff first.
A 34 yard kickoff return by Jon Morris would get our first offensive drive of the game started on our 37 yard line. Benjamin Silva would get us off and running on the ground with a big eight yard gain on first down, followed by a huge 30 yard rush around the far end and up the right sideline for a first down at the New Mexico 24 yard line. A first down pass to Silva would end up being complete but for no gain. Lining up in the shotgun on second down, Pat Williams would be sacked for a loss of five yards, leaving us with third and 15. The third down pass up the right sideline intended for Adam Washington would end up intercepted by Daniel Schmidt, giving New Mexico the ball at their own 16 yard line.
Taking over after the interception, quarterback Alex Thomas would try to scramble after dropping back to pass, only to be sacked for a two yard loss. A two yard completion to Jesse Jackson would leave the Lobos facing third and nine. Sailing a pass along the far sideline, the ball would be intercepted by cornerback Aaron Rush, giving us the ball right back at the New Mexico 44 yard line.
Lining up with fantastic field position after the interception, Silva got the call on first down, rushing for a five yard gain, followed by a gain of six yards and a first down at the 33 yard line. Silva would keep the ball moving on the ground with a first down carry of seven yards, before dashing for an eight yard gain to move the chains to the 19 yard line. A play action pass intended for Gerald Woods would end up nearly intercepted, bringing up second down. Silva would take the handoff on second down, but only gain a single yard on the play. A third down pass to Washington would go for a gain of seven yards, leaving us with fourth and two from the Lobos 11 yard line. The 28 yard field goal by Max Thompson would end up sailing wide left and no good, giving New Mexico the ball at their own 20 yard line.
The first running play of the game by New Mexico would see Keith Sanders rush up the middle for an 18 yard gain and a quick first down at the 38 yard line. Another first down handoff to Sanders would quickly be blown up for a four yard loss to bring up second and 14. A five yard carry by Sanders would leave New Mexico with third and nine. Another third down pass by New Mexico would be intercepted, this time by cornerback Jesse Breedlove, who would return the ball 23 yards before being tackled out of bounds at the New Mexico 48 yard line.
Again starting in New Mexico territory after the interception return, this time our offense really needed to put some points on the board. Silva would try to get us started on first down, only to be immediately tackled for no gain. Another carry by Silva would gain just four yards, leaving third and six. A third down pass to Tyson Taylor would just get enough, picking up seven yards to get a first down at the 37. Another carry by Silva would gain 10 yards this time and move the chains once more to the 27. A three yard carry by Silva would be followed with a six yard rush to leave us facing third and one. That would be the final play of the first quarter, with no score yet in the game.
Opening up the second quarter, we’d come to the line facing third and one at the New Mexico 18 yard line. Silva would nearly end up stood up at the line of scrimmage, just managing to gain two yards and the first down on the play. A first down carry would go for a gain of three yards. Trying another play action pass on second down, the pass intended for Miller was nearly intercepted to leave third down. Going into the air on third down, Williams would sneak a pass just past the outstretched arms of the cornerback and into the hands of Miller for a 13 yard touchdown, giving us a 7-0 lead with 8:56 left in the second quarter.
A 28 yard kickoff return by Raul Ingram would give New Mexico the ball at their 28 yard line. A first down handoff to Sanders would go for a gain of two yards, followed by a one yard rush to leave New Mexico with third and seven. Thomas would drop back to pass on third down, but while trying to scramble, ended up sacked for a three yard loss to force the Lobos to punt on fourth and 11. A seven yard return by Silva on the 37 yard punt would give us the ball at our own 42 yard line.
Silva would get our next drive started, body surfing his way from what should have only been a four or five yard carry to a gain of 14 yards and a quick new set of downs. Another first down carry by Silva would gain six yards, followed by a seven yard gain to give us a first down at the 31 yard line. A facemask penalty on the tackle would add another 15 yards onto the play, moving the chains to the New Mexico 16 yard line. Figuring why change what’s working, Silva would again get the ball on first down, rushing for a gain of seven yards on the play. He would follow that up with a five yard carry to give us first and goal from the four yard line. Silva would get the ball on first down, going off tackle and trying to run toward the pylon. He would gain three yards on the carry to advance the ball to the one yard line. Silva would cap off the drive on the next play with a one yard touchdown plunge into the end zone, giving us a 14-0 lead over New Mexico with 4:37 left in the second quarter.
A 21 yard kickoff return by Ingram would get the Lobos started at their own 21 yard line. A delayed option keeper by Thomas would very nearly go the distance in one play, as he would find a couple holes and break free into the open, before finally being chased down and tackled from behind for a gain of 57 yards to give New Mexico a first down at our 22 yard line. Another option keeper by Thomas would see him break six different tackle attempts and just mosey his way into the end zone for a 22 yard touchdown like he was going to buy some milk. The extra point would cut into our lead, making it 14-7 with 4:04 left in the second quarter.
A 26 yard kickoff return by Silva would give us the ball at our 29 yard line. Starting the ball on the ground, Silva would rush up the middle for a nine yard gain, an offside penalty on the defense declined on the play. Another rush by Silva would gain three yards and a first down at the 42 yard line. Taking a chance through the air on first down, Williams would connect with Washington over the middle for a 20 yard gain and a first down at the New Mexico 38 yard line. A pass over the middle intended for Nate Williams would be broken up to leave second down. A 15 yard pass to Williams on a comeback route would move the chains and give us a fresh set of downs at the 23 yard line. Turning back to the ground game on first down, Silva would get the call with a six yard carry, followed by a two yard rush to leave third and two. Silva would take the ball on third down, gaining six yards to give us first and goal at the nine yard line. Silva would pick up three yards on the first down carry. Another rush by Silva would gain four yards to leave third and goal at the two yard line. Silva would get the job done on third down, rushing off the left tackle, through a defender and into the end zone for a two yard touchdown, giving us a 21-7 lead with six seconds left until halftime.
A 21 yard kickoff return by Austin Jones would give the Lobos the ball at their own 38 yard line with just two seconds left on the clock. New Mexico would try to chuck up a Hail Mary on first down, but our defensive line would win the battle and sack Thomas for a loss of seven yards to send us into halftime with a 21-7 lead.
Opening up the second half, a 27 yard kickoff return by Ingram would give the Lobos the ball at their 27 yard line to start the third quarter. A QB keeper by Thomas would again see our defense torched as he raced up the middle of the field for a 20 yard gain and a first down at the 47 yard line. Thomas would go into the air on first down, connecting with James Larsen for a 10 yard gain and another first down at our 43. A handoff to Sanders on first down only gained one yard, followed by Thomas being sacked for a loss of six yards to bring up third and 15. An incomplete pass, as Thomas somehow threw the ball away as he was being sacked without being called for intentional grounding, resulted in fourth down and long and the Lobos forced to punt. A 48 yard punt would bounce into the end zone for a touchback, giving us the ball at our own 20 yard line.
We would again call on our workhorse Silva to get us going on our first drive of the second half. A touchdown here could potentially put the game away. A first down carry would gain no yards on the play, followed by a two yard rush to leave us facing third and eight. An 11 yard pass over the middle from Williams to Taylor would keep our drive alive with a new set of downs at the 33 yard line. Returning to the ground on first down, Silva would rush for a gain of three yards, followed by a five yard dive up the middle to leave us with third and two. Silva would pick up exactly two yards on his third down carry, but on the short side of the marker, leaving us facing fourth and inches at our 42 yard line. Taking a massive gamble, we elected to go for it on fourth down, with Silva rushing for a five yard gain and keeping our drive alive at the 47. Silva would keep us marching down the field with a five yard carry, followed by a three yard carry to leave third and two. Silva would get the two yards and then some with a seven yard gain and a first down at the New Mexico 37 yard line. Silva would just keep plowing his way up the field, gaining three yards on first down before rushing for a gain of three yards to leave us with third and four. A third down pass to Miller would go for a gain of 16 yards and give us a fresh set of downs at the 15 yard line. Silva would get the call again, rushing for a gain of eight yards, followed by a two yard carry to give us first and goal at the four yard line. Silva would need just one more play to find the end zone for a four yard touchdown, giving us a 28-7 lead with 1:31 left in the third quarter.
Ingram would return the ball 25 yards to give the Lobos the ball at their 26 yard line. It would take New Mexico all of one play to answer as Sanders would get the handoff from the quarterback, find a couple blocks outside and run up the sideline untouched for a 74 yard touchdown to cut our lead to 28-14 with 1:14 left in the third quarter.
A 29 yard kickoff by Silva would give us the ball at our 33 yard line for our next drive. A five yard rush by Silva on first down would by followed by a two yard rush to leave us with third and three. Keeping the ball in the hands of Silva on third down, he would just manage to pick up three yards and get a first down at the 43 yard line. A first down carry by Silva would gain just two yards on the play. That would be the final play of the third quarter with a 28-14 lead.
Opening up the fourth quarter, we would get lined up at our own 45 yard line, facing second and eight. Silva would again keep us moving forward on second down, picking up seven yards on the carry. A one yard carry on third down would leave us short of the first down marker, facing fourth and inches from the New Mexico 47 yard line. A field goal was out of the question. A 40 yard field goal was already questionable distance when it came to Thompson, our kicker. A 64 yard field goal had no chance. Deciding to take another gamble, we would line up and give the ball to Silva on fourth down, and he would get the job done with a carry for a gain of four yards to move the chains to the 44 yard line. Silva would keep us driving with a seven yard carry, followed by a four yard gain to move the chains once more to the 33 yard line. Silva would continue his drive up the field with a two yard first down carry, before being tackled for a loss of one yard to leave us with third and nine. Dropping back to pass on third down, Williams would end up sacked for a loss of 11 yards, forcing us to punt on fourth and 20. Punter Freddie Arnold would try to bury the Lobos deep in their territory, but his punt would bounce down at the four yard line and into the end zone before it could be downed, giving New Mexico the ball at their 20 yard line.
A late option pitch to Chris Thompson would get the Lobos drive started with a 10 yard carry to leave second and inches. That would be followed by Sanders torching our defense for a 32 yard rush up the right sideline to give New Mexico a first down at our 39 yard line in just two plays. Sanders would go left on the next play, rushing for six yards, followed by a huge 25 yard carry right up the gut of our defense to give the Lobos first and goal at our eight yard line. Sanders would finish off the drive on the very next play with an eight yard touchdown run to cut our lead to 28-21 with 4:27 left in the game and put the outcome of this contest in doubt.
A 26 yard kickoff return by Silva would give us the ball at our 28 yard line for the next drive. Silva would get the ball on first down to start the drive, hoping to run out the clock on a victory. The first down carry by Silva would go for a gain of three yards, followed by a six yard carry to leave us facing third and one. A seven yard rush by Silva would move the chains and reset the downs at the 44 yard line. Silva would keep us moving down the field with an 11 yard carry on first down, moving the chains once more to the New Mexico 45 yard line, though Silva would unfortunately exit the game with an injury after the play. Taylor would get the call on first down, rushing for a five yard gain and forcing New Mexico to call their first timeout with 2:16 left on the clock. We got good news during the timeout, as it was learned that Silva was only suffered from hip bursitis, and would be able to return soon. Until then, the game was in the hands of Taylor. Taylor would manage just a single yard on the second down play, leaving us with third and four and the Lobos second timeout freezing the clock with 2:14 to play. Taking a chance on third down, Pat Williams would connect with tight end Nate Williams for a very quick seven yard pass, good for a first down at the New Mexico 32 yard line, forcing the Lobos to burn their final timeout with 2:10 left in the game. Taylor would pick up four yards on the first down carry, followed by a six yard rush by a returned Silva to give us a first down at the 22 yard line. Silva’s carry on first down would gain three yards, followed by a seven yard carry to leave third and inches. The third down play would go for no gain, leaving fourth and inches at the 12 yard line. Silva would keep us moving with a three yard rush to give us first and goal at the eight yard line. A three yard carry on the next play would run out the clock and bring the game to an end as we walk away with a 28-21 win in a game that got much closer at the end than it had been for the majority of the contest.
With the win, we improve to 4-3, 2-1 in Mountain West action. With the loss, New Mexico drops to 3-4, 1-2 in Mountain West play. Up next, we return home to take on the Rams of Colorado State. The Rams enter the game with a record of 2-4, 0-3 in Mountain West action. Colorado State opened their season with a 28-18 loss to Colorado, then defeated South Dakota State 24-0 and beat UTSA 38-35 in overtime. Since entering league play, the Rams have gone on a three game losing streak, losing 34-33 at San Jose State, 31-7 to #4 Fresno State and 41-24 to Wyoming.
Final Score
28,
21
Stats of the Game:
Utah State Offense - Williams largely took the backseat today, only going 9 for 13 for 96 yards, one touchdown and one interception. The start of the game was Silva, would who end up rushing for 306 yards on 65 carries, good for a 4.7 yard per carry average, and three rushing touchdowns. Receiving, five receivers caught a pass today, of those five, three ended up with double digit yards. Washington led all receivers in catches and yardage with three receptions for 42 yards. Miller had two receptions and 29 yards to go along with his receiving touchdown.
A special note, that monster 306 yard game by Silva, has made him the leading rusher in college football, with 1,315 yards for the season, leading #2 leading rusher Chris Walters of Georgia by 184 yards and has put Silva squarely in the middle of the Heisman race, the first Heisman candidate for Coach Ramius since Tulsa running back Kiel Fletcher back in 2015.
Utah State Defense/Special Teams – Until the middle of the third quarter, a fantastic showing today. The defense for the most part kept the Lobos running game bottled up and made their passing game essentially nonexistent. Cornerbacks Jesse Breedlove (returned for 24 yards) and Aaron Rush (no return) each had an interception, while three different defenders picked up sacks. However it was from the middle of the third quarter on that the defense started getting torched by the New Mexico offense, giving up multiple big yardage runs and a pair of touchdowns that turned this game from a near rout into a near blown loss.
Utah State Kicking – Today was not a perfect day for Thompson, as while he would go 4 for 4 in PATs, he missed a 28 yard field goal wide left back in the first quarter.
Scoring Summary
Team |
1st Quarter |
2nd Quarter |
3rd Quarter |
4th Quarter |
Final Score |
|
0 |
21 |
7 |
0 |
28 |
|
0 |
7 |
7 |
7 |
21 |
Time |
Team |
Result |
Play |
Score |
First Quarter |
|
Second Quarter |
8:56 |
|
Touchdown |
G. Miller, 13 yard pass from P. Williams (M. Thompson kick) |
7-0 |
4:37 |
|
Touchdown |
B. Silva, 1 yard run, (M. Thompson kick) |
14-0 |
4:04 |
|
Touchdown |
A. Thomas, 22 yard run (K. Allen kick) |
14-7 |
0:06 |
|
Touchdown |
B. Silva, 2 yard run (M. Thompson kick) |
21-7 |
|
Third Quarter |
1:31 |
|
Touchdown |
B. Silva, 4 yard run (M. Thompson kick) |
28-7 |
1:14 |
|
Touchdown |
K. Sanders, 74 yard run (K. Allen kick) |
28-14 |
|
Fourth Quarter |
4:27 |
|
Touchdown |
K. Sanders, 8 yard run (K. Allen kick) |
28-21 |
Game Stats
Utah State |
Stat |
New Mexico |
28 |
Score |
21 |
26 |
First Downs |
10 |
396 |
Total Offense |
271 |
70 - 300 - 3 |
Rushes - Yards - TD |
19 - 259 - 3 |
9 - 13 - 1 |
Comp - Att - TD |
2 - 5 - 0 |
96 |
Passing Yards |
12 |
2 |
Times Sacked |
4 |
11 - 17 (64%) |
3rd Down Conversion |
0 - 4 (0%) |
3 - 3 (100%) |
4th Down Conversion |
0 - 0 (0%) |
0 - 0 (0%) |
2-Point Conv |
0 - 0 (0%) |
6 - 4 - 0 (66%) |
Red Zone - TD - FG |
1 - 1 - 0 (100%) |
1 |
Turnovers |
2 |
0 |
Fumbles Lost |
0 |
1 |
Intercepted |
2 |
7 |
Punt Return Yards |
0 |
113 |
Kick Return Yards |
118 |
516 |
Total Yards |
389 |
1 –42.0 |
Punts - Average |
2 - 43.0 |
0 - 0 |
Penalties |
1 - 15 |
27:57 |
Time of Possession |
12:03 |
Utah State Coach Goals
Goal |
XP Reward |
Completed |
Win a Game |
100 |
x1 |
Score a Touchdown |
25 |
x4 |
Force a Turnover |
25 |
x2 |
Rush for 100 Yards |
25 |
x1 |
3+ Sacks |
50 |
x1 |
Opponent Under 300 Pass Yards |
50 |
x1 |
Pass Completion Over 50% |
30 |
x1 |
Score 21 or More Points |
50 |
x1 |
350+ Offensive Yards |
50 |
x1 |
10+ First Downs |
50 |
x1 |
4+ 3rd Down Conversions |
25 |
x1 |
Utah State Contract Goals Update
Goal |
Expectations |
Progress |
Target Wins Per Season |
8 |
4 |
Job Security Status
100%
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