After UNM failed to convert on fourth-and-2 at Wyoming's 29-yard line, the Cowboys had just 59 seconds and 64 yards to steal victory away from the Lobos, who were up 36-30.
On the third play of the drive — third-and-10, no less — quarterback Colby Kirkegaard hit receiver Tanner Gentry down the right sideline for a gain of 44 yards, setting up first-and-goal at UNM's 5-yard line. A false-start penalty followed by two incompletions and a six-yard pass put the Cowboys in a fourth-and-goal situation.
Kirkegaard's final pass attempt into the end zone fell incomplete with just 12 seconds left, giving the Lobos a 36-30 win at University Stadium on Saturday in their regular season finale.
The win gives UNM its first home victory of the season, where it finished 1-5. It's also the first time that the Lobos (4-8, 2-6 MW) have won two Mountain West games in a year since the 2008 season.
"I mean, all year we talk about don't flinch'; no matter what happens, you've got three more plays," UNM senior safety David Guthrie said. "As long as you get them down and they don't score a touchdown, you have at least three more plays to go out there and stop them. And that's something that we did."
Wyoming (4-8, 2-6) had a significant advantage in both plays and total offensive yards, but UNM came up with critical victories on defense and special teams to help its offense. The Cowboys had 94 plays to the Lobos' 32 and outgained them 541 to 382.
The defensive touchdown came when junior cornerback Cranston Jones picked of Kirkegaard in the first quarter and returned it 19 yards for a touchdown for a 7-3 lead.
More critically was when junior wide receiver Carlos Wiggins returned a kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter, giving UNM its 36-30 lead.
The return touchdown gave Wiggins four for his career, a school and Mountain West record.
Wiggins has been dealing with hamstring and ankle issues all season long. He missed five games because of the ankle injury.
"It was very satisfying; this season has been very stressful since day one," Wiggins said. "But to get this return was probably one of the biggest plays I've made, of course, this season and in my lifetime. It was a great feeling."
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
The key stat for UNM's defense was third down, where the Cowboys started 11-for-15, but finished just 1-for-8. The final time Wyoming converted on third down was on the 44-yard pass from Kirkegaard to Gentry.
UNM head coach Bob Davie said the difference on third down was that UNM decided to start blitzing more. The Lobos finished the game with a season-high six sacks.
"If we go down, we're going down swinging. We've changed so much of what we are again just because of some things with matchup situations," he said. "At the core we are a blitz-and-come-after-them defense. We've all had success with it. Hopefully next year we'll have some more pieces, but at the end we were coming after them every down."
UNM redshirt junior tailback Jhurell Pressley also hit a milestone by rushing for more than 1,000 yards on the season. Pressley's 69-yard touchdown run in the second quarter, where he ran up the sideline and zigzagged across the field, broke the mark for him. He finished with 1,083 yards on the year.
The Lobo rushing attack earned just 241 yards against Wyoming. Pressley led UNM with 101 yards on 11 attempts, and redshirt freshman quarterback Lamar Jordan had 76 yards on nine carries.
Jordan also went 6 of 7 for 141 yards, including a 75-yard touchdown throw to a wide-open senior receiver Tyler Duncan that gave UNM a 14-10 lead in the first quarter. Jordan's only incompletion came on a Hail Mary attempt at the end of the first half, which was intercepted in the end zone.
UNM had trouble sustaining drives the entire game: its longest drive consisted of just six plays for 68 yards in the fourth quarter. The Lobos had just two drives that went six plays.
"We went out there and we started off not performing as well as we wanted to. We weren't sustaining drives," redshirt senior offensive lineman LaMar Bratton said. "It just really shows that we have that strong character and that our guys are always going to fight. No matter what the situation is, no matter who the opponent or how bad we can be playing, we can still turn it around."
Thomas Romero-Salas is the sports editor for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @ThomasRomeroS.
