UNM's 23-0 demolition of Baylor University Saturday night turned out to be a game of lost and found.
The Lobos found its ferocious, top-20 defense, which held the Bears to 107 yards total offense, recorded four sacks, forced two fumbles.
On the other side of the ball, UNM might have lost senior tailback Quincy Wright for the season.
Wright, a budding star on an offense that's been starved for star power, went down late in the first quarter after running for 13 yards up the middle.
Head coach Rocky Long said Wright may have a torn the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee and could be lost for the season. He will be re-examined Monday.
Long also said UNM would look into obtaining medical redshirt status for Wright to get another year of eligibility.
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"That's the saddest part of the whole game," Long said. "It throws a damper on the victory because Quincy is such a class kid. He was having a great year and handles himself so well and he'll handle this right."
Wright gave the Lobos the lead early in the first quarter after a Baylor turnover. After the Lobos' first possession, UNM senior David Hall forced Bear punt-returner Bobby Hall to fumble a punt on the Baylor 18-yard-line. On the next play, Wright lofted a halfback pass to wideout Brian Penley for UNM's first score.
The Lobo defense took over from there, keeping a lid on Baylor's anemic offense. UNM held the Bears had negative 7 yards rushing and 10 yards passing. At halftime, Baylor only had 32 yards of total offense and would finish the game with just 107 yards.
The Bears punted nine times and only penetrated Lobos territory twice in the first half.
"Once our defense got our confidence and swagger back in that first series, it was over," senior defensive lineman D.J. Renteria said. "From that point on we knew that they were not going to move the ball on us."
UNM's offense had a productive first half, gaining 156 yards of total offense, but was unable to convert scoring opportunities.
The Lobos' four trips into Baylor territory resulted in two missed field goal attempts and two fumbles - one on the goal line.
The Lobos also lost kicker Wes Zunker on its first field goal attempt. Zunker aggravated his already strained kicking leg during a missed 43-yard attempt in the second quarter. Zunker's replacement, sophomore transfer Matt Goldstein, knuckled a kick wide right from 28 yards out on the next possession. The Lobos went into halftime with a 7-0 lead.
After the Lobos stalled at the Baylor 34-yard-line in the first possession of the third quarter, the Lobo defense got another takeaway. On third and 19, after UNM bum-rushed Bear quarterback Aaron Karas for a 7-yard loss, Renteria forced a fumble from Baylor back Jonathan Golden on the Baylor six-yard-line.
UNM redshirt freshman Dontrell Moore scored his first collegiate touchdown three plays later on a 2-yard run over left end to give the Lobos a 14-0 lead.
UNM scored with field goals on its next two possessions to make the score to 20-0.
The Lobos finished the scoring in the fourth quarter, capping a 14-play, 58-yard drive with a 26-yard field goal by Goldstein. UNM scored on four of its six second half possessions and finished the game with 314 yards of total offense.
"It was a decent game for us offensively," junior quarterback Casey Kelly said. "We'd like to put more points on the board. "
Moore led all UNM backs with 98 yards on 22 attempts and one touchdown. Kelly finished the game 14-of-28 for 98 yards.
For Baylor, Karas went 5-of-12 for 15 yards with three sacks. Senior quarterback Greg Cicero, who replaced Karas midway through the third quarter, went 7-of-16 for 47 yards. Golden, the Big 12 player of the week last week who scored six touchdowns and ran for 108 yards against Samford University, was held to 13 yards on 12 rushes.
UNM travels to Las Cruces to play archrival New Mexico State University next Saturday. The Aggies, who lost 34-13 to the University of California on Sept. 7, were idle this week.
Saturday's game is NMSU's home opener.
