To celebrate Saturday's Homecoming game, the UNM football team brought down the University of Utah 42-35 in overtime.
And celebrating Lobo fans brought down a goalpost.
UNM (4-5, 2-1 MWC) used big plays to stay in the game, then used its misdirection offense and staunch defense to dispatch the Utes (2-6, 0-4) and stay in the MWC bowl hunt. The Lobos forced the overtime with 46 seconds left in the fourth quarter when junior quarterback Casey Kelly plunged into the end zone to cap a 10-play, 49-yard drive. Freshman kicker Kenny Byrd came in and calmly tied the game with the extra point.
Utah drove down in the final seconds, but Utah kicker Bryan Borreson, who hit a 51-yard field goal earlier in the season, missed badly to the left on the 50-yard, game-winning attempt. It was Borreson's second missed field goal of the second half. The first coming in the third quarter, was a 20-yard chip shot.
"Both teams played with enormous heart," Lobo head coach Rocky Long said. "I thought Utah played their hearts out and I thought our kids played their hearts out too. I thought that (this game is) what college football is all about."
In overtime, UNM went on defense first and held for the first two plays, much as they did for the entire second half. But Utah converted a 3rd and 10 with a 16-yard pass from quarterback Brett Elliott to wide receiver Devin Houston. Two plays later, Elliott connected with tight end J.D. Jorgenson for six-yard touchdown pass. The Utes made the PAT for a 35-28 lead.
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The Lobos came out on their first possession and powered behind their experienced offensive line, which set the tone for much of the game. UNM needed only two-plays to tie the game. After a six-yard run by freshman tailback DonTrell Moore on first down, Kelly kept the ball on a misdirection play and ran left 19 yards for the tying touchdown. UNM contemplated going for a two-point conversion, but a delay-of-game penalty moved the ball back to the eight-yard-line. Byrd then came on again to precisely split the uprights for the extra point.
"I guess that was someone telling me not to go for two," We Long said. of the penalty.
In the second overtime series, UNM started again with a six-yard-run by Moore and a big run from Kelly. Kelly's 14-yard run took the ball to the Utah five-yard line. After a one-yard run by Moore and a three-yard run by senior quarterback Justin Millea, Millea kept the ball on third and inches to score what proved to be the winning touchdown.
UNM's defense, which returned to its bend-not-break form after a rough first half, held Utah to short runs. Ute tailback Brandon Warfield kept Utah's hopes alive with a three-yard dive on fourth down. But the Utes were unable to convert another first down as Elliot threw four straight incompletions - including a near interception - to end overtime.
"It was time for us to pick it up," senior saftey Terrell Golden said. "We can't allow other teams to come in here and do what they want."
The UNM defense did a great job of containing Utah in the second half. After giving up 274 passing yards in the first half, the Lobos held the Utes to 166 yards through the air.
Long said the defensive secondary shifted from man-to-man coverage to zone midway through the second half - after Elliott's 24-yard touchdown pass to wide-open receiver Houston which put Utah up 28-14.
On offense, the Lobos got great games out of Kelly, who went 11-for-23 passing for 134 yards and two touchdowns, and Moore, who had 163 yards on 27 rushes with one touchdown. It was the second week in a row that Moore broke the 100-yard mark.
Kelly added 55 yards on 12 carries while Millea ran for 28 yards on six carries, including the game-winning touchdown.
