Under the bright lights of Las Vegas, senior back-up quarterback Justin Millea and the Lobos' defense upset the University of Nevada at Las Vegas 25-16 Saturday, spoiling the Rebels' homecoming.
Millea, filling in for injured junior quarterback Casey Kelly, displayed avid running skills in his first-ever start at quarterback for UNM.
The defense regained the intensity it showed in its shutout victory over Baylor University and looked like its former self as it helped beat the Rebels in a gutsy performance.
The Lobos' defense fought and hustled to one of its most fearless performances of the year, creating four turnovers resulting in 10 points and a UNM victory.
With 4:41 left the second quarter, senior linebacker Charles Moss intercepted a pass from UNLV quarterback Jason Thomas. During the runback. Moss flipped a lateral to cornerback Desmar Black, who took it the rest of the way for a touchdown return.
The defense also scored four points on a safety and a 101-yard interception return off a UNLV two-point conversion attempt.
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It was the Lobos' first win in Las Vegas in three attempts. UNM improved their record to 3-4 overall and 1-1 in Mountain West Conference action.
The UNM offense pounded the ball on the ground to the tune of 257 yards against one of the best rushing defenses in the MWC.
Millea led the team, running for 148 yards on 20 carries, including a 73-yard touchdown run on a quarterback draw play.
Freshman tailback DonTrell Moore had an impressive outing carrying the ball 16 times for 62 yards. Sophomore fullback Landrick Brody had a solid game as well, racking up 44 yards on 11 carries. Millea was 2 of 8 for 20 yards and one interception.
The Lobos drew first blood midway through the first quarter. UNM drove 90 yards, the longest Lobo drive of the year. Three rushes for 54 yards by Millea and an explosive 20-yard run by Moore sparked the first score for UNM. Moored walked into the end zone from three yards out to cap off the drive with 7:34 remaining in the half and give the Lobos a 7-0 lead.
On the ensuing drive, the Rebels drove 57 yards on seven plays and kicked a field goal to make the score 7-3. It was a prelude in a wild ending to the first half.
Millea tossed an interception and UNLV looked to capitalize and change the momentum of the game. But on third down, the New Mexico defense struck gold on Moss' intereception and lateral to Black to take a 14-3 lead.
The Lobo defense produced four turnovers -- three interceptions and a fumble recovery. It only had three interceptions all season coming into the game.
"That's how you win games," Head coach Rocky Long said on 770 KKOB after the game. "Making big plays at the right time. They had 75 snaps and we only had 57, so there had to be some big plays in there to generate some points."
The first half scoring didn't stop there. Moore fumbled the ball at the UNM 10-yard line with 2:18 remaining in the half, giving UNLV great field position. The Rebels capitalized on a one-yard touchdown run by Thomas, cutting the Rebels' deficit to 14-10 at the break.
At the 5:47 mark of the third quarter, UNM struck again. On third down, from the Lobos' own 23, Millea ran a quarterback draw and busted through the middle. He went untouched and galloped through the secondary for a 73-yard score.
"We were going to try to run it," Long said. "Because we wanted to keep the ball away from them and we wanted to burn up some clock. I was surprised that we ran it as well as we did, but it helped us win the game."
It was the longest run from scrimmage for the Lobos since 1997. The touchdown gave UNM a 21-10 lead and its last offensive points of the game.
In the fourth quarter, Thomas was benched. Kurt Nantkes took over the helm and led the Rebels on an eight-play, 65-yard drive that ended with a one-yard touchdown pass from Nantkes to wideout Michael Johnson, closing the Lobos lead to 21-16.
On UNLV's ensuing two-point conversion attempt, UNM junior safety Brandon Ratcliff picked off the pass in the end zone and ran it back 101 yards to score two for rhw Lobos.
UNM seasled the victory in the final minutes of the game, junior Lobo defensive end Daniel Kegler sacked Nantkes in the end zone for another safety, giving UNM two more points for a decisive final score, 25-16. Long was showered with Gatorade after the victory as the Lobos celebrated a much-needed victory.
In their final non-conference game of the year, the Lobos travel to Logan, Utah, Saturday to take on a tough Utah State University team.
The Aggies (1-5), who play as a Division-I independent, had a bye week this week. USU has one win this season -- against Div. I-AA Idaho State.
In its last game on Oct. 4, the Utags held a 34-7 healftime lead over Brigham Young Unviersity but surrendered 28 second half points to lose to the Cougars 35-34.
At presstime, the game was scheduled to be broadcast by KKOB-AM , but was not scheduled to be televised.
