For the second time this year, fans celebrated a UNM football win by bringing down the goal posts.
But this time, the Lobo faithful were fully justified in bringing down the uprights -- the Lobos had just secured their second bowl berth in 41 years.
UNM (7-6, 5-2 in the Mountain West Conference) finished its improbable late-season run Saturday with a dominating 49-20 win over the University of Wyoming at University Stadium.
The Lobos got career games from junior quarterback Casey Kelly and redshirt freshman running back DonTrell Moore. UNM also got a dominating performance by its defense, which harassed the Cowboys' renowned junior quarterback Casey Bramlet into three interceptions and sacked him nine times to tie a school record.
"The most impressive aspect of this game was that there was a group of kids who nobody thought could win." UNM Head coach Rocky Long said. "(They are) the gutsiest football team I have ever been associated with."
With the win, the Lobos secured a second-place finish in the MWC, the highest finish for UNM since the inception of the MWC in 1999.
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Junior linebacker Nick Speegle said the game was an emotional one for the team -- as was the victory.
"It was really emotional because we had a lot of guys hurt," Speegle said. "It was bad all week. That part was hard. But at the same time we knew we had it in our hands."
Saturday's game featured the running of both Kelly and Moore, who surpassed the freshman running record Winslow Oliver set in 1992. Moore, who rushed for 176 yards on 28 carries, became only the ninth UNM running back to top the 1,000-yard mark. His 1,117 yards places him third on the all-time season rushing list.
Kelly set career-highs in both rushing yards and touchdown passes Saturday. He racked up 84 yards on 12 rushes and threw four touchdown passes in going seven-for-11 passing for 164 yards.
"It's just awesome, it's kind of hard to comprehend right now," Kelly said. "To be going into the postseason to go to a bowl game is just an awesome feeling."
The Lobos scored on their first drive, a seven-play, 80-yard affair that ended with a one-yard plunge by Moore. UNM scored twice more in the first half -- with 2:55 left in the first on a seven-yard run by Moore that was set up by a D.J. Renteria interception at the Wyoming 14-yard line and with 11:53 left in the second quarter on a nine-yard pass from Kelly to Moore after Wyoming's first touchdown. That score was set up by a 39-yard pass from Kelly to tight end Zach Cresap.
The Cowboys narrowed the Lobo lead to 14-7 with 48 seconds left in the first on a two-yard run by Derek Amah. Wyoming's second score, a three-yard pass from Bramlet to receiver Scottie Vines, was set up by a 34-yard desperation pass to wideout Malcom Floyd and a pass interference call on UNM at the Lobo 18-yard line.
The 21-14 halftime score was the closest the Cowboys would come. UNM forced Wyoming to punt on its first three drives of the second half while scoring on its first three possessions of the half.
The first score came after a 45-yard punt return by junior Dwight Counter. Two plays later, Kelly connected with Moore again for a touchdown pass, making the score 28-14. UNM other two scores came on a 28-yard pass from Kelly to Counter and a spectacular snaking 35-yard Moore touchdown run.
In the fourth quarter, after a Brandon Ratcliff interception, the Lobos would finish their scoring with a 25-yard Kelly pass on a post pattern to senior Joe Manning to make the score 49-14. Wyoming would score the game's final points with 4:35 in the fourth on a 24-yard pass from freshman quarterback Corey Bramlet to Vines
UNM now awaits word from the Las Vegas Bowl, which will take the second-selection from the MWC, or the San Francisco Bowl, which has the third selection from the conference.
Long and UNM Athletic Director Rudy Davalos both said either game is fine, but Davalos did say he felt UNM was the "second-best, if not the best" team in the league and should be invited to the Las Vegas Bowl.
"If the Vegas Bowl doesn't choose us, that's their problem not our problem," he said.
Senior cornerback Desmar Black echoed the sentiments of many teammates regarding the bowl.
"I don't care where we go," he said. "We're going to a bowl and that's all that matters."
