By Thomas Romero-Salas
One more yard was all New Mexico needed to extend Saturday’s game.
For the first time in the game, UNM found itself trailing Boise State 53-49. The Lobos were able to drive the ball to midfield on their next possession, but faced a critical fourth-and-2 situation at their own 48-yard line with 4:11 remaining.
After a timeout, redshirt freshman quarterback Lamar Jordan tried to dive for the first down by keeping the ball on an option run. At first the referees signaled that Jordan had gained enough for a new set of downs. However, the play was reviewed and subsequently overturned as the replay official saw Jordan’s elbow hit the turf before he made it to the first-down marker.
Boise State (7-2, 4-1 Mountain West) took over on downs and conducted a seven-play, 49-yard game-sealing drive capped by Jay Ajayi’s 14-yard touchdown run, giving the Broncos a 60-49 win over UNM at University Stadium.
“The big story was that we couldn’t stop them,” head coach Bob Davie said, “but they couldn’t stop us, either. There at the end, we all would have liked to see what would have happened if the fourth down conversion had held there at midfield. But it was a great football game.”
The teams combined for 1,301 total yards of offense: UNM finished with 627 total yards of offense, while Boise State had 674.
Bronco quarterback Grant Hedrick gave UNM problems all night. On multiple occasions Hedrick used his legs to pick up key yards, earning 131 yards on 15 carries with two scores. He also completed 21 of 32 passes for 367 yards with four touchdowns.
Boise State running back Jay Ajayi also had little trouble navigating through UNM’s defense, gaining 168 rushing yards on 31 attempts with two scores.
“This one does hurt, but it’s been throughout the whole year,” senior safety David Guthrie said. “People just aren’t doing their jobs, and it puts us in a hard position to come back from.”
The Lobos had 505 rushing yards in the game, but had just 96 yards on the ground after halftime. Sophomore running back Teriyon Gipson had career highs in carries (24) and yards (205). Redshirt junior tailback Jhurell Pressley earned 154 yards on just seven attempts, but left the game in the second quarter due to an ankle injury and didn’t return. Jordan, who made his first career start, ran for 53 rushing yards on 12 attempts. He also completed 9 of 16 passes for 122 yards.
UNM (3-6, 1-4 MW) was outscored 25-7 in the second half and is now 0-5 at home.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
“It’s just the same story,” Davie said. “I think not having Pressley hurt us; we settled down on defense. It’s a shame they got the last touchdown. Boise was just trying everything they could try. Hopefully it’s a sign of maybe what it can be.”
The game started off at a breakneck pace with back-to-back 75-yard touchdowns. Pressley ran right up the middle for his score, while Ajayi took a screen pass untouched to the end zone.
Later in the first quarter, UNM took a 28-14 lead when Gipson ran it in from 1 yard out.
“We came into the game knowing that we could dominate them up front as long as we read our keys and hit the front side,” Gipson said. “The holds were there. The offensive line did a great job. The receivers did a great blocking the cornerbacks when we got to the second level.”
Redshirt sophomore returner Ridge Jones made two big plays in the first half. He returned a kickoff 100 yards for a score and also took an option pitch 75 yards to the end zone. The latter gave UNM a 42-28 lead in the second quarter.
UNM held a 42-35 halftime edge after Hedrick hit wide receiver Shane Williams-Rhodes for an 8-yard score with 30 seconds left in the half.
Cox injured
Sophomore linebacker Dakota Cox severely injured his right knee in UNM’s loss versus Boise State, Davie said.
Cox was injured late in the fourth quarter and was seen being helped off by the training staff. He had 15 tackles and leads UNM with 116 tackles on the season.
Thomas Romero-Salas is the sports editor for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @ThomasRomeroS.
