The Lobo football team finally got solid play — and scores — in all three phases of the game as the team recorded eight touchdowns from eight different players en route to a 59-17 thumping of Louisiana-Monroe Saturday at University Stadium.
Junior cornerback Jadon Boatright, who has logged limited minutes this season due to a turf toe injury, proved he is back as healthy as ever, and made an immediate impact in the game on defense.
He picked off Louisiana-Monroe’s Will Collins on the third play of the game when the quarterback hung the ball in the air just a bit too long. 40 yards later, Boatright was in the end zone, and the Lobos were up 7-0.
But the Lobos were just getting warmed up. The offense scored on its first three series, covering 240 yards on those drives. And before the clock expired, New Mexico was sitting on a 28-0 lead.
New Mexico has gotten off to hot starts in every game except the 49-21 Boise State loss a couple of weeks ago. Head coach Bob Davie said Louisiana-Monroe probably blitzed and came after the team more than any other opposition so far this season, but the offense made some good decisions.
“People know what’s coming...but it’s trying to duplicate that speed in practice,” he said. “I think it’s a pretty fun team to watch, I do. There are a lot of explosive things going on out there.”
The running game picked up a staggering 476 yards on the day and accounted for five of the team’s eight touchdowns.
McQuarley rumbled into the end zone on a 12-yard score, making it six games out of seven that he has recorded a rushing touchdown. But the star of the game in the backfield was Tyrone Owens.
As a team, the Lobos averaged better than nine yards per carry. Owens more than doubled that on his own, averaging 19.0 yards per rush and picking up 171 yards on just nine carries. He had an 83-yard scoring run, which is the fifth-longest in program history.
New Mexico’s rushing performance should keep the Lobos comfortably in the number one slot as the nation’s top running team as they easily outperformed its 374.1 yards-per-game average.
Lamar Jordan was not a factor in running the ball, but had the offense looking like a well-oiled machine against the Warhawks. He floated a beautiful fade route over two defenders into the hands of senior wideout Dameon Gamblin just before the half.
Even some mistakes, including two first-half fumbles on offense, didn’t cost the Lobos in the end. One of those fumbles took a touchdown off the board, but the oft-maligned defense stepped up to limit the Warhawks to three first-half points.
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Elijah Lilly emerged as a return threat in last week’s 45-40 victory over Air Force. He returned four kickoffs for 160 yards in that game, and nearly broke loose for a touchdown in one of them.
Prior to the game, Davie said he spoke with his kick returner about former rapper Vanilla Ice, alluding to whether Lilly could duplicate last week’s success that garnered him conference Special Teams Player of the Week honors.
Lilly got the reference.
“I really don’t know anything about Vanilla Ice,” Lilly said. “He just asked me if I was a one-hit wonder, and I told him no.”
The answer appears to be clear, as Lilly broke free and scampered down the sideline for a scoring 93-yard return on the second-half kickoff.
Lilly’s kick return for touchdown kept a couple of active New Mexico streaks alive. The Lobos have now registered a touchdown on kickoffs for seven straight years, trailing only Kansas State’s active run of 12 years.
New Mexico also matched Kansas State for the lead with five kickoff returns for touchdowns in the past five seasons.
The team found a good time to start clicking on all cylinders, as it will finish the season with five straight conference games.
Gamblin said the team doesn’t just want to get in a bowl game — the players want to win one. He said the team needs to ride the momentum and continue focusing on getting better from game to game.
“Don’t get caught up in the good or the bad, because they both can ruin you,” he said. “Take it and learn from it and move on to the next opponent.”
The Lobos won consecutive games for the first time this season, and will travel to Hawaii for its next test on Saturday at 10 p.m.
Robert Maler is the sports editor for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers football and men’s and women’s tennis. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @robert_maler.
