Lobos’ misfire on offense costly in loss
Colorado State’s last-second field goal frustrates Davie
As losses go, Saturday’s walk-off defeat at Colorado State is going to go down as one of the most painful in Bob Davie’s tenure as head coach at the University of New Mexico.
Wyatt Bryan’s 26-yard field goal as time expired helped the Rams pull off an improbable 20-18 win in Mountain West Conference play at Canvas Stadium in Fort Collins, Colo.
The kick came just two minutes after CSU’s all-time leading scorer shocked the sellout crowd by shanking an 18-yard gimmie and the Lobos holding an 18-17 lead.
Trailing 14-0 after surrendering a pair of first-half touchdowns, New Mexico rallied behind a pair of touchdown passes from quarterback Sheriron Jones and a short field goal from Andrew Shelley.
New Mexico (3-3, 1-1) took its first and only lead when Delane Hart-Johnson leapt for a touchdown pass from Jones early in the fourth quarter. The three-play, 12-yard drive was set up by Marcus Hayes’ 53-yard punt return.
It remained that way until the final three minutes when Colorado State drove to the UNM goal line and was forced to kick a field goal after the Lobos stopped the Rams at the edge of the end zone.
After Bryan’s miss, all the Lobos needed to run out the clock and end their eight-game losing streak to CSU was a first down on their ensuing drive. Facing a third and 5 from their own 25, they started their own demise when Jones stood in the pocket and delivered a short pass to his left to tight end Jeffrey Jones.
With a man draped on his back, Jones got
both hands on the ball but dropped it to force a punt.
Davie was seen on the live broadcast dropping to a knee on the sideline, placing both palms flat on the turf and looking straight at the ground in exasperation when the ball hit the ground.
“We had a chance to make a first down and, you know, the game’s over there at the end,” Davie said on his postgame radio interview with KKOB-AM. “We didn’t make the first down. They were down to one timeout left.”
The Rams took the punt and methodically drove 53 yards inside UNM’s 10-yardline for the second time in the waning moments of the fourth quarter. This time, Bryan’s kick was true.
His first attempt appeared to graze the left upright.
His second kick barely beat the outstretched hands of UNM edge rusher Jalin Burrell. He came around the corner and just missed Bryan’s kick, which started left but curved straight down the middle as time expired.
It ended a frustrating afternoon in which the Lobos had another balanced stat sheet for offense.
They rushed for 134 yards and passed for 165, but they turned it over in the first half on a fumble that CSU quarterback K.J. Carta-Samuels turned into points.
Carta-Samuels finished with 311 yards passing and one touchdown.
As expected, his favorite target was Preston Williams. He had nine catches for 93 yards.
Bryan’s winning kick was his 51st field goal, tying the CSU school record. Izzy Matthews carried 26 times for 92 yards for CSU, which outgained New Mexico 423-299 in total yards.
The Lobos return home next week to face Fresno State at Dreamstyle Stadium.