2007 New Mexico Bowl The 2007 New Mexico Bowl was a post - season American college football bowl game held on December 22 , 2007 at University Stadium on the University of New Mexico campus in Albuquerque as part of the 2007 - 08 NCAA bowl season . The game , telecast on ESPN , featured the Nevada Wolf Pack from the WAC and the hometown New Mexico Lobos from the Mountain West Conference . The Lobos topped the Wolf Pack 23 - 0 to earn their first bowl win since the 1961 Aviation Bowl , a 45 year drought that was the fifth - longest in the nation . Another streak ended in the game , with the shutout of Nevada being the Wolf Pack ' s first since 1980 . New Mexico quarterback Donovan Porterie made up for a poor 2006 New Mexico Bowl performance with two touchdown tosses and kicker John Sullivan tacked on three long field goals in the win . Game summary . First Quarter . New Mexico received the opening kickoff to begin the game . The kick was returned 27 yards , and New Mexico began the first offensive drive of the game from its own 29 - yard line . After two short plays , New Mexico quarterback Donovan Porterie threw short pass to the right side of the field that turned into a 66 - yard reception by wide receiver Marcus Smith , who eluded the Nevada defenders for a touchdown . The score gave the Lobos an early 7 - 0 lead with 13 : 38 remaining in the quarter . The play was Smith ' s longest reception of the season . On their first offensive possession , Nevada began operations at its own 25 - yard line after a short kickoff return . Nevada proved unable to earn a first down , and after just three plays was forced to punt the ball away . Punter Zachary Whited kicked the ball 47 yards , and New Mexico took over on its 23 - yard line to begin its second offensive possession of the game . The Lobo offense began with a five - yard false start penalty , but were helped by a 10 - yard holding penalty against Nevada that gave New Mexico an automatic first down . Two plays later , the Lobos connected on a 22 - yard pass that took them into Nevada territory . Three incomplete passes later , New Mexico was forced to punt after failing to pick up another first down . Punter Jordan Scott kicked the ball 35 yards , pinning Nevada at their own 10 to begin their second offensive drive . On the second play , quarterback Colin Kaepernick connected with Marco Mitchell for Nevada ' s first first down of the game , a 16 - yard pass . Two consecutive false start penalties , however , pushed the Nevada offense back 10 yards and prevented Nevada from gaining another first down . Nevada ' s 47 - yard punt was returned 15 yards , and New Mexico began with good field position at its own 46 - yard line with 6 : 00 remaining in the quarter . On the second play of the drive , Nevada ' s defense got its first big break of the game as New Mexico receiver Roland Bruno fumbled the ball after catching a short pass . Nevada ' s defense recovered the fumble , and Nevada was able to take over on offense in New Mexico territory . The Wolf Pack offense continued to struggle , however , and failed to pick up a first down after the turnover . Nevada again punted the ball away . The kick rolled into the end zone for a touchback , and New Mexico began at its 20 - yard line . The first play of the drive resulted in a 23 - yard completion to Travis Brown . A screen pass two plays later went for 21 yards and the Lobos again penetrated into Nevada territory . A false start penalty set the UNM offense back five yards , but two plays later , Porterie connected on 39 - yard touchdown to Travis Brown . The touchdown came with 2 : 22 remaining in the quarter and gave New Mexico a 14 - 0 lead over Nevada . Nevada began its final drive of the first quarter from its own 30 - yard line desperately needing to score in order to keep the game from getting out of hand . As before , however , Nevada struggled to advance the ball . Wolf Pack quarterback Colin Kaepernick was forced to convert two third - down plays to keep the drive alive . As time ran out in the quarter , Nevada faced a second - and - 12 situation on the New Mexico 41 - yard line . At the end of the first quarter , New Mexico led 14 - 0 . Nevada had struggled on offense throughout the quarter , but had begun to put together what was then its longest drive of the game as time ran out . Second Quarter . In the middle of its best drive thus far , Nevada completed a short pass , but was stopped for a loss on the next play . Electing to attempt the fourth - down conversion , quarterback Colin Kaepernick kept the ball on a quarterback scramble , but was pushed out of bounds one yard short of the first down . New Mexico took over on offense following the turnover on downs , and again began to move the ball down the field . At midfield , New Mexico quarterback Donovan Porterie attempted to throw the ball deep , but was intercepted by Nevada ' s Justin Jackson . After the interception , Nevada took over on its own 31 - yard line . The Nevada offense picked up two first downs , but two consecutive penalties on third down nullified two separate first - down plays and Nevada was again forced to punt . New Mexico took over at its 28 - yard line with 9 : 13 remaining in the second quarter . A steady Lobo rushing attack picked up yards and first downs on the ground , and New Mexico moved the ball downfield with success . After crossing into Nevada territory , however , the Lobos began to run into difficulty . Inside the Pack 40 - yard line , Nevada forced a stop after Porterie was sack ed for an 6 - yard loss . All - American kicker John Sullivan came into the game to attempt a career - long 53 - yard field goal for New Mexico . Sullivan , who had played the entire season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left ( plant ) leg , completed the kick , thus giving the Lobos a 17 - 0 lead with 5 : 55 remaining in the first half . Taking over at their own 25 - yard line following the post - score kickoff , Nevada had just under six minutes to score before halftime . Any hope of doing just that , however , quickly came to an end as the Pack ' s first four plays resulted in - 1 yards and a punt . Following the kick , which came with 4 : 19 remaining in the half , New Mexico now had a chance to expand their lead before halftime . A 20 - yard completion to tight end Chris Mark put the Lobos in position to do just that , but UNM failed to earn a second first down . John Sullivan was sent in to attempt another field goal , this time a 45 - yarder , which was also successfully converted . The kick allowed Sullivan to tie an NCAA record for consecutive games with multiple field goals and gave New Mexico a 20 - 0 lead with 2 : 48 before halftime . Taking over at their 18 - yard line following the kickoff , Nevada had another chance to put points on the board before halftime . Wolf Pack wide receiver Marko Mitchell caught a 13 - yard pass for a first down , and the Nevada rushing game picked up another . Mitchell then caught a 24 - yard pass to put Nevada on the New Mexico 34 - yard line , their deepest penetration of the first half . Two plays later , however , Nevada running back Brandon Fragger fumbled the ball , which was recovered by the New Mexico defense with 46 seconds remaining in the half . The New Mexico offense took advantage of the opportunity , advancing the ball in five plays to the Nevada two - yard line . With seven seconds remaining , the Lobos failed to complete a touchdown pass and sent in John Sullivan to attempt a 20 - yard field goal with three seconds remaining in the half . Sullivan ' s kick was blocked by Kenny Viser of Nevada , denying New Mexico the field goal before the half . Despite the special teams breakthrough , Nevada trailed New Mexico 20 - 0 at halftime . Third Quarter . Because New Mexico received the opening kickoff , Nevada received the ball to begin the second half . On the return , New Mexico ' s leading defensive tackler , Ian Clark , separated his shoulder and did not return to the game . Despite the loss of Clark on defense , New Mexico was still able to stop Nevada from gaining a first down . During the stop , however , the Lobos lost yet another defensive player , Blake Ligon , to a broken rib . Following a Nevada punt , New Mexico took over on offense at its 28 - yard line . On the first New Mexico play of the second half , running back Paul Baker broke through the defensive line of Nevada for a 37 - yard run , driving New Mexico deep into Nevada territory . Though successful on that play , and on several subsequent plays , New Mexico committed a 15 - yard personal foul penalty that prevented the Lobos from gaining another first down . John Sullivan came out to attempt a 44 - yard field goal , but the kick was blocked just as his kick at the end of the first half had been . Nevada recovered the blocked kick , returning it to the New Mexico 44 - yard line where the Wolf Pack offense took over with over 10 minutes remaining in the quarter . Despite the excellent field position , Nevada was again unable to gain a first down . New Mexico ' s defense earned a quarterback sack and forced the Pack to punt the ball away . The kick rolled into the end zone for a touchback , and the Lobo offense took over at its 20 - yard line . A holding penalty against New Mexico pushed back the UNM offense , and the Lobos were forced to punt after going three - and - out . Nevada took over at its 35 - yard line , but was also unable to move the ball and punted it again . On the first play after taking over at its 20 - yard lane , the New Mexico offense got its second big play of the second half as Roland Bruno hauled in a 58 - yard pass to drive the Lobos deep into Nevada territory . On the next play , Paul Baker ran for 24 yards to drive New Mexico inside the Nevada four - yard line . There , the Lobos ' offense ran into a brick wall as the Nevada defense stopped New Mexico on four straight plays to keep the Lobos out of the end zone . New Mexico , which chose to try to complete the fourth - and - goal play instead of kicking a field goal , was denied points and turned the ball over to Nevada on downs with 2 : 30 remaining in the quarter . Though Nevada had managed a stop on fourth - and - short , its offense was now pinned inside its one - yard line . After picking up a first down , Nevada had emerged from the shadow of its end zone . A 10 - yard holding penalty on the next play pushed the Wolf Pack back towards their goal line , however , and quarterback Colin Kaepernick was unable to pick up another first down . As time ran out in the third quarter , Nevada failed to convert a third - and - 18 . After a scoreless third quarter , New Mexico still led Nevada 20 - 0 . Nevada ' s offense continued to have difficulty moving the ball . Despite losing their best and sixth - best tacklers , the New Mexico defense completely contained the Wolf Pack offense and kept Nevada from scoring . Fourth Quarter . The fourth quarter began with Nevada punting out of its own end zone , the ninth Nevada punt of the game . New Mexico ' s O . J . Swift returned the kick to the Nevada 33 - yard line , where the Lobo offense began work . Despite excellent field position , New Mexico ' s offense fared no better than Nevada ' s , and was pushed back after gaining just one first down . Kicker John Sullivan was called upon , but missed a 43 - yard field goal try . Sullivan had only missed three kicks during the entire 2007 regular season , but with 11 : 57 remaining in the game , his third miss of the 2007 New Mexico Bowl left New Mexico scoreless on yet another possession . Despite that fact , the Lobos continued to hold on to their 20 - 0 lead . After taking over at their own 26 - yard line , Nevada managed to complete a 21 - yard pass for a first down . After that play , however , the Nevada offense reverted to the pattern of ineptitude it had displayed throughout the game . Unable to earn another first down , Nevada was forced into its 10th punt of the game , a 37 - yard kick that forced New Mexico back to its 17 yard - line . New Mexico proceeded to run several rushing plays in order to run down the clock and give Nevada less time for any potential comeback . Eventually stopped and forced to punt the ball away , New Mexico ' s offense was granted new life after Nevada committed a 15 - yard roughing the kicker penalty that gave New Mexico an automatic first down on fourth down . New Mexico ' s clock - draining drive continued inside the Nevada red zone . The Wolf Pack defense was able to gain another defensive stop , but New Mexico had advanced within the field goal range of John Sullivan , who nailed a 37 - yard attempt with 4 : 18 remaining to give New Mexico a 23 - 0 lead . With little time remaining and with Nevada facing more than a three - touchdown deficit , the Wolf Pack had little chance to win . Despite that fact , the Nevada offense had one more chance to score and avoid a shutout . Three consecutive passes fell incomplete , and Nevada punted the ball away for the 11th time . With three and a half minutes remaining , New Mexico took over on offense and proceeded to run out the clock .