2007 New Mexico Lobos football team The 2007 New Mexico Lobos football team represented The University of New Mexico during the 2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season . The team was coached by Rocky Long . The New Mexico Lobos play their home games at University Stadium in Albuquerque , New Mexico . The team enjoyed success in comparison to the year before , where they went 6 - 6 before losing to San Jose State in the first inaugural New Mexico Bowl . The Lobos ' schedule also appeared to be stronger , playing tough road games against Arizona , TCU , Utah , and San Diego State . Game notes . UTEP . Coming off a lackluster 6 - 7 season , the Lobos were determined to come away from El Paso with a victory . The game started off slow , with a combined score of just 3 points ( UTEP ' s Jose Martinez scored a 51 - yard field goal on their first possession ) . In the second quarter , the Lobos responded with a field goal of their own , bring the score to 3 - 3 . Both teams ' defenses held up for the remainder of the first half . To begin the third quarter , neither team could score . The two traded punts and had key defensive stops to end the third quarter still 3 - 3 . Early success in the fourth quarter allowed New Mexico to go up 6 - 3 when John Sullivan connected for a 40 - yard field goal . UTEP gained possession of the football and drove down the field , aided by two New Mexico penalites . Terrell Jackson broke free from defenders on a 36 - yard run , and scored the night ' s only touchdown with 13 : 08 remaining . Despite the amount of time remaining , neither team would score again . The final was 10 - 6 . It was the lowest point production by UTEP since 1975 . New Mexico State . In the annual Battle for 1 - 25 , New Mexico State , which was losing in the overtime series between the two , was determined to pull out a victory against their instate rival New Mexico . New Mexico was ready , however , and their offense was on target most of the night . To begin the game , both sides showed their mighy offenses , putting up 14 points on both sides of the scoreboard . The second quarter seemed to slow down the offensive production . New Mexico ' s defense allowed 0 points , while New Mexico State ' s gave up only a field goal . The score going into halftime was 17 - 14 . In the third quarter , both teams again showed off their offense , but the defense was still strong . Both teams put up 10 points , making the score 27 - 24 going into the final quarter of the game . New Mexico scored a touchdown early in the quarter , while New Mexico State made a field goal , making the score 34 - 27 with around 7 : 00 left to play . NMSU had possession of the ball , and was driving down the field , led mostly by quarterback Chase Holbrook . Momentum swung , however , when an errant pass landed in the arms of New Mexico ' s Frankie Solomon . New Mexico quarterback Donovan Porterie stepped up quickly , connecting on a 50 - yard pass to Travis Brown to reach the Aggies ' 25 - yard line . John Sullivan made a 21 - yard field goal , putting the Lobos up 37 - 27 with 5 : 22 to play . Despite a 10 point deficit , the Aggies began to drive again , but their loss was guaranteed when Holbrook threw another interception . New Mexico quickly drove down the field and scored a touchdown , making the score 44 - 27 . Holbrook would not quit , though , and he drove his Aggie team down for a touchdown with 1 : 16 left to play . On the onside kick , New Mexico State managed to retrieve the ball , but with such little time left , they could not score in time , reaching the 4 - yard line when time expired . The game drew the fourth largest crowd ever in University Stadium , with an attendance of 41 , 033 . University Stadium ' s capacity only reaches 38 , 634 , but many fans sat on the grassy area on the southeast part of the stadium . With the win , the Lobos improved to 1 - 1 . Arizona . Coming off a big victory against rival New Mexico State , the Lobos headed into Arizona for a big road game . The first quarter saw impressive stats from both teams , with a close score of 7 - 10 leading into the second quarter . The second quarter was the start of Arizona ' s decline , with several key penalties called against them , and a turnover that led to a New Mexico touchdown . Going into halftime , the Lobos led 14 - 13 . On their first possession of the third quarter , Arizona drove down the field to the 2 - yard line . On the next play , however , they fumbled the ball , and New Mexico ' s OJ Smith picked it up . New Mexico quarterback Donovan Porterie led the Lobos down the field several times and allowed them to score 12 points . The Lobos had a comfortable 26 - 13 lead going into the fourth quarter . Arizona continued to play hard however , with quarterback Tuitama leading the Wildcats down the field . The team put up 14 points in the fourth quarter , but their mistakes in penalties and turnovers cost them , as New Mexico put up 3 points towards the end of the quarter , edging out Arizona 29 - 27 . Donovan Porterie threw for 327 yards and had three touchdowns , and Arizona ' s Tuitama threw for 446 yards with three touchdowns . It was only the Lobos ' second win against a Pac - 10 team in 11 games . With the victory , the Lobos improved to 2 - 1 . Sacramento State . After an impressive win in Arizona , the Lobos returned home to face 1 - AA opponent . The Hornets came into the game 0 - 6 against Division 1 - A football teams . New Mexico running back Rodney Ferguson had a total of 129 yards rushing and a career high four touchdowns . Donovan Porterie threw for 229 yards and one touchdown . The Hornets were mistake ridden , giving up key turnovers and were not able to have offensive success . They could not score any points throughout the entire game , and the Lobos won 58 - 0 . With the win , the Lobos improved to 3 - 1 BYU . In an important Mountain West Conference game , BYU came to New Mexico with a 1 - 0 conference record . Both teams had strong momentum coming into the game , with New Mexico on a 3 game win streak . The first three quarters of the game were mostly even , with both offenses trading touchdowns and punts . Donovan Porterie and Max Hall were impressive , and the score leading into the fourth quarter was a tie ; 21 - 21 . Early in the fourth quarter , the Lobos fumbled the ball away to BYU , which set up a touchdown by Hall . The Lobos quickly drove down the field and answered with a 43 - yard field goal , making the score 28 - 24 . New Mexico managed to hold BYU to a three and out possession , but the momentum quickly shifted when Frankie Solomon fumbled on the punt return . Hall led the team down the field , and set up a 22 - yard field goal , causing the Cougars to hold a 31 - 24 lead . New Mexico was unable to move down the field and was forced to punt . The Cougars ran down the clock , which led to their victory . With the loss , the Lobos fell to 3 - 2 overall and 0 - 1 in conference play . Wyoming . Following their loss to BYU , the Lobos headed to Wyoming for their second Mountain West Conference game . On their first possession of the game , the Lobos charged down field on a drive that ended in a 39 - yard John Sullivan field goal , giving the Lobos an early lead . For the rest of the first quarter , neither team managed to gain enough offensive momentum to score . At the end of quarter , a weather delay was issued because of strong lightning and heavy rain in the area . The delay would go on to last 1 hour and 43 minutes . After the delay , the second quarter began and New Mexico drove down the field , with Donovan Porterie completing a 63 - yard TD pass to Travis Brown . The game went to halftime , but it was shortened to only 3 minutes because of the delay . Early in the third quarter , Wyoming quarterback Karsten Sween fumbled on their own 2 - yard line , leading to a New Mexico score . Later in the quarter , New Mexico scored a field goal , bringing the score to 20 - 3 . Neither team would score in the fourth quarter , and New Mexico walked away with the win . With the win , the Lobos improved to 4 - 2 overall and 1 - 1 in conference play . San Diego State . Coming off a road win against Wyoming , the Lobos visited Qualcomm Stadium to face another important conference game against San Diego State . In the first quarter of the game , neither team showed any offensive breakthroughs , with New Mexico scoring only a field goal , and SDSU scoring nothing . The score going into the second quarter was 3 - 0 In the second quarter , San Diego State ' s quarterback Kevin O ' Connell had success moving his team down the field , on a drive where he himself scored a rushing touchdown . SDSU also scored a field goal on a later possession . New Mexico quickly responded with a touchdown of their own , leaving the score 10 - 10 at halftime . In the third quarter , the Lobos seemed to be out of sync offensively , while San Diego State forced them to punt . O ' Connell was able to push his offense down the field and scored another rushing touchdown , making the score 10 - 17 . Early in the fourth quarter , New Mexico began to move down the field , but their drive ended with a field goal only . The score was now 17 - 14 . The Aztecs moved down the field rather quickly , and appeared to have the game in hand , but O ' Connell made a crucial mistake when he fumbled the ball trying to run for the first down . The Lobos recovered and drove down the field . Rodney Ferguson ' s six yard touchdown run with 15 seconds left in the game lifted New Mexico to a 20 - 17 victory . With the win , the Lobos improved to 5 - 2 overall and 2 - 1 in conference play . Air Force . With an impressive 5 - 2 ( 2 - 1 ) record , New Mexico looked to defeat another Mountain West Conference team with an impressive record ; Air Force . Early in the first quarter , the New Mexico offense drove down the field twice , one ending in a field goal , and the other in a Rodney Fergusson touchdown run . The Falcons also had success early on , responding right back to bring the score leading into the second quarter to 10 - 7 . In the second quarter , the Falcons stopped the Lobos and drove down the field to score a touchdown that gave them the lead by 3 . The Lobos could not respond with any points and were forced to punt . Air Force then rolled down the field again , scoring another touchdown . The Lobos drove down the field and scored a field goal late in the quarter , cutting the Falcons ' lead to 8 . On the kickoff however , Air Force ' s Ty Paffette fumbled the ball and New Mexico . With just 20 seconds left in the game , Donovan Porterie managed to throw a touchdown pass to tight end Chris Mark , which led to a tie game , 21 - 21 , at halftime . In the third quarter , both teams again traded touchdowns , tying the score at 28 - 28 . Later on in the quarter , Air Force managed to score a field goal , giving them the lead . In the fourth quarter , Air Force began to drive down the field twice , but on both those possessions they fumbled the ball away to New Mexico . The Lobos put up 6 points , including one field goal with just seconds left in the game to pull away from Air Force in a 34 - 31 victory . With the win , the Lobos improved to 6 - 2 overall and 3 - 1 in conference play . TCU . With the Lobos off to an impressive 6 - 2 start , most people could not have predicted what would happen when they invaded TCU for a key conference game . For all of the game , Donovan Porterie was completely shut down , throwing for just 76 yards . TCU also shut down Rodney Ferguson , allowing him only 28 yards . On the other side of the ball , TCU was rolling over the Lobo defense . Quarterback Andy Dalton threw 2 touchdowns , backup Marcus Brock threw 1 , and the Horned Frogs made 3 field goals . They shut out the Lobos in a surprising 0 - 37 game . With the loss , the Lobos fell to 6 - 3 overall and 3 - 2 in conference play . Colorado State . The Lobos returned home after a devastating loss to TCU to face their next MWC opponent , Colorado State . New Mexico seemed to dominate for most of the first quarter , putting up 17 points and allowing Colorado State just 7 . Donovan Porterie threw both touchdowns , and John Sullivan kicked a field goal . Going into the second quarter , the score was 17 - 7 . In the second quarter , the Rams began to rally back , scoring a touchdown early on . For the rest of the quarter , both teams had strong defensive stops leading to two field goals scored by each team . The score going into halftime was a close 20 - 17 . To start the second half , the Lobos marched down the field in a drive that ended with a John Sullivan field goal . The Rams could not gain any offensive momentum , and was shut out for the remainder of the quarter . Early in the fourth quarter , the Rams pushed a long drive down the field and scored a field goal , bringing the score to 23 - 20 with 12 : 05 remaining . The Lobos fumbled the ball to Colorado State at the Lobos ' 25 - yard line . The Rams again moved down the field to tie the game at 23 with a 32 - yard field goal with 8 : 24 left . Both teams were stopped and were forced to punt . When the Rams punted the ball to Marcus Smith , he ran back for 18 yards , to bring it to the Rams ' 26 - yard line with just 3 seconds remaining . John Sullivan kicked the game winning 43 - yard field goal as time expired . With the win , the Lobos improved to 7 - 3 overall and 4 - 2 in conference play . Utah . The Lobos were again on the road to face a very important game against Utah . Both teams were fighting for their post season appearance in a bowl game , and both teams came into the game with the same overall and conference record . The first quarter of the game proved to be an offensive battle , as the defense on both sides of the ball allowed 0 points . On the Lobos ' first possession , they appeared to be moving down the field effectively , but running back Rodney Ferguson fumbled away to the Utes . Both teams traded punts , making the score 0 - 0 going into the second quarter . In the second quarter , the Utes began to move down the field more effieciently , scoring a touchdown early on . The Lobos ' were still having difficulties on offense , and were unable to score any points . Utah moved down the field again , scoring another touchdown to make the score 0 - 14 going into halftime . In the third quarter , Utah quarterback Brian Johnson threw a costly interception , and the Lobos were able to score a touchdown , making the score 7 - 14 . Utah again struggled on offense and punted away to the Lobos . New Mexico rolled down the field , and scored a field goal to make it 10 - 14 with 4 : 09 left in the quarter . New Mexico made a costly turnover of their own when Ian Clark fumbled the ball away on the 39 - yard line . The Utes would score a touchdown with 49 seconds left in the quarter to make the score 10 - 21 . Early in the fourth quarter , the Lobos fumbled the ball again on a punt return , giving the ball to Utah on the 5 - yard line . New Mexico would get the ball right back , however , as Johnson fumbled trying to run up the middle . New Mexico was driving down the field , when Paul Kruger knocked the ball out of Donovan Porterie ' s hands , where Koa Misi picked it up and ran it back for a Utes touchdown . With only 6 : 57 left in the game and the score 10 - 28 , the Lobos could not make a comeback . With the loss , the Lobos fell to 7 - 4 overall and 4 - 3 in conference play . UNLV . In the last regular season game of the year , the Lobos needed a win in order to appear in a bowl game . Their opponent was UNLV , who came into the game on a 14 game losing streak on the road against Mountain West opponents . In the first quarter , both teams moved the ball rather well , leading to field goals . The score going into the second quarter was a tied 3 - 3 . In the second quarter , New Mexico had great offensive success , scoring two touchdowns , one by a 63 - yard pass to Marcus Smith , and the other with a run by Travis Brown . UNLV only managed to score a field goal , making the game 17 - 6 going into halftime . To start the third quarter , Marcus Smith ran the kickoff 82 - yards setting up an easy 1 - yard touchdown run by Rodney Fergusson . The score was now 24 - 6 . For the rest of the game , UNLV struggled on offense , putting up just 233 yards total . New Mexico would cap the win off when John Sullivan made a fourth quarter field goal to make the score 27 - 6 . With the win , the Lobos improved to 8 - 4 overall and 5 - 3 in conference play . Nevada . New Mexico finished strong in the Mountain West Conference , allowing them a trip to the New Mexico Bowl for the second year in a row . They would face 6 - 6 Nevada . The Lobos would be without their star running back Rodney Fergusson because of academic issues . To start the game , Donovan Porterie threw two touchdown passes , giving the Lobos a big lead over the Wolfpack . Nevada was stopped short on every drive , scoring 0 points in the entire game . John Sullivan kicked 3 field goals , two in the second quarter , and one in the fourth . Nevada had just 210 total yards to New Mexico ' s 518 . The Lobos shut out Nevada 23 - 0 . The win ended the 46 - year long drought the Lobos faced in the post season , and it marked the first bowl victory under Rocky Long . With the win , the Lobos finished the season 9 - 4 .