New Mexico is not a team that favors the pass. The Lobos attempted just 93 passes this season heading into the New Mexico Bowl against UTSA.
In a 23-20 win over the Road Runners, New Mexico attempted just six passes -- completing three for 77 yards -- putting the Lobos at just 99 attempts on the season. New Mexico, which has college football's best rushing attack, passed only once in the first half: an 18-yard completion that help set up a 52-yard field goal before halftime. Running back Richard McQuarley had two of New Mexico's three offensive touchdowns.
It wasn't New Mexico's best rushing performance of the season -- its 219 yards on the ground were 141 yards short of its per-game average -- but coupled with a strong defensive performance, it was enough to beat the Road Runners in their first bowl appearance.
The win gives New Mexico its ninth victory of the season, the highest total for the program since it went 9-4 in 2007. When coach Bob Davie inherited the program, the Lobos had gone 1-11 in each of its previous three seasons. In five years, Davie has turned New Mexico into a Mountain West contender.
Nationally, Davie has put together one of the more underrated turnarounds in college football.
