“They gave us this little bowling pin, and last year, it was kind of a big deal... This year, we got it and I showed it (to the team), and it’s good. And then I threw it on the ground.”
Bowl-eligible and no one cares.
Welcome to the new golden age of Lobo football – where bowl games are mundane, championships are realistic and University Stadium just doesn’t lose.
The University of New Mexico continued its ascent in the college football hierarchy Saturday night with a hard-fought 21-16 over gritty North Dakota State in front of a spirited home crowd of 34,794 at “Rocky Long Field.”
The Lobos (6-1, 3-0 Mountain West) have accomplished a rare feat in program lore – back-to-back postseason berths. The last time was a decade ago (2015-2016).
And yet, it didn’t even register as anything more than an afterthought to second-year coach Jason Eck after the victory.
“They gave us this little bowling pin, and last year, it was kind of a big deal,” Eck said of reaching the six-win plateau again in his postgame comments. “This year, we got it and I showed it (to the team), and it’s good. And then I threw it on the ground.
“We never talked about that this year, about being bowl eligible. I love bowl games, but we have our sights set (higher).”
Boise State and New Mexico currently are the top teams in the Group of Six battling for a college football playoff berth. All you veteran Lobo fans – think about that for a moment.
That’s equal to the Sweet Sixteen in college basketball – four wins away from a national championship.
Eck moved his home winning streak to 10 games and UNM’s home winning streak to 11 overall. With a 15-5 overall record during his 1 ½ seasons at New Mexico, Eck became the fastest coach in school history to 15 wins.
In fact, the Lobos are 12-2 in their last 14 games – with losses only to Minnesota and Oklahoma by a combined 11 points – and they’ve won nine straight conference games.
The last time a UNM team started 6-1 was 29 years ago.
If you’re not impressed, go wait across the street at the Pit – because football isn’t your sport.
The latest triumph did not come easy against the Bison (6-2, 3-2), despite the fact that UNM opened the game infinitely better than the previous week at Hawaii.
The Lobos found the end zone on their opening possession and forced a Bison interception on their first series, giving the false impression that UNM might have a quick night.
UNM quarterback Toa Fa’avae, however, returned the favor with an interception of his own and the offense struggled for most of the first half, until a Marcus Beltran Jr. 44-yard punt return set up the unit, which marched 46 yards in the final two minutes to take a 14-3 lead into intermission.
Yet, the contest ended similar to most of Eck’s wins at the school – with defensive heroics in the second half that preserved victory.
By Eck’s own admission, UNM played conservatively with the lead. The Lobos ran the ball on several third-and-long situations against the No. 2 scoring defense in the country coming into the game.
The Lobos outrushed the Bison 187-53. Kiefer Sibley had a game-high 91 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries,
Conversely, Fa’avae threw only 14 passes, completed eight for 92 yards plus the interception.
Fa’avae was 5-of-10 last week at Hawaii for 53 yards with two interceptions and a lost fumble. He was better against the Bison, but the Lobos announced their attention early to play it safe and allow their stellar defense to seal the deal.
“I think a great recipe for winning is win the turnover margin, run the ball and play great defense, and be good on special teams,” Eck said. “Now, do we need to keep improving because we may have a game where you get down 14 points with five minutes left? Yeah, we’re going to have to throw the ball and make some plays there. We’ve got to keep getting better at that.”
The offense didn’t score again after halftime – although a pair of missed field goals (from 54 and 42 yards) should be noted.
A 56-yard Austin Brawley interception return to the house gave the Lobos a seemingly insurmountable 21-9 lead early in the fourth quarter.
The stubborn Bison struck back on their next possession, marching 75 yards to cut New Mexico’s lead to 21-16 with 6:42 left in the game.
UNM’s offense managed to get two first downs and forced NDSU to use up all its timeouts. But the Lobos punted the ball back with 2:37 left.
Aided by a botched snap that lost six yards for the Bison on third-and-1, the Lobo defense forced a turnover on four downs. Game over.
Linebacker Mercury Swaim (a game-high 11 tackles) and defensive end Brett Karhu lived in the NDSU backfield with 2.5 and three tackles for loss, respectively as UNM rode its No. 1 scoring defense for the umpteenth time.
While Eck’s recipe for success might be a little nerve-wracking at times, it’s gotten New Mexico to the precipice of college football elite.
I don’t mind the recipe we have,” the coach said. “If we had four senior receivers and a fifth-year senior quarterback who was first-team all-conference, maybe the recipe would be a little different. But I think we’re executing a pretty good winning formula.”
With top contenders falling and no undefeated teams remaining, the Group of Six College Football Playoff race is wide open. From Boise State to New Mexico, here are the top 5 G6 teams positioned to secure a spot in the CFP.