“I thought Toa played well.. He protected the football, which was a big improvement. My biggest thing is don’t turn it over. We’ve got to keep developing him, but he was 14 of 20. We don’t need him to be 29 of 35 for 300 yards passing. That’s perfect right there (tonight) … he was just outstanding.”
While the nation experienced a mighty blue wave earlier this week, innovative New Mexico football coach Jason Eck went the opposite direction by working a conservative game plan to perfection.
The No. 22 Lobos played their best game in a month, methodically dismantling Nevada with four quarters of error-free football for a 31-3 victory Friday night for the school’s first-ever win in Reno.
“Outstanding; that’s how you want to play on the road,” Eck said during his postgame news conference. “(When) we rush the ball for 200 yards, don’t turn it over and play great defense – we’re going to be really tough to beat.”
New Mexico (8-1, 5-0 Mountain West) won its 11th straight conference game, moved to 14-2 in its last 16 games and secured the most successful two-year stint in school history with its 17th victory since the start of the 2025 season.
And the last time the program won its first five conference games? 1970.
The defense yet again was center stage for UNM’s red wave. It held a Wolfpack running game that had averaged 167.0 yards per game entering Friday to minus-9 rushing yards.
Again turning back the clock, the Lobos allowed 97 total yards for the game – the lowest on the road since 1964 against Hawaii.
The D netted just one Nevada turnover, but it was a huge one, forcing a fumble from QB AJ Bianco at the Wolfpack 5 that helped jump-start the Lobo offense in the second half.
Defensive end Brett Karhu corralled Bianco for a 17-yard loss and hit the Wolfpack QB as he was trying to pull the ball back down from his throwing motion. Fellow end Darren Agu jumped on the ball at the Nevada 5 with 9:55 left in the third quarter.
Scottre Humphrey’s 1-yard touchdown run with 8:49 left in the period gave his team a 21-3 lead, and it never looked back.
UNM had built a 14-0 lead in the first quarter with two impressive drives that resulted in 123 yards of first quarter offense.
The unit, however, only had 63 yards the next 20 minutes after that – until the forced fumble on defense.
Overall, the much-maligned UNM O played a quintessential complementary role to the defense that gave the team the breathing room it enjoyed during its wins during the first five games of the season.
Quarterback Toa Fa’avae completed 14 of 20 passes for 150 yards, including a nice, 25-yard touchdown pass to tight end Cade Keith.
And most importantly, no turnovers.
Fa’avae didn’t force any throws, tucking the ball and running for a few yards on third-and-long, allowing the Lobos to punt and pin Nevada deep and allow their defense to dictate the game.
“I thought Toa played well,” Eck said. “He … protected the football, which was a big improvement. My biggest thing is don’t turn it over. We’ve got to keep developing him, but he was 14 of 20. We don’t need him to be 29 of 35 for 300 yards passing. That’s perfect right there (tonight) … he was just outstanding.”
Humphrey finished 107 rushing yards on 17 carries and a pair of scores. Kiefer Sibley scored on a 31-yard run in which Fa’avae was his lead downfield blocker to the end zone. UNM finished right at its rushing average with 213 yards.
Nevada (3-6, 2-3) lost 27-0 last week at No. 5 UCLA. The Lobos beat the Wolfpack by 28, playing better than the Wolfpack in all three phases of the game. New Mexico had 374 yards total offense.
UNM outgained Nevada 65-25 in kick/punt return yards.
Perhaps, the most surprising stat of the night was that the Lobos had three first-half possessions enter Nevada territory in the first half – and they punted all three times on fourth down.
The Lobos did go for a fourth-and-2 on the Wolfpack 13 in the third quarter after they were ahead 21-3, but a Fa’avae pass attempt to tight end Tripp Walsh was broken up in the end zone.
“We had one fourth-and-1 where we punted and the book said, ‘go,’” Eck said. “Part of that is our defense is so good. Part of that is we lost our main quarterback sneak threat with James (Laubstein, out for the season with a knee injury).
“I do feel with our defense, we can be more conservative at times with those things, especially without the element of surprise.”
And at least on Friday night, as opposed to election night, the Lobos made the “right” choices that resulted in an easy win.
No. 22 New Mexico football made history with a 31-3 road blowout over Nevada, locking up their first-ever win in Reno and an 8-1 start to the season. Fueled by Scottre Humphrey’s two touchdowns and a relentless Lobo defense that held the Wolfpack to minus-9 rushing yards, UNM pushed its conference record to 5-0 while staying hot in the Mountain West hunt.