New Mexico Lobos vs Wyoming Cowboys Football Recap

New Mexico 34, Wyoming 31

Five days after Election Day, the New Mexico Lobos made their own Stump speech. As a result, they somehow found a way to win their first football game of the 2010 season and avoid the dubious distinction of going 0-12.

Yes, the new leader of coach Mike Locksley's team is quarterback Stump Godfrey. Given his first start of the campaign in UNM's best (and perhaps only) chance to win a Mountain West game, Godfrey made the most of his grand opportunity. The youngster hit 16-of-20 passes for 211 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions in a distinctly crisp performance. Godfrey was solid throughout this game, but he was cash-money in the clutch. New Mexico's offense - which had not exceeded 20 points in the first two months of this season - scored 17 points in the first three quarters under Godfrey's leadership. However, "Los Lobos" were even better in the fourth quarter; they needed to be.

On a day when the Wyoming Cowboys piled up 392 rushing yards and over 530 yards of total offense, New Mexico's defense - which did cause four turnovers but still felt itself being overwhelmed for much of the day - needed help from the offensive side of the ball, something it had not received in September and October. Wyoming tallied 31 points thanks to three dynamic rushing performances. Running backs Alvester Alexander and Robert Herron both topped 120 yards rushing in this contest, while Cowboy quarterback Austyn Carta-Samuels contributed "only" 119 yards. It is absolutely remarkable that a team can provide three 115-yard rushers in a single game, but that's exactly what Wyoming did. It's 10 million times more improbable that any team with three 115-yard rushers could not win. Yet, that's exactly what happened in the Land of Enchantment. It's all because UNM's defense finally gained the assistance it had been waiting all autumn to obtain.

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Yes, New Mexico's offense was AWOL in September and October, but on the first Saturday of November, things changed all because of a special Stump that grew up quickly from the fertile soil at University Stadium in Albuquerque. After producing 17 points in the first three stanzas, Godfrey lifted his level of play to an even greater height, as the Lobos roared to 17 fourth-quarter points. With the score tied at 31, Godfrey led his teammates downfield and got the Lobos in position for a kick that would boot away a nine-game losing streak while also erasing the bagel sitting in UNM's win column. James Aho kicked a 38-yard field goal as time expired to lift New Mexico out of the land of the winless.

And you thought this game between two bottom-feeders would not provide anything worth remembering. Sure, TCU and Utah owned the Saturday stage in the Mountain West, but Stump Godfrey and New Mexico made their own kind of magic on a special afternoon in Albuquerque.

By: Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer