Three takeaways following New Mexico's thrilling double-overtime win over San Diego State

New Mexico led early, faltered late and came out on top in a thrilling 23-17 double-overtime win over San Diego State on Friday at University Stadium.

Tight end Cade Keith’s 25-yard touchdown in the second overtime period proved to be the game-winner after SDSU failed to convert a fourth-and-goal from the 30-yard-line on the game’s final play.

UNM (9-3, 6-2) finishes the regular season 6-0 at home with the win over San Diego State (9-3, 6-2). The Lobos are tied with the Aztecs and Boise State for first place in the Mountain West standings and are technically still alive for a championship game appearance.

Three takeaways from the Lobos’ sixth straight win, this one in front of an announced crowd of 30,575:

1. UNM’s biggest game in years will be remembered as one of its best wins ever

We can debate whether Friday was the Lobos’ biggest regular season game ever. I’m inclined to say that it was, but I wasn’t even alive (sorry if that makes anyone feel old) for a 1997 game against BYU that helped propel the team to a Western Athletic Conference Mountain Division title, the Lobo football team’s last league crown of any kind.

I wasn’t around for the Tulsa game that year, either. Certainly not for a magical 10-1 season in 1982 that saw plenty of meaningful games. All the big ones before that, too.

We don’t need to debate that Friday will be remembered for a long, long time by UNM fans, though. And it should be remembered in that context as one of the best wins this program has ever seen — few crowds have been so engaged, and few Lobo teams have offered such a brilliant effort with so much on the line.

If Friday’s win felt like a classic, that’s because it was. This team already had a signature win in a 35-10 romp at UCLA. That it one-upped that performance with far more on the line is a testament to just how special of a season this has been.

2. The Lobos got another outstanding performance from their defense

On the stat sheet, this wasn’t an elite performance for UNM’s defense. In fact, if you would’ve told the average fan that the Lobos allowed 355 total yards, I’m inclined to believe that they’d guess UNM lost — maybe by a considerable margin.

That they didn’t was a massive credit to that same defense, the one keeping UNM afloat through much of the game. When UNM struggled offensively — and to be clear, they did for much of the second half — the defense that’s effectively powered the Lobos’ six-game winning streak answered the call with big plays and even bigger stops.

“Every single drive we would get together and we would just say, ‘hey, one more drive, one more drive,’” safety Austin Brawley said Saturday. “‘That’s all we need — one more drive to get our offense the ball.’ Every single player flew around today, and I’m so proud of all of them.”

3. A nervy 36 hours awaits

After fans stormed the field, University Stadium played host to one of the more unique scenes in all of college football this season. Fans, players and coaches all celebrated raucously, an all-out scene decades in the making … and then they stopped. And in one nearly indiscernible moment, every head in the stadium seemed to turn to the video board at the same time.

Why? The final quarter of Boise State’s eventual 25-24 win over Utah State was on for everybody to watch. Some players stood and watched with their families. Some sat on folding chairs. Some milled about, soaking in the last remnants of a celebration that seemed to die out too quickly.

But to a man, they watched — along with a couple hundred fans searching for clarity regarding UNM’s Mountain West Championship hopes. A Boise State loss would’ve cleared a much more favorable path to the title game; the Broncos’ win ensures that UNM’s fate will be decided by its standing in select computer metrics.

That fate will be revealed Sunday. Until then, Lobo fans, players and coaches can only wait and watch the remaining games, hoping that UNM’s standings in the computer metrics will get the job done.

(As of last Sunday: If UNLV beats Nevada on Saturday, those metrics indicated that UNM would be left out of the title game. If UNLV loses, those same rankings indicated that the Lobos would still be left out, with SDSU and Boise State playing for a league title in San Diego.)

Again, Friday was one for the books. Few games that meaningful have ended that dramatically. That it ended in favor of the Lobos will make it a fan-favorite for years and years and years to come

But for as good of a win as it was, it still might not be enough to get the Lobos in a long-awaited title game. For now, a nervy 36 hours awaits for everybody involved with this program.

In the context of where this program has been (and where it seems to be going), that’s a great problem to have.

“If it works out for us, it works out for us,” Brawley said, “and we’re gonna win that game. If it doesn’t work out for us, it’s gonna leave a sour taste in all our mouths for a long time. I mean, it’s kind of as simple as that.”

“We controlled what we can control here down the stretch,” Eck added, “and we’ll see where the chips fall.”

For much of the Boise State-Utah State fourth quarter, UNM’s first-year head coach sat alone, watching the game quietly through a window in the Lobos’ weight room.

“Really, I was (sitting there) thinking, ‘we gotta find a way to move the ball on (SDSU) a little bit better’ if we had to play them again,” he laughed. “Because they’re pretty salty to move the ball on.”)

UNM football defeats San Diego State: Photos