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New Mexico routs Air Force for second straight win

UNM’s Luke Wysong avoids an Air Force defender on his way to a 79-yard punt return for a touchdown earlier this season at University Stadium.

UNM quarterback Devon Dampier finds a hole in the Air Force defense during an Oct. 12 game at University Stadium.

UNM quarterback Devon Dampier, left, attempts to stiff-arm Air Force defensive back Lincoln Tuioti-Mariner during Saturday’s game at University Stadium.

UNM wide receiver Nic Trujillo makes a catch before being tackled by Air Force defensive back Trey Williams during on Oct. 12 home game.

UNM’s Moso Tuitele (89) tackles Air Force quarterback Quentin Hayes on Saturday at University Stadium.

Sean Reider Sean Reider Sean Reider Journal Staff Writer

Published October 12, 2024 - 8:34 p.m. Modified October 12, 2024 - 11:02 p.m.

Make that two in a row.

New Mexico scored on seven straight drives and punted only once in a 52-37 rout of Air Force on Saturday night at University Stadium.

The Lobos (2-4, 1-1) grabbed control of the game against Air Force in the third quarter, scoring 17 unanswered to set up their second straight 50-point game and second straight win. New Mexico beat in-state rival New Mexico State 50-40 two weeks ago and were off last week.

Entering Saturday, UNM had lost five straight to the Falcons (1-5, 0-3) dating back to a 56-38 Lobos win in 2017.

“Wins are hard to get,” head coach Bronco Mendenhall said in a postgame press conference. “So grateful for the work (the players) continue to do, my staff and the support we’re getting. And we are still a work in progress.

“But man, is it better to be working and progressing with wins than not wins.”

Quarterback Devon Dampier completed 15 of 20 passes for 179 yards and one touchdown. The sophomore rushed for 50 yards and two more scores, and did not turn the ball over for the second straight game.

Running back Eli Sanders led UNM’s group effort on the ground, with 80 yards bolstered by two second-half touchdowns. Operating primarily out of the wildcat, running back Sol-Jay Maiava-Peters contributed 63 yards and one touchdown, the first of his UNM career.

UNM rushed for 255 yards on the night with six different ball carriers.

Wide receiver Luke Wysong led the Lobos with six receptions for 53 yards and returned a punt for a touchdown while wide receiver Nic Trujillo (four catches, 85 yards) hauled in UNM’s lone receiving touchdown of the day.

Linebacker Randolph Kpai led the Lobos with 17 total tackles as Air Force outgained UNM 474-434 and scored a new season-high. Entering the fourth quarter trailing 45-17, the Falcons put up a 20-point fourth quarter on the Lobos, the second straight game an opponent has done that to UNM.

“I think there’s a lot to learn for this team, this program and especially these defensive kids: What’s it like to play ahead by 24 or 21 in the second half?” Mendenhall said. “And you certainly can’t relax — which I don’t think they are. But the concentration, I think its human nature where an edge might come off.

“We’re working hard on it. You can see we have a long way to go.”

Air Force opened with a methodical 17-play, 54-yard drive to set up Matthew Dapore’s opening 43-yard field goal, capping a possession that chewed up 9:48 worth of game clock.

UNM answered quickly, putting together an 11-play, 75-yard march of its own bolstered by Trujillo’s 21-yard reception on 3rd and 15 and capped by Dampier’s seven-yard spin into the end zone.

Air Force, on its next possession, was forced to punt after defensive end Moso Tuitele sacked quarterback Quentin Hayes. Luke Freer booted it from Air Force’s 10-yard line to a waiting Wysong. The redshirt junior got it back deep in UNM territory, burst up through a lane, shook an ankle tackle and weaved in and out of traffic for a 79-yard punt return touchdown — the second of his career for a 14-3 UNM lead.

Neither team would punt for the rest of the first half: Harris took a sweep in from five yards out to make it 14-10 Air Force, Trujillo caught his lone touchdown, an 18-yard reception, to extend UNM’s lead back to 11, and running back Tylor Latham came up with a four-yard score to close another 75-yard scoring drive for the Falcons.

UNM closed the first half with yet another touchdown — a two-yard Dampier boot out of a heavy set for a 28-17 halftime lead, the final blow in a dizzying 35-point second quarter.

But for as well as they kept pace in the first half, the start of the second couldn’t have gone much worse for Air Force. Hayes hit tight end Bruin Fleischmann for a would-be 75-yard touchdown on the opening play, but a holding penalty wiped it from the board.

The Falcons drove up to midfield and opted to go for it on 4th and 2, but were stuffed for a loss of a yard by Noah Avinger. UNM scored on Maiava-Peters’ 15-yard touchdown two plays later, extending its lead to 35-17. On Air Force’s ensuing drive, Hayes fumbled and linebacker Dimitri Johnson recovered it to set up a seven-play drive ending with Luke Drzewiecki’s 24-yard field goal. UNM tacked on another Sanders touchdown — a 31-yard run — before the Falcons returned to the end zone on Hayes’ 18-yard run in the fourth quarter.

UNM didn’t take its foot off the gas. Sanders broke a couple tackles running up the middle and into the end zone for a 34-yard touchdown, giving UNM a 52-24 lead with 10:54 left. The Falcons tacked on two more touchdowns from running back Kemper Hodges and wide receiver Quin Smith — the latter a 39-yard receiving score that set up a 52-37 final.

UNM is on the road for a 2 p.m. Saturday game at Utah State (1-5, 0-2) next week. The Aggies have lost five in a row.