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NEW MEXICO FOOTBALL
Rate Bowl thriller: New Mexico falls to Minnesota in overtime
Lobos' kick return for touchdown highlights defensive battle
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Modified
PHOENIX — New Mexico led early and rallied late, but ultimately fell 20-17 to Minnesota in overtime of Friday’s tightly contested Rate Bowl at Chase Field.
Minnesota quarterback Drake Lindsey found wide receiver Jalen Smith for a 12-yard touchdown on third-and-8 in the first overtime, giving the Gophers (8-5) their ninth consecutive bowl victory, the longest such streak in the country.
UNM (9-4) fell to 4-9-1 in bowl games.
Trailing 14-6 in the fourth quarter, UNM running back Damon Bankston returned a kickoff 100 yards for the Lobos’ first and only touchdown in regulation. Jack Layne’s two-point attempt to wide receiver Keagan Johnson tied it.
The Lobos went ahead 17-14 in the first overtime period with kicker Luke Drzewiecki’s 36-yard field goal.
Minnesota led 7-6 through three quarters following Lindsey’s 10-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Jalen Smith late in the second quarter. Despite running 40 first-half plays to the Gophers’ 22, the Lobos settled for (and converted) field goals on two trips to the red zone.
Early in the game, the Lobos had a fresh set of downs at Minnesota’s 1-yard line but were unable to punch it in on three straight plays. The ensuing 31-yard field goal from Drzewiecki gave UNM a 3-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Drzewiecki’s 29-yard make came after UNM opted to not go for it on fourth-and-3 midway through the second quarter. Six plays before, the Lobos attempted — and converted – a fourth-and-7 near midfield.
Mountain West Co-Defensive Player of the Year Jaxton Eck — UNM’s starting middle linebacker — left the game in the third quarter with an injury. He returned, but only for one play — an unsuccessful fake punt in the fourth quarter.
Without Eck, UNM gave up a 5-yard touchdown in the fourth to Minnesota running back Darius Taylor — what looked to be the knockout punch before the Lobos’ late rally.
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This story will be updated.
