Nov. 29—Notes, quotes and statistics from New Mexico's 23-17 double-overtime win over San Diego State on Friday:
It's done and over now, one of the great wins in program history, one of the finer afternoons in University Stadium's 65 years. Rest assured, it won't be forgotten anytime soon.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementBut for a handful of plays in the first overtime period, it was a real question. And rest assured, this question would've been the main narrative if the Lobos weren't able to come up with a touchdown, if they didn't keep the Aztecs out of the end zone, if they ended up losing the program's biggest game in years.
Why didn't UNM kick the field goal?
(Fans might have phrased that question with slightly different language, to be clear.)
A refresher: After safety Austin Brawley came up with an interception on the first play of overtime, UNM possessed the ball at the 25-yard line — any score wins in that scenario. Instead of immediately lining up to kick a game-winning field goal, UNM quarterback James Laubstein ran the ball for 16 yards on the Lobos' first play. Then five yards on the next.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement"I told (offensive coordinator Luke Schleusner), 'hey, we're gonna go conservative,'" head coach Jason Eck said in a news conference Friday. "So it's my fault, because I was the one who told him to keep running James. I said, 'get the ball in James' hands and let's run it three times.' I had a lot of confidence in (kicker Luke Drzewiecki) to kick the field goal."
Then, disaster. On the third run from Laubstein, SDSU safety Dwayne McDougle punched the ball out for an Aztec recovery.
To Eck, it was "probably a bad strategy."
"Our kicker is so good, I was going to center the ball on third down and then kick it on fourth down," he added. "I probably should have centered it on second down, and then kicked it on third down (because) we have such a good kicker. But the team had my back on it."
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAn extra 30,575 in attendance did, too. But we'll get to that in a moment.
The fumble led to a second overtime period that probably shouldn't have happened, one in which UNM started with the ball.
As for the first play of the second overtime period? It's called Y Stealth — the "Y" tight end leaks off the formation ("Sneaky and stealthy," quarterback Jack Layne said Saturday), works his way across the field and should be wide open as he moves toward the sideline.
According to Layne, there's a little bit of history to the call: While Eck, Schleusner and him were at Idaho, they used to run the play against Rob Aurich — the former Vandals and current SDSU defensive coordinator — and his defense.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement"We used to hit that play on him and (former Idaho linebacker) Jaxton Eck in practice so much ... It's just funny how that's the play that won it," Layne added.
The Y tight end on the play? Cade Keith, who stretched out for a one-handed catch, gathered it and sprinted down the sideline for a 25-yard touchdown — 23-17, New Mexico.
"Great touchdown, great play call by coach (Schleusner)," Eck said.
UNM did not get that ensuing two-point conversion, however. So that made SDSU's final possession only that much more nervy for fans — if the Aztecs got a TD and two-point conversion, that'd be a walk-off win to clinch a Mountain West Championship appearance. And when SDSU got a 15-yard scramble out of quarterback Jayden Denegal to move to the 10-yard line, that looked like it might just be the case.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThat's when the crowd had their say.
Facing first-and-goal, SDSU was whistled for a false start. On first-and-goal from the 15, the Aztecs were called for another. On first-and-goal from the 20, they got hit with an illegal snap infraction — first-and-goal from the 25 after three-straight pre-snap penalties.
After giving up a 6-yard run to former Lobo Christian Washington, UNM got back-to-back sacks courtesy of defensive ends Keyshawn James-Newby and Darren Agu. That set up a final fourth-and-goal heave from Denegal at the 30 — one that sailed out of bounds.
Then and only then was it done and over. And the crowd certainly played a role in ending things.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement"Every time I challenge them, they step up," Eck said. "(30,575) was awesome. And they impacted the game — you can't impact the game when you're watching on TV, but when you come to University Stadium, you can impact the game."
And while it didn't result in a win (but probably should've), that Brawley pick in the first overtime period was largely a neat piece of preparation on his part. The Ohio transfer said he recognized the play from when he played Kent State — previously coached by Sean Lewis, the head coach at SDSU — three years ago.
"Kinda knew that they were gonna throw it to No. 14 (wide receiver Donovan Brown)," he said, "which is actually crazy. They threw it to No. 14 on Kent State back in the day, too.
"And (cornerback Jon Johnson) made a great play, the ball was up in the air and luckily I got my hands on it."
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement"Brawley doesn't have the (helmet-to-sideline communication device) so he couldn't have heard the coaches say it," Eck added. "I think he just knew, based on film study, that that was their favorite play to run — an inside zone RPO with a glance, and they had that earlier."
And now, they wait
Down 14-10 at the half, Eck admitted he had to "reframe" things for his team.
"Because our guys kept thinking in the locker room, 'hey, we're down by four when we had a 10-0 lead,'" he said. "And I tried to reframe it — you know, if I would've told this team in training camp that we're going to be down by four playing for a conference championship in the last game, at halftime, at home, I think everybody would've taken that."
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementWith the win in mind, that turned out to be a good move. But Eck admitted he would've done things differently after the game, and got the team off the field while Boise State's 25-24 win over Utah State was wrapping up; almost every player watched the fourth quarter via the video board at University Stadium.
Of course, a Boise State loss would've cleared a favorable path for UNM to make the Mountain West Championship. For now, the Lobos can only wait for their fate on Sunday morning.
"We're gonna hold our heads high no matter what happens with this computer tiebreaker," Eck said. "In the olden days, before you had these conference championship games, you'd be in at least three-way tie, maybe four-way depending on what happens.
"I think we controlled what we can control, and it's a great year regardless of what happens with this tiebreaker."
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementOne more big play
Before overtime, few plays were bigger than running back D.J. McKinney's 54-yard touchdown on fourth-and-2. That play — a sweep out of a fake quarterback sneak — put the Lobos ahead 17-14, UNM's last score before the end of regulation.
"As soon as I saw how they lined up, I kinda knew that was gonna be hit," Eck chuckled. "We were trying to draw them offsides first and then kill it and run that play. When I saw how they aligned, it was almost like, 'let's not try to draw them offsides.'
"It was too late, because it was under 15 seconds (and) you couldn't talk to the quarterback (via helmet-to-sideline communication). It was almost like, 'let's not try to draw them offsides, we got a great play and there's no one out there.'"
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