2016 New Mexico Bowl Explained

Game Name:New Mexico Bowl
Subheader:11th New Mexico Bowl
Title Sponsor:Gildan
Date Game Played:December 17
Year Game Played:2016
Football Season:2016
Stadium:University Stadium
City:Albuquerque, New Mexico
Visitor Name Short:UTSA
Visitor Nickname:Roadrunners
Visitor Record:6–6
Visitor Conference:C-USA
Visitor Coach:Frank Wilson
Visitor 1Q:3
Visitor 2Q:3
Visitor 3Q:0
Visitor 4Q:14
Home Name Short:New Mexico
Home Nickname:Lobos
Home Record:8–4
Home Conference:Mountain West
Home Coach:Bob Davie
Home 1Q:7
Home 2Q:3
Home 3Q:6
Home 4Q:7
Odds:New Mexico by 7[1]
Mvp:Offense: New Mexico QB Lamar Jordan[2]
Defense:New Mexico LB Dakota Cox[3]
Anthem:Senior Airman Rashaun Carter[4]
Referee:Jason McArthur (Sun Belt)
Attendance:29,688
Payout:456,250[5]
Us Network:ESPN
ESPN Radio
Us Announcers:Adam Amin, Mack Brown, Molly McGrath (ESPN)
Roy Philpott, Clint Stoerner, Kevin Weidl (ESPN Radio)

The 2016 New Mexico Bowl was a college football bowl game played on December 17, 2016 at University Stadium in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The eleventh annual New Mexico Bowl, was one of the 2016–17 bowl games that concluded the 2016 FBS football season. The game aired on ESPN. Sponsored by clothing company Gildan Activewear, the game was officially known as the Gildan New Mexico Bowl.

Teams

The game featured the UTSA Roadrunners of Conference USA against the New Mexico Lobos of the Mountain West Conference.[6]

This was the third meeting between the schools, with the all-time series tied at 1–1. The previous meeting was on October 14, 2014, where the Lobos defeated the Roadrunners by a score of 21–9.[7]

UTSA

See also: 2016 UTSA Roadrunners football team and 2016 Conference USA football season.

The New Mexico Bowl was the first bowl appearance for the Roadrunners.

New Mexico

See also: 2016 New Mexico Lobos football team and 2016 Mountain West Conference football season.

Powered by a triple option offense, the Lobos were led by coach Bob Davie who envisioned the offense he eventually installed while coaching at Notre Dame and playing against the service academies, who used the scheme effectively.[8] The Lobos' offense led the Football Bowl Subdivision in rushing yards.[9] Although both Austin Apodaca and Lamar Jordan had both started at quarterback for New Mexico during the season, Jordan was the more potent runner, whose 658 rushing yards ranked third on the team.[10] A trio of running backs made large contributions to the rushing attack: senior Teriyon Gipson averaged 9.2 yards per rush to lead the team with 1209 yards, sophomore Tyrone Owens led the team with 134 rushes for 1084 yards, and junior Richard McQuarley rushed for a team-leading 16 touchdowns.[11]

Game summary

UTSA started the game with the ball; they put together a 65-yard drive over the next 6:15 and scored the first points of the game after Victor Falcon converted on a 23-yard field goal. New Mexico opened their storing with 4 seconds left in the first quarter with a 1-yard touchdown run. The first quarter ended 7–3, Lobos. With 1:32 left in the second quarter, Victor Falcon hit a 28-yard field goal to bring UTSA within 1 at 7–6. With time expiring in the first half, Jason Sanders converted a 52-yard field goal to put the Lobos up 10–6 at halftime. To open the second half, Teriyon Gipson capped a 10-play, 75-yard drive with a 10-yard touchdown rush. The extra point was blocked so New Mexico led 16–6. After trading punts UTSA got a drive into New Mexico territory but Dalton Sturm was picked off from the UNM 34. The Lobos went 3-and-out and punted. UTSA got good field position but faced a 4th and 15 from the Lobos 35. Sturm threw a 19-yard pass for the first down. 2 plays later he found Trevor Stevens, a senior wide receiver who had only caught 7 passes ever for his 1st career touchdown. The PAT was good and it was 16–13 Lobos. UNM drove down the field until they had a 4th and 1 at the 5 yard line. They converted and then Richard McQuarley got a 1-yard touchdown run to put UNM up 23–13. UTSA would strike at the end of the game but the Lobos recovered the onside kick.

Scoring summary

Source:[12]

Statistics

Statistics UTSA UNM
First downs 20 17
Third down efficiency 7–14 6–13
Rushes–yards 38–246 (6.5) 52–219 (4.2)
Passing yards 118 77
Passing: Comp–Att–Int 10–26–1 3–6–0
Time of possession 29:11 30:42
Category Team Player Statistics
Passing UTSA Dalton Sturm 10/26, 118 yds, 2 TD, 1 INT
UNM 3/4, 77 yds
Rushing UTSA 16 car, 125 yds
UNM Lamar Jordan 13 car, 81 yds
Receiving UTSA Kerry Thomas Jr. 4 rec, 45 yds
UNM Dameon Gamblin 1 rec, 34 yds

Notes and References

  1. Web site: College Bowl Game Odds. ESPN. December 7, 2016 . December 9, 2016.
  2. GildanNMbowl. GildanNewMexicoBowl. 810272875630370816. 17 December 2016. Congratulations to @LJII13 and @dakotacox49 for receiving Offensive and Defensive Players of the Game!.
  3. GildanNMbowl. GildanNewMexicoBowl. 810272875630370816. 17 December 2016. Congratulations to @LJII13 and @dakotacox49 for receiving Offensive and Defensive Players of the Game!.
  4. Web site: Holidays happening: Gildan Bowl national anthem News Stream kafbnucleus.com . 2016-12-23 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181001102535/http://www.kafbnucleus.com/news_stream/holidays-happening-gildan-bowl-national-anthem/image_3b3b13fa-c7b7-11e6-8dcb-f3db75369611.html . 2018-10-01 . dead .
  5. http://www.collegefootballpoll.com/bowl_games_bowl_schedule.html Bowl payout
  6. UTSA, New Mexico to play in 11th annual Gildan New Mexico Bowl. New Mexico Bowl. Albuquerque, N.M.. December 4, 2016. December 4, 2016.
  7. http://www.winsipedia.com/new-mexico/vs/utsa – New Mexico Lobos vs. UTSA Roadrunners football series history
  8. News: Myerberg. Paul. Bob Davie's blueprint – triple option – helps build success at New Mexico. December 17, 2016. USA Today. December 16, 2016.
  9. Web site: 2016 FBS (I-A) College Football Team Statistics Leaders for Rushing. ESPN. ESPN Internet Ventures. December 17, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20161217201930/http://www.espn.com/college-football/statistics/team/_/stat/rushing. December 17, 2016.
  10. News: Webber. Will. Davie comes full circle on starting QB: It's Apodaca again. December 17, 2016. Santa Fe New Mexican. November 18, 2016.
  11. Web site: New Mexico Lobos 2016 Statistics – Team and Player Stats . College Football – ESPN . December 17, 2016. ESPN Internet Ventures.
  12. Web site: 2016 New Mexico Bowl Game Stats. Stat Broadcast. Stat Broadcast. 17 December 2016.