Falcons take down New Mexico Lobos 35-31

  • Published
  • By John VanWinkle
  • U.S. Air Force Academy Public Affairs
U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo --  A fumble recovery by Falcon cornerback Gavin McHenry during a final play free-for-all sealed a 35-31 win over the New Mexico Lobos here Oct. 18.

Four quarters of action between Air Force and New Mexico was a ground war featuring option versus option rushing attacks, with only an occasional pass to keep the defensive backs from stacking the box. The teams ran the ball 126 times for a combined rushing output of 633 yards, but only attempted 19 passes.

Neither team got much of a lead, with Air Force scoring the go-ahead touchdown near the end of the third quarter when wide receiver Jalen Robinette pulled in a 50-yard pass from quarterback Kale Pearson. That put the Falcons up 35-28. New Mexico tried to counter the lead with a field goal on the next series, to make it 35-31.

"It was a good back and forth game and they played some good football," said Falcons head coach Troy Calhoun.

Air Force's final possession was a series of kneel downs, turning the ball over on downs at the New Mexico 26-yard line with only six seconds left in the game.

With no timeouts left and down by four points, the Lobos had one shot at winning and 74 yards to go. Lobo quarterback Lamar Jordan took the snap and pitched it back to wide receiver Tyler Duncan, beginning a frenzy of option pitches between players, all in the hopes one Lobo could elude a tackle and make it to the end zone. The ball went between several Lobos, losing ground in the process until it was pitched back again to Duncan, who lost the ball.

McHenry scooped up the ball at the 20-yard line, and began to look for blockers. Two Lobos were in the way, but fellow defensive back Christian Spears came in to take one of them out of the picture. Lobos running back Jhurell Pressley managed to get a hand on McHenry at the 4-yard line to slow him down. McHenry kept driving for the goal, but Lobos guard Eden Mahina came in to finish the tackle at the 1-yard line to end the game.

While McHenry didn't score a touchdown, te game was decided as soon as he recovered the fumble, making it a 35-31 Falcon win.

"It was a heck of a game," said New Mexico head coach Bob Davie. "That was three Air Force-New Mexico games in a row now that have come down to the last series of a game. We just can't finish, we have to keep working and maybe our time will come."

With the win, the Falcons advance to 5-2 overall and 3-2 in the Mountain West while New Mexico drops to 2-5 overall and 0-3 in the conference.  After a bye week, the Falcons return to action Nov. 1 at to Army. With a win, the Falcons can bring home the Commander-in-Chief's trophy and become bowl-eligible. Kickoff is 9:30 a.m. MT. The game is scheduled to be seen on CBS.