Associated Press
Associated Press
HONOLULU — This one was a long time coming.
Led by Kasey Carrier’s 161 rushing yards and two touchdowns, New Mexico beat Hawaii 35-23 to claim its first victory outside its own state borders since 2007.
The Lobos (4-3, 1-1 Mountain West), who last won outside the Land of Enchantment on Oct. 20, 2007, at San Diego State, racked up 452 yards of offense, including 332 rushing, to hand the Warriors (1-5, 0-3) their fourth consecutive loss.
Carrier carried 35 times and scored on 23- and 1-yard runs to lead a New Mexico offense that was 9 of 17 on third-down conversions and 3 of 4 on fourth downs.
The Lobos have won two straight and three of their last four.
“I’ve been over here enough times to know this would drain us, but I also knew we’d fight to the very end, and that’s what happened,” said New Mexico coach Bob Davie, who was head coach at Notre Dame when it escaped with a 23-22 vicory over Hawaii at Aloha Stadium in 1997. “For us to come over here and get a win with the injuries we had during the game, we’ll take it.”
Carrier, the reigning Mountain West Conference offensive player of the week, ran for a career-high 191 yards and four touchdowns in a win over Texas State last week.
The Warriors pulled to within 28-23 with 9:49 remaining on a 1-yard TD run by John Lister. But New Mexico got an insurance touchdown on B.R. Holbrook’s 5-yard run.
The Lobos scored on each of their first three possessions to build a 21-0 lead in the second quarter.
After Carrier opened the scoring with his 23-yard run, Hawaii fumbled the ensuing kickoff, and Marquis Bundy recovered for the Lobos, who cashed in with a 6-yard touchdown run by SaQwan Edwards. Following a Hawaii three-and-out, New Mexico drove 66 yards in 14 plays, capped by Carrier’s 1-yard TD run. The drive took seven minutes, 21 seconds.
Hawaii ran just three offensive plays until the 5:46 mark in the first quarter.
“The offense was able to take the ball down the field, then on the kickoff, we were able to force the fumble,” Davie said. “We’re the kind of team that has to be even or ahead in the game with our style of offense.”
Hawaii got a 51-yard TD pass from Sean Schroeder to Scott Harding to get on the board with 5:55 left in the second quarter, and Tyler Hadden hit a career-long 49-yard field goal to get the Warriors within 21-10 at halftime.
Cole Gautsche’s 76-yard third-quarter touchdown run put New Mexico ahead, 28-10. He finished with five carries for 104 yards.
Mike Edwards answered on the ensuing kickoff with a 100-yard return for a Hawaii TD. It was his second kickoff return for a score this season.
“I felt pretty good starting out, but I knew Hawaii would fight to the very end,” Davie said. “We really had control of the game in the second half, but the return by Edwards really hurt us. We had debated whether to kick it to him because he is one heck of a kick returner. But all in all, it was a good win.”
New Mexico held possession for 38:22 to Hawaii’s 21:28. Holbrook completed 7 of 12 passes for 109 yards. The Lobos came in averaging just 48 passing yards per game.
Schroeder finished 20 of 42 passing for 272 yards and was sacked twice. Will Gregory led the Warriors’ rushing attack with 99 yards. Hawaii’s 391 yards of offense was a season high.
In its losing streak, Hawaii has allowed 1,301 rushing yards and has been outscored 203-61.
It was the first meeting between the schools since 1998, when both teams were Western Athletic Conference members, and New Mexico beat Hawaii, 30-20, in Honolulu. Hawaii leads the all-time series 14-8, but New Mexico has won the last five games.
New Mexico 14 7 7 7—35
Hawaii 0 10 7 6—23
First Quarter
NM—Carrier 23 run (Adams kick), 11:58.
NM—Edwards 6 run (Adams kick), 5:51.
Second Quarter
NM—Carrier 1 run (Adams kick), 12:24.
Haw—Harding 51 pass from Schroeder (Hadden kick), 5:55.
Haw—FG Hadden 49, :16.
Third Quarter
NM—Gautsche 76 run (Adams kick), 4:52.
Haw—Edwards 100 kickoff return (Hadden kick), 4:40.
Fourth Quarter
Haw—Lister 1 run (pass failed), 9:49.
NM—Holbrook 5 run (Adams kick), 3:49.
A—31,632.
NM Haw
First downs 24 21
Rushes-yards 62-332 27-119
Passing 120 272
Comp-Att-Int 8-13-0 20-42-0
Return Yards 2 4
Punts-Avg. 4-33.8 2-56.5
Fumbles-Lost 2-0 4-3
Penalties-Yards 5-40 5-52
Time of Possession 38:32 21:28
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—New Mexico, Carrier 35-161, Gautsche 5-104, Pressley 7-20,
Holbrook 6-15, Wiggins 1-10, Kirk 1-8, Solomon 1-8, Bundy 1-6,
Edwards 1-6, Anaya 1-(minus 1), Clayton 1-(minus 2), Team 2-(minus 3).
Hawaii, Gregory 13-99, Lister 9-27, Harding 2-(minus 2),
Schroeder 3-(minus 5).
PASSING—New Mexico, Holbrook 7-12-0-109, Gautsche 1-1-0-11. Hawaii,
Schroeder 20-42-0-272.
RECEIVING—New Mexico, Reed 2-24, Edwards 1-36, Clayton 1-33,
Biren 1-11, Carrier 1-9, Solomon 1-7, Thomas 1-0. Hawaii,
Stutzmann 6-73, Gant 4-46, Harding 3-80, Lister 3-25, Moleni 1-16,
Bright 1-15, Ostrowski 1-14, Hall 1-3.