ALBUQUERQUE — Sparked by a strong comeback in the closing minutes of the first half Thursday night and four field goals from red-hot kicker John Sullivan, New Mexico slammed the door on Air Force’s drive for a perfect October with a 34-31 victory at University Stadium.
The Lobos took advantage of five Air Force turnovers inside its 30-yard line to end the Falcons’ three-game win streak this season and three consecutive losses to the Falcons in the series. With Sullivan’s field goals leading the way, the Lobos (6-2, 3-1 Mountain West) remained in contention for the conference title.
“You have to start with the turnovers,” Air Force coach Troy Calhoun said. “You spit the ball out five times, and at some spots on the field that made for extremely short field. In this sport, you win as a team and you lose as a team. We didn’t win as a team.”
Sullivan’s 16th consecutive field goal, a 32-yarder, tied the score at 31-31 early in the fourth quarter. The Lobos took the lead over the Falcons (6-3, 5-2) on his 36-yarder with 10:10 remaining.
Sullivan wasn’t perfect, however, missing a 34-yard attempt with 2:18 left. That gave the Falcons one last opportunity. But receiver Mark Root’s fumble at Air Force’s 29-yard line, after taking in a pass from quarterback Shaun Carney, was recovered by the Lobos with 2:04 remaining.
Air Force regrouped from a disastrous last three minutes of the first half and unleashed a 14-play, 58-yard drive to start the second half. It was capped by Ryan Harrison’s 28-yard field goal for a 24-21 lead. But the field goal wasn’t enough to keep the Falcons in the lead.
After the Falcons forced New Mexico to punt, Garrett Rybak allowed the ball to hit him and the Lobos recovered at Air Force’s 12-yard line.
New Mexico running back Rodney Ferguson converted a fourth down at the 1, and the Lobos took a 28-24 lead with 4:42 remaining in the third quarter.
But with always-dangerous Chad Hall on the field, the Falcons stayed in the game. Powered by Carney’s 32-yard completion to Hall, the Falcons marched 65 yards to take a 31-28 lead on tailback Jim Ollis’ 8-yard run.
Besides the costly turnovers, the Falcons also had a hard time dealing with the Lobos’ Ferguson, who carried 41 times for 146 yards and two touchdowns. But Hall and Carney had moments of success for the Falcons, Hall gaining 97 yards on the ground and scoring two touchdowns. He also had six catches for 66 of Carney’s 110 yards passing.
New Mexico quarterback Donovan Porterie completed 16-of-28 passes for 169 yards and a touchdown.
“You can’t turn the ball over five times and win a game,” Carney said. “We were in control in the first half, but in the second half we made some terrible turnovers. I thought we had plenty of people in this locker room to get a victory. Some were sick, but we had enough to win.”
Things came apart in a hurry for the Falcons late in the first half. Moving along with a 21-10 lead, helped along by two turnovers, they allowed 11 points in just 15 seconds of playing time.
Sullivan hit a 20-yard field goal to pull within 21-13 with 2:49 left in the first half. Then Air Force’s Ty Paffet fumbled away the kickoff return at the Falcons’ 12, and Porterie and tight end Chris Mark teamed up on a 12-yard touchdown pass on the first play. Porterie went right back to Mark for a two-point conversion, and the score was tied 21-21.
“The fumble on the kickoff late in the first half was a key play,” Calhoun said. “We didn’t play very well. We have to find out why. Our seniors didn’t play that well tonight.”
Irv Moss: 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com
Air Force 7 14 10 0 – 31
New Mexico 10 11 7 6 – 34
First quarter: NM – Ferguson 1 run (Sullivan kick), 10:20. AFA – Hall 1 run (Harrison kick), 5:53. NM – FG Sullivan 43, 2:45. Second quarter: AFA – Paffett 21 run (Harrison kick), 12:52.
AFA – Hall 18 run (Harrison kick), 11:07. NM – FG Sullivan 20, 2:49. NM – Mark 12 pass from Porterie (Mark pass from Porterie), 2:34.
Third quarter: AFA – FG Harrison 28, 9:15.
NM – Ferguson 3 run (Sullivan kick), 4:42. AFA – Ollis 8 run (Harrison kick), 2:06. Fourth quarter: NM – FG Sullivan 32, 12:30. NM – FG Sullivan 36, 10:10. A – 26,087.
AFA NM First downs 18 18
Rushes-yards 49-212 48-156
Passing 110 169
Comp.-att.-int. 11-18-0 16-28-1
Return yards 7 36
Punts-avg. 4-42.0 4-39.0
Fumbles-lost 5-5 2-1
Penalties-yards 2-20 8-44
Time of possession 25:20 34:40
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING – -Air Force, Hall 21-97, Ollis 9-31, R. Williams 8-27, Paffett 2-20, Carney 6-20, Newell 2-11, Stephens 1-6. New Mexico, Ferguson 41-146, Baker 5-17, Porterie 2-(minus 7).
PASSING – Air Force, Carney 11-18-0-110. New Mexico, Porterie 16-28-1-169.
RECEIVING – Air Force, Hall 6-66, Dekker 2-26, Root 2-10, R. Williams 1-8. New Mexico, Smith 7-84, Tr. Brown 5-57, Ferguson 1-15, Mark 1-12, McQueen 1-2, Bruno 1-(minus 1).
