ALBUQUERQUE — Safety Frankie Solomon’s 13-yard interception return for a touchdown on the first play from scrimmage got New Mexico rolling to a 24-0 win over Wyoming on Saturday night, the Lobos’ first Mountain West Conference shutout since 1983.
New Mexico (3-3, 1-1 MWC) needed just 15 seconds into the game to take advantage of Wyoming’s propensity for turnovers this season.
Cowboys quarterback Karsten Sween’s first pass was tipped and Solomon pulled it in and went into the end zone behind several blockers.
Wyoming (2-4, 0-3 MWC) came into the game with a NCAA-worst 19 turnovers and added to that total with three more, including Sween’s first half fumble that led to a Lobo touchdown.
New Mexico was without halfback Rodney Ferguson, the MWC’s leading rusher who is nursing an injured shoulder.
But it didn’t matter as Ferguson’s backup, Paul Baker, and freshman James Wright combined for 210 of the Lobos’ 317 rushing yards.
Wright finished with 120 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries, and Baker had 90 yards on 23 carries.
The Lobos also got a 1-yard TD from quarterback Brad Gruner with 5:58 left in the first half.
The score was set up by Gruner’s 52-yard run to the Wyoming 12 on a busted play. The drive started after Sween fumbled at the New Mexico 36 and Lobos linebacker Zach Arnett recovered.
Both teams had troubled sustaining drives in the second half of a game played in a light but steady rain.
The only score was a 37-yard field goal by James Ajo. The Lobos had two touchdowns erased by holding penalties.
Wyoming, which came into the game averaging just 284 yards a game in total offense, finished with 201.
TCU 41, San Diego State 7
FORT WORTH, Texas — Marcus Jackson rushed 27 times for 131 yards and two touchdowns in his first start this season.
One of those scoring runs was a 9-yarder late in the third when Jackson, hit hard as he readied to dive, went airborne and into the end zone.
“That was the longest play of the game,” said Jackson, who came off the bench two years ago to rally TCU to a win over Baylor. “I didn’t know when I was coming down.”
Getting the start after Andy Dalton injured his right knee in a loss to top-ranked Oklahoma last weekend, Jackson went 10-of-19 for 115 yards and also had a 3-yard touchdown run in the second half.
Jackson, a junior, also threw a touchdown pass just before halftime that gave TCU (5-1, 2-0 Mountain West) a 20-0 lead.
San Diego State (1-4, 0-1) lost starting quarterback Ryan Lindley to a right shoulder injury in the second quarter. Lindley, who passed for 433 yards in a win over Idaho last week, was wearing a sling on the sideline.
Drew Westling took over for Lindley and was 6-of-17 for 61 yards.
