LARAMIE — New Mexico quarterback Lamar Jordan knows the value of big offensive plays in a football game.
“That kills them,” Jordan said after the Lobos beat Wyoming 38-28 at War Memorial Stadium on Saturday with help from big scoring plays.
Jordan was involved with two — a 56-yard touchdown run and a 64-yard TD pass.
Averaging 7.4 yards per play for the game, including 10.3 in the first half, the Lobos (2-2, 1-0 Mountain West) had three scoring plays of 40 yards or longer against the winless Cowboys (0-4, 0-1).
“Offense, we put it on the table,” said Jordan, who rushed and passed for 254 yards and two touchdowns. “Big plays. That’s all we needed.”
Jordan, who rushed for a total of only 100 yards the first three games of the season, ran for 147 yards on 15 carries Saturday. He also completed 5-of-7 passes for 107 yards.
The Lobos, who snapped a two-game losing streak, finished with 302 yards rushing. Jhurell Pressley gained 103 yards and scored a TD. Richard McQuarley contributed 55 yards and two TDs.
Wyoming, which has lost its last seven games dating to last season, was led by quarterback Cameron Coffman, who completed 30-of-42 passes for 366 yards and four TDs.
New Mexico’s defense limited Wyoming to just 42 yards on the ground. Cowboys running back Brian Hill, who entered Saturday leading the Mountain West with an average of 137.3 yards rushing per game, was limited to 49 yards on 18 carries by the Lobos.
“We did some things a little different schematically,” said Lobos coach Bob Davie. “We really tried to tackle him really low. I thought we played the run really well.”
The Cowboys also hurt themselves by committing 10 penalties for 98 yards.
“We did move the ball pretty well, but we had some key mistakes that hurt us,” Coffman said.
Wyoming coach Craig Bohl added: “Defensively we started out with a couple of busts that resulted in big plays.”
