Bachmeier leads Boise State to 31-14 victory over New Mexico

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Wright time, Wright place! Deven Wright recovers blocked punt for a Boise State TD

Boise State's special teams come up big with a blocked punt recovered for a touchdown to extend their lead in the third quarter.

Sep 10, 2022, 06:51 am

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- — Hank Bachmeier bounced back after he was benched a week earlier, throwing three touchdown passes to lead Boise State to a 31-14 victory over New Mexico on Friday night.

Latrell Caples caught two of those scores for Boise State (1-1, 1-0 Mountain West).

Ashton Jeanty and George Holani combined for 139 yards on 32 carries for the Broncos.

“They flipped it around on Sunday and came off last week and really had a good week of practice and it didn’t stop all the way up to the game and walk throughs,” Broncos coach Andy Avalos said. “Trust me we used every single minute we had this week to get prepared.”

The Boise State defense held the Lobos (1-1, 0-1) to 123 total yards, with more than half of that coming on Geordon Porter’s 69-yard touchdown catch in the fourth quarter. Through three quarters, New Mexico had 48 total yards.

The Broncos led 10-0 at halftime before scoring three touchdowns in the second half, including one on a blocked punt.

And that, said New Mexico coach Danny Gonzales, was the game changer.

“I think that changed the entire momentum of the game, 10-0 at that point and we were playing well enough on defense,” he said. “Punt it out of the endzone, who knows what happens.”

The Broncos chased Lobos quarterback Miles Kendrick throughout the night, finishing with six sacks, with one of those preceding the blocked punt.

“I think the defensive line did a really good job,” Avalos said. “Last week we put some pressure on the quarterback and caused a couple of bad throws that turned into takeaways. (Friday) we were just able to land on the quarterback.”

New Mexico’s other fourth-quarter score came on Christian Washington’s 100-yard kickoff return.

PUNT THAT STAT

Deven Wright’s blocked punt recovery for a score in the third quarter marked the third time in two years that the Broncos have done so against New Mexico.

The Lobos have not blocked a punt in nearly 13 years, the longest streak in the FBS.

THE TAKEAWAY

Boise State: New Mexico showed up on the schedule at the right time. Smarting after a season-opening 34-17 loss at Oregon State, Boise State beat the Lobos for the 12th time in 13 meetings.

New Mexico: The game marked some progress from the Lobos’ previous three outings, which they lost by an average score of 41-8.

UP NEXT

Boise State has its home opener Sept. 17 against UT Martin. This is the first season the Broncos opened a season with consecutive road games since 2011.

New Mexico has a third straight home game, with UTEP coming in Sept. 17 before a trip to LSU the following week.

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