Former Rio Rancho QB leads Lobos to second straight win

Former Rio Rancho quarterback Isaiah Chavez did it again for the New Mexico Lobos on Saturday night. A week after throwing the game winning touchdown pass midway through the fourth quarter against Wyoming, Chavez led an inspired offensive effort Saturday night in Las Vegas, Nev. as UNM wrapped up the abbreviated 2020 schedule with a 49-39 victory over Fresno State at Sam Boyd Stadium, the Lobos’ home away from home this fall. Managing the game beautifully, Chavez completed 14-of-18 passes for 196 yards and one touchdown, averaging an impressive 10.9 yards per attempt. UNM ran the ball 48 times for 299 yards and six TDs, with Chavez contributing 95 yards and one TD on the ground in 15 carries. According to UNM, Chavez is believed to be the first true freshman walk-on quarterback to start a game in school history. In all, Chavez, the 2019 New Mexico Gatorade Player of the Year, threw for one touchdown, ran for another and led UNM to a touchdown on every meaningful drive in the second half, when the Lobos scored 28 unanswered after trailing 31-21 with five minutes left in the third quarter. Chez ignited UNM’s comeback from the double-digit deficit by completing a 49-yard TD pass to true freshman receiver Connor Kinslow with 4:49 left in the third quarter. With UNM trailing 31-28, Chavez engineered a masterful 14-play, 85-yard drive that took more than 7-1/2 minutes off the clock and culminated in a 10-yard TD run by Nathanie Jones that gave UNM the lead for good at 35-31. UNM clinched the victory on Bobby Cole’s 9-yard TD run with 2:33 left, capping a 5-play, 70-yard drive led by Chavez. His performance established Chavez, a fifth-string walk-on when the season started, as a serious contender for the Lobos’ starting QB job when preseason camp begins next August. Lobos have won two straight games for the first time since 2017 and back-to-back Mountain West conference games in four years. Saturday’s win marked UNM’s first win over Fresno State since 1994. Thanks to large part to Chavez, UNM’s 35-game losing streak when trailing entering the fourth quarter is now a distant bad memory. The Lobos have now won two games in a row when trailing entering the fourth quarter after winning just two of its previous 46 games when trailing entering the fourth quarter. UNM didn’t commit a turnover for the first time this season. UNM was scheduled to return home Sunday night after spending 41 straight days in a Las Vegas area hotel in order to escape the state government’s draconian public health orders preventing them from practicing as a team or playing home games in Albuquerque. https://twitter.com/UNMLoboFB/status/1338016083987423236 https://twitter.com/UNMLoboFB/status/1338021542110740480 https://twitter.com/UNMLoboFB/status/1338001532176932864 https://twitter.com/MountainWest/status/1337999413617180678