The chants reverberated throughout the Jim and Carol Laub Athletics-Academic Complex, rising up from the visiting locker room at Maverik Stadium, loud enough that Utah State players and coaches could almost certainly, and painfully, hear them.
“Bronco! Bronco! Bronco! Bronco!”
New Mexico had just defeated Utah State 50-45, snapping a seven-game losing streak against USU. The victory also propelled the Lobos to a 3-4 record on the season and 2-1 mark in Mountain West Conference play.
Jubilation is an appropriate descriptor of the scene — for the Lobos, anyway.
After a thrilling back-and-forth affair with Utah State Saturday afternoon in Logan, New Mexico’s players were understandably over-the-moon, and their praise was directed largely at their new head coach.
Bronco Mendenhall took over the New Mexico football program last winter, and though he promised “sustained excellence,” few thought that would happen quickly.
Now though, Mendenhall has his team one win away from matching last year’s win total, and with the win over the Aggies, a bowl game is a possibility for UNM, too.
That’s not something that has happened for the Lobos’ program since the 2016 season. Since that nine-win campaign there have been a lot of two and three-win seasons.
The Lobos triumphed over USU in impressive fashion, outscoring Utah State 21-7 in the fourth quarter, scoring two touchdowns in the final four minutes of the game to put things away.
Afterward, Mendenhall was understandably thrilled for his team.
“It’s hard to find one word, but probably the most honest word is relief, and then that went to elation pretty fast,” he said. “If it would be one word, it’s relief-elation.”
The win was a notable one, Mendenhall added. On the road against a conference opponent, New Mexico had to rally from deficits of 17-0, 31-15 and 38-23, the latter two coming in the second half.
It was a program-changing win for the Lobos, or at least it has the chance to be. It was a win to remember for sure.
“I wanted to win,” Mendenhall said. “I wanted our players to have a chance to come back and actually seal a game like this, on the road, from that kind of deficit, and see what that felt like.
“That we made a play to win the game, relief, but then the flood of all the other emotions that had more substance, that’s something I’ll remember forever.”
Utah State interim head coach Nate Dreiling credited the Lobos for their performance. Utah State wanted, even needed the win, but the Lobos made plays when they needed to, particularly offensively on third down.
“UNM was 10 of 15 on third down,” Dreiling said. “They stayed on the field long enough. ... The game came down to three or four plays and we did not finish those plays. We are getting better, but the problem is we have so long to go to catch up to everyone else.”
That includes New Mexico now. The rebuild under Mendenhall happening at a faster pace than many would have expected.
