No. 9 Boise State drops New Mexico 45-0 in finale

No. 9 Boise State drops New Mexico 45-0 in finale

Published Dec. 3, 2011 11:22 p.m. ET

Let the Bob Davie era begin at New Mexico.

That's about the only positive way for the Lobos to think in the aftermath of Saturday's 45-0 blowout loss to No. 9 Boise State.

The loss gives the Lobos (1-11, 1-6) a third straight season with only one win and extends their road losing streak to 22 games, the nation's longest such skid.

The offense was held to just 197 yards and only crossed midfield twice, while the defense had no answers for Kellen Moore and the rest of the Boise State's high-scoring offense.

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Despite the lopsided statistics and score, interim coach George Barlow found reason for hope in 2012, when Davie, the former Notre Dame coach and television analyst, takes over.

''The thing you like about these kids is when things were going as bad as they were, they were still playing hard,'' said Barlow, who posted a 1-6 record after taking over in September for Mike Locksley.

From the start, it was clear the Lobos were overmatched and outclassed.

Kellen Moore threw three touchdowns in the final home game of his brilliant career, and senior Doug Martin ran for two more as the Broncos rolled up 543 total yards on offense.

Boise State (11-1, 6-1) scored on its first five possessions and built a 31-0 halftime lead, clearing the way for Moore and the other members of Boise State's remarkable senior class to exit the field one last time midway through the third quarter with a 38-0 lead.

The victory secured second place in the Mountain West Conference for Boise State and its second straight season with just one loss.

Moore, the winningest starting quarterback in college football history, also set new single-season school records for touchdowns (41) and completions (300), and the win gave him 49 in his career.

But Moore wasn't the only player on the field to rewrite record books.

New Mexico linebacker Carmen Messina set a new Mountain West Conference record for tackles Saturday. On his first tackle in the first quarter, Messina eclipsed the mark of 434 tackles held by Adam Seward from UNLV. Messina finished with 21 tackles in the game and wrapped his career with 455 tackles.

B.R. Holbrook was 16 of 28 for 145 yards and was sacked twice for New Mexico. The Lobos mustered only 52 yards rushing, eight first downs and were 3-of-15 on third down. Deon Long led the Lobos with eight catches for 96 yards.

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