Nov 30, 2002

Final Stats

By PETE HERRERA
AP Sports Writer

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - DonTrell Moore ran for 176 yards and three touchdowns and caught two passes for scores to lead New Mexico past Wyoming 49-20 Saturday, making the Lobos bowl-eligible for just the second time in 41 years.

New Mexico (7-6, 5-2) finished second in the Mountain West Conference behind No. 16 Colorado State and will go to either the Las Vegas Bowl or San Francisco Bowl. The Lobos' only other bowl appearance since 1961 was at the Insight.com Bowl in 1997.

The loss ended Wyoming coach's Vic Koenning's tenure in Laramie after three seasons. Koenning, who was fired Nov. 18 but agreed to coach the rest of the season, went 5-29 overall and 1-20 in the conference.

The only MWC victory the Cowboys (2-10, 1-6) earned under Koenning came against Air Force this season.

Moore finished the regular season with 1,117 yards rushing, becoming the first New Mexico back in six years to top the 1,000 mark. He scored on runs of 1, 7 and 35 yards and caught TD passes of 9 and 12 yards from Casey Kelly.

The Lobos put Wyoming away with back-to-back touchdowns in the third quarter. Dwight Counter's punt return to the Cowboys 18 set up the 12-yard pass to Moore, and Counter caught a 28-yard TD pass from Kelly after the Lobos converted on fourth-and-1 from the Wyoming 47.

That was plenty of cushion for a New Mexico defense that tied a school record by sacking Wyoming quarterback Casey Bramlet nine times. The Lobos also had three interceptions.

QB Casey Bramlet was under pressure all game and ended up being sacked nine times.

The Cowboys trailed 21-14 at halftime after Bramlet threw a 3-yard scoring pass to Scottie Vines with 23 seconds left in the second quarter. The 12-play, 80-yard drive was kept going by a pass-interference call on New Mexico that gave the Cowboys a first down at the New Mexico 18.

Wyoming's other scores were on a 2-yard run by Derek Amah and a 24-yard pass from Bramlet to Vines.

New Mexico, which won five of its last seven games to qualify for the postseason, opened with a 43-yard pass against the nation's second-worst pass defense. The Kelly-to-Joe Manning pass set up Moore's first TD. Moore scored again after defensive end D.J. Renteria intercepted a tipped pass at the Wyoming 14 and returned it to the 7.