New Mexico vs. Arizona State Final Score: Bad second half does Lobos in

The New Mexico Lobos stepped on the field Friday night as a 27-point underdog against the Arizona State Sun Devils but their only hope was that ASU would struggle with the Lobos triple option like they did with Cal Poly's. The Lobos who walked into Sun Devil Stadium averaging 281 yards a game would have to rely on their legs to keep the ball and the clock moving. New Mexico found that it was going to be hard to beat ASU on the edge as their defensive players were just as fast if not faster the speedy running backs of the Lobos. New Mexico's poor second half is what did them in as they fell 34-10.

New Mexico was held to only 184 yards rushing but they did a masterful job of containing the Sun Devils in the first half, even holding the ball for 8:35 of the second quarter until a missed field goal by Jason Sanders which seemed to kill the Lobos momentum, and led to an Arizona State touchdown right before the half. The Sun Devils took a 10-0 lead into the locker room but they had the ball for only four possessions two of which were three and outs. The Lobos played a very good first half but they failed to put points on the board.

Coming out of the Locker room in the second half ASU put together a nice five play 66 yard scoring drive that ended in a Demario Ricard 33 touchdown reception, Richard would later add a 93-yard touchdown reception which was set up by a pass that was called incomplete but should have been ruled a safety as Mike Bercovici threw the ball into the ground with out reaching the line of scrimmage.In all the Lobos gave up 24 points in the second half to Sun Devil's the lone bright spot for the Lobos was 65 yard touchdown run by Tyrone Owens.

New Mexico finished the game with 295 yards compared to Arizona State's 449. On the ground the Lobos were led  by Owens who had 72 yards on four carries. Jhurell Pressley recorded only 56 yards on 17 carries. After all the preseason hype he has struggled in the early season gaining 145 yards on 38 carries this year for an average of 3.8 yards, this is a far cry from his 9.4 average in 2014.

Under the center Lamar Jordan and Austin Apodaca split reps and while both quarterback struggled Apodaca had 89 yards passing to Jordan's 22. Jordan who is usually a weapon in the triple option struggled to find running room against the Speedy Sun Devil defense. The Lobos who drop to 1-2 will have a shot to pick up a conference win against Wyoming next Saturday.