Damon Bankston’s 43-yard touchdown reception on a screen pass put an exclamation point on New Mexico’s first-ever win over a Big Ten opponent, a 35-10 romp over UCLA in Pasadena, Calif., on Friday.
Bankston’s clinching score came after UCLA coach DeShaun Foster accepted a penalty on New Mexico for illegal motion. Instead of fourth-and-2, the Lobos (2-1) faced a third-and-11 on which quarterback Jack Layne dumped a short pass to Bankston.
The running back proceeded to race through and past would-be tacklers to the end zone, his second scoring trip of the fourth quarter, putting the Lobos up 28-10 with 7:06 remaining.
His 2-yard touchdown run earlier in the period capped a 13-play, 75-yard drive and extended New Mexico’s lead to 21-10.
On the way to their first win over any power-conference opponent since 2008, the Lobos leaned on a wildly productive rushing attack. New Mexico averaged 6.5 yards per carry as a team and finished the night with 298 yards on the ground.
Bankston’s 154 rushing yards led the way, while D.J. McKinney added 89 and ran for the game’s final touchdown. New Mexico used a variety of formations employing more than five offensive linemen, often setting one up in the backfield as a lead blocker.
UCLA (0-3) slowly battled back from a 14-0, second-quarter hole. The Bruins gave up a 1-yard touchdown carry to Scottre Humphrey at the end of a nine-play, 64-yard drive in the first quarter and an 8-yard Simon Mapa scoring reception from Layne in the second quarter.
Titus Mokiao-Atimalala’s 12-yard touchdown catch from Nico Iamaleava put UCLA on the board and within a score by halftime, and Mateen Bhaghani drilled a 51-yard field goal in the third quarter to cut the deficit to 14-10.
The UCLA defense also helped the cause with two fourth-down stops inside the Bruins 5-yard line. However, UCLA could not capitalize on either change of possession.
After the first of those stops in the second quarter, the Bruins broke into New Mexico territory on a 33-yard Anthony Woods rush, but time expired to deny UCLA a scoring opportunity.
Woods’ 64 rushing yards led UCLA, which gained 109 yards on the ground as a team. Iamaleava ran for 33 yards and connected on 22 of 34 passes for 217 yards and a touchdown. He was intercepted during UCLA’s disastrous fourth quarter.
