GILDAN NEW MEXICO BOWL

New Mexico is known for its rich culture and strong tradition, but since 2006 Albuquerque, New Mexico has added a new tradition to the state’s name — exciting college football. With recent years offering overtime thrillers and last-second victories, the Gildan New Mexico Bowl is sure to provide exciting football. Going along with New Mexico’s giving tradition and prideful culture, the Gildan New Mexico Bowl recognizes New Mexico True Heroes. The New Mexico True Heroes are New Mexicans who strive to strengthen the community making it a better place to live. The bowl game also sponsors the Presbyterian Ear Institutes’ Run To Break The Silence and hosts a free clinic for local youth. The Gildan New Mexico Bowl stands for pride, culture and tradition and represents something BIGGER THAN THE GAME.

HISTORY

YEAR	TEAM	SCORE	TEAM	SCORE
2016	New Mexico	23	UTSA	20
2015	Arizona	45	New Mexico	37
2014	Utah State	21	UTEP	6
2013	Colorado State	48	Washington State	45
2012	Arizona	49	Nevada	48
2011	Temple	37	Wyoming	15
2010	BYU	52	UTEP	24
2009 (2OT)	Wyoming	35	Fresno State	28
2008	Colorado State	40	Fresno State	35
2007	New Mexico	23	Nevada	0
2006	San Jose State	20	New Mexico	12

MEMORABLE GAMES

2013:

Colorado State trailed by 22 points (35-13) before coming back to beat Washington State. That’s tied for the second-largest deficit overcome to win a non-overtime bowl game in NCAA bowl history. It was also the second straight time that the winning team has scored at least 10 points in the final minutes to win the Gildan New Mexico Bowl

2012:

After the Wolf Pack had taken a seemingly safe 13-point lead with 1:48 left, the Wildcats drove 75 and 51 yards for touchdowns around a successful onside kick to take an improbable win. The two teams combined for 70 first downs and 1,237 offensive yards.

2009:

After a shocking 11-point comeback to tie the game in the fourth quarter, Wyoming’s defense stopped Fresno State’s Ryan Mathews– one of the nation’s top three rushers and a first-round NFL draft pick a few months later– four times on the 1-yard line on the first possession of overtime.

2008:

Colorado State’s Gartrell Johnson clinched CSU’s victory with a 77-yard touchdown run with just under two minutes remaining, the topper of a big night in which Johnson ran for 285 yards.

2007:

The hometown Lobos ended one of the longest streaks in Division 1 history, winning a postseason game for the first time in 46 years in ending the nation’s sixth-longest winless bowl streak.

STANDOUT PLAYERS

Connor Halliday, QB, Washington State, 2013

Went 37-for-58 passing for 410 yards and six touchdowns, all New Mexico Bowl records. He tied the NCAA bowl record for touchdown passes and became the first quarterback in NCAA bowl history to throw for six touchdowns in a loss.

Gartrell Johnson, RB, Colorado State, 2008

Set an all-time FBS record for combined rushing and receiving yards in a postseason game with 375 total yards in the Rams’ win over Fresno State. He had 285 yards rushing, the second-most ever in a bowl game behind only the 307 of Georgia Tech at the 2004 Humanitarian Bowl. Johnson had 97 yards in the first quarter alone.

Bernard Pierce, RB, and Brandon McManus, K, Temple, 2011

Pierce ran for two touchdowns in a 100-yard rushing performance, with his two scores in the game’s first 16 minutes giving the Owls the lead for good. McManus then kicked three field goals in the final 17 minutes as Temple posted a 37-15 win over Wyoming.

Matt Scott, QB, Arizona, 2012

Scott passed for 382 yards and three touchdowns, two of those scores coming in the final 46 seconds to rally the Wildcats to a 49-48 victory over Nevada. Scott rallied Arizona back from a 17-0 early deficit along with the 13-point deficit in the final two minutes.

MORE

Two of the longest streaks in college football history ended in the second edition of the Gildan New Mexico Bowl in 2007. New Mexico’s 23-0 win over Nevada gave the Logos their first postseason victory in 46 years, which at the time was the sixth-longest drought in the country. But an even longer streak ended…Nevada’s shutout was its first since 1980, a span of 329 games which was the second-longest in collegiate history.

The Gildan New Mexico Bowl is New Mexico’s only annually nationally televised sporting event.

The bowl is not the only championship football game ever played at University Stadium. In 1980, Cal Poly faced Eastern Illinois in the Division II national title game, which was hampered by snow. Helicopters had to be brought in to dry the field, which was painted green.

Snow also hampered the Gildan New Mexico Bowl’s inaugural contest in 2006, when the game and practice fields had to be slow-plowed so teams could practice and play.

CONFERENCE AFFILIATION