Austin Brawley's End-Zone Interception Seals New Mexico's 21-16 Win at San Jose State

New Mexico threw three interceptions, had a field goal blocked and watched one of those picks go 89 yards the other way for a touchdown. The Lobos still left CEFCU Stadium unbeaten in Mountain West play, because their defense refused to give San Jose State a single offensive touchdown, and Austin Brawley made sure of it with an interception in the end zone with 11 seconds left.

New Mexico beat the Spartans 21-16 on Saturday afternoon to improve to 7-1 overall and 4-0 in the conference. San Jose State fell to 4-5 and 2-3. The Spartans scored nine points on Trajan Sinatra field goals and seven more on Tuli Tagovailoa-Amosa's interception return, and that was the entire SJSU scoring output in a game where the home team had three chances in the final 10 minutes to take the lead.

It was not pretty. It did not need to be. A week after Brawley's pick-six beat North Dakota State 21-16 in Albuquerque, New Mexico won by the exact same score with the exact same formula: grind on offense, suffocate on defense, and let Brawley close it.

A Slow, Physical Start

New Mexico opened with an eight-play march into SJSU territory, but Toa Fa'avae was stopped 2 yards short on a fourth-and-9 run from the Spartans' 38, and San Jose State took over at its own 36.

The Spartans answered with a 13-play, 56-yard drive that burned 7:45, and Sinatra kicked a 25-yarder for a 3-0 lead with 3:36 left in the first quarter.

New Mexico's response was the best drive of the game. The Lobos went 82 yards in 15 plays and 8:45, leaning on Scottre Humphrey between the tackles, and Humphrey finished it from a yard out to make it 7-3 with 9:39 left in the half. On the next New Mexico possession, the Lobos needed only five plays and 2:45 to cover 65 yards, and Humphrey scored again, this time from 7 yards, for a 14-3 lead at 4:56.

Two Picks, Two Field Goals

That is when the game started to tilt. With 3:23 left in the half, Fa'avae's pass was picked off by Brian Dukes Jr. at the New Mexico 40, and the Spartans turned it into a 24-yard Sinatra field goal. On New Mexico's very next snap after the kickoff, Fa'avae threw another one, and Dylan Lee intercepted it at the 25 and returned it 11 yards to the Lobos' 14.

San Jose State had the ball at the 14 needing a touchdown to make it a one-point game, and went backward. Four plays lost 4 yards, and Sinatra settled for a 28-yarder with 37 seconds left in the half. Two turnovers inside the New Mexico 40 produced six points, and the Lobos took a 14-9 lead into the locker room.

Fa'avae Answers

Midway through the third quarter, starting at their own 11, the Lobos put together a nine-play, 89-yard drive. Fa'avae ran for 10 yards on one first down, hit Tripp Walsh for 16 on a third-and-1, and then Humphrey broke an 18-yard run to the SJSU 20. On the next snap Fa'avae found tight end Cade Keith down the middle for a 20-yard touchdown, and Grant Glasgow's extra point made it 21-9 with 4:33 left in the third.

San Jose State came right back with its most promising possession of the half. Quarterback Luke Weaver completed five straight passes, three of them to freshman Carson Clark, and the Spartans reached the New Mexico 22. Then the drive came apart. Back-to-back false starts turned third-and-2 into third-and-7, Jabari Bates gained 6, and on fourth-and-1 from the 21, Weaver was dropped for a 2-yard loss by CJ McBean and Jayden Flaker. Turnover on downs, 44 seconds left in the quarter.

The Turning Point That Almost Was

For a few minutes in the fourth quarter, it looked like San Jose State was going to steal this one anyway. Kiefer Sibley ripped off a 43-yard run to the SJSU 26 early in the period, but a false start and two short gains left New Mexico facing third-and-13 at the 29. Fa'avae's throw was intercepted by Tagovailoa-Amosa at the Spartans' 11, and Tagovailoa-Amosa returned it 89 yards the other way. With 10:47 to play, the lead was 21-16 and CEFCU Stadium was awake.

New Mexico's offense went three-and-out on the next series. San Jose State got the ball back at its own 33, and Weaver hit Malachi Riley for a first down. Then Darren Agu took over. The New Mexico edge rusher sacked Weaver for a 14-yard loss, and on the next play Flaker intercepted Weaver at the SJSU 46.

The Lobos still could not put it away. A holding penalty wiped out a Sibley run, and Glasgow's 51-yard field goal attempt with 4:53 left was blocked by Justin Stearns. San Jose State took over at its own 34 with another chance.

The Final Stand

The Spartans moved into New Mexico territory. Bates converted a second-and-9 with a 9-yard run, and after Agu sacked Weaver again, Clark caught a 15-yarder to the New Mexico 42 at the two-minute mark. From there, the New Mexico defense closed. Viliami Teu lost a yard, Weaver gained some of it back on third down, and on fourth-and-5 from the 37, Weaver's throw for Clark fell incomplete under pressure from Mercury Swaim with 1:23 left.

The game still was not over. San Jose State used its timeouts to stop the clock as three New Mexico runs gained 3 yards, and the Lobos punted to the SJSU 27 with 22 seconds left. On the first snap, Weaver found Anthony Ivey deep down the left sideline for 39 yards to the New Mexico 34. With 16 seconds left, Weaver went for the end zone one more time, and Brawley, the defensive back who decided last week's game, came down with it for a touchback. Fa'avae took a knee, and New Mexico had survived.

Brawley's pick capped a second half in which the Spartans' offense did not score a point. San Jose State ran 35 times for 48 yards, and with sacks counted against the total, Weaver finished with minus-22 rushing yards. Every drive had to be built through the air, and none ended in the end zone.

The Numbers That Mattered

New Mexico outgained San Jose State 342 to 238 and dominated on the ground, running for 231 yards on 43 carries, an average of 5.4 per attempt. Sibley led the Lobos with 102 yards on 12 carries, including the 43-yarder, and Humphrey added 87 yards and both rushing touchdowns on 16 carries. Fa'avae completed 9 of 14 passes for 101 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions.

For San Jose State, Weaver completed 16 of 23 passes for 190 yards with two interceptions, and Clark caught eight of those passes for 91 yards. Bates carried 22 times for 63 yards. The Spartans converted 5 of 13 third downs and neither of their fourth-down tries. Agu had two of New Mexico's sacks, Ormanie Arnold led the Lobos with seven tackles, and Lee had seven tackles and an interception. New Mexico held the ball for 31:22.

What It Means

New Mexico is now 4-0 in the Mountain West and the only team in the league without a conference loss. The Lobos are winning games in which their quarterback throws three interceptions and their kicker gets blocked, because nobody can find the end zone against them.

San Jose State came in looking for a fifth straight win over New Mexico and an eighth straight home win in the series, according to SJSU Athletics. Instead, the Spartans dropped their second straight game and fell below .500 with four regular-season games left, beginning with Northern Illinois at CEFCU Stadium on Nov. 7. Bowl eligibility now requires two wins in that stretch.

The Take

San Jose State will look at this game and see the plays it did not make: the fourth-and-1 at the 21, the four-play, minus-4-yard trip after Lee's interception, the fourth-and-5 with 1:23 left, and the final throw into the end zone. The Spartans' defense gave them enough, with three takeaways and a blocked kick. The offense never cashed in.

New Mexico will look at it and see a team that knows who it is. The Lobos ran for well over 200 yards, took the field-position hits from their own mistakes, and kept answering. That is not a style that wins beauty contests in November. It is a style that wins conference titles.

Full stats are in the official box score (opens in a new tab).

Sources: ESPN box score and play-by-play, SJSU Athletics. More college football coverage on Undrafted.

Photos: SJSU Athletics (file photo).