New Mexico vs. Texas San Antonio: Score and Reaction for 2016 New Mexico Bowl

The New Mexico Lobos picked up just their second bowl win since 1961 on Saturday, as they defeated the Texas San Antonio Roadrunners 23-20 in the New Mexico Bowl at University Stadium in Albuquerque.

Playing in the New Mexico Bowl for the second consecutive year, the Lobos leaned on their dominant running game, rushing for 211 yards to improve to 9-4 on the season. UTSA fell to 6-7.

New Mexico attempted only six passes, but quarterback Lamar Jordan was named the game's Most Outstanding Offensive Player with 77 passing yards and 81 rushing yards.

The Roadrunners appeared in their first bowl game Saturday since joining the FBS in 2012, but they were unable to get the job done in a true road game despite winning the total yardage battle 364-296.

UTSA appeared ready to play in the early going, however, as it began the contest with a 13-play drive that covered 65 yards before being forced to settle for a 27-yard field goal make by Victor Falcon.

The Lobos began to impose their will on the ground late in the first quarter. That was expected thanks to their status as the nation's pre-eminent running team, as seen in this graphic courtesy of ESPN Stats & Info:

On a nine-play drive that featured carries by four different players, New Mexico seized a 7-3 lead just prior to the end of the opening quarter.

As captured in the following video courtesy of the Mountain West Conference's Twitter account, junior Richard McQuarley finished off the drive by scoring from one yard out for his 17th touchdown of the season:

UTSA appeared to be driving for a go-ahead touchdown late in the opening half, but penalty issues stalled the drive in the red zone and resulted in the Roadrunners kicking a field goal to pull within one at 7-6.

The Lobos were left with just 1:32 on the clock, and their prospects of scoring weren't promising thanks to their status as a run-first team and the fact that they were playing into a stiff wind.

Quarterback Lamar Jordan attempted his first and only pass of the first half with 11 seconds remaining, though, and an 18-yard completion to running back Teriyon Gipson gave New Mexico a chance at a long field goal.

Kicker Jason Sanders was up for the challenge, as he barely made a career-long 52-yard field goal in spite of kicking against the wind:

New Mexico entered the locker room with a 10-6 lead despite being slightly outgained as well as outpossessed, and it had the benefit of receiving the opening kickoff of the second half.

The late field goal appeared to energize the Lobos. They came out firing in the third quarter with a 10-play, 75-yard drive finished off by Gipson on a 10-yard touchdown run:

UTSA managed to limit the lead to 10, though, as it blocked Sanders' extra-point attempt, which marked the first missed PAT of his career.

Both teams struggled to sustain drives for the remainder of the third quarter, but the Roadrunners made things interesting early in the fourth.

UTSA marched 53 yards down the field on 10 plays, with the key conversion coming on a 4th-and-15 at New Mexico's 35-yard line.

Quarterback Dalton Sturm found a diving Brady Jones for a 19-yard gain before hitting senior tight end Trevor Stevens for a 16-yard touchdown two plays later.

That marked the first touchdown of Stevens' career and cut the deficit to 16-13 for the Roadrunners.

Per Tracking Football, Sturm came from out of nowhere to develop into UTSA's starter and put the team in position to potentially pick up its first-ever bowl win:

In order to give Sturm that chance, though, the Roadrunners needed to make a defensive stop against the nation's best rushing team.

Although New Mexico appeared out of rhythm offensively at times throughout the day, it came through when it needed to most.

With a chance to essentially close out the game, the Lobos ground out a 12-play, 71-yard drive that took more than seven minutes off the clock.

McQuarley converted a 4th-and-1 from the UTSA 3-yard line and then scored for the second time of the day and 18th time on the season to restore New Mexico's 10-point advantage:

The Roadrunners were left with just over two minutes remaining on the clock, but they managed to tighten things up with a four-yard touchdown pass from Sturm to wide receiver JaBryce Taylor with 25 seconds remaining.

UTSA's onside kick attempt was unsuccessful, however, and the Lobos managed to hang on.

Saturday's win was a significant one for New Mexico, as it prevailed in front of its home fans and clinched its first nine-win season since 2007.

The victory was the biggest in head coach Bob Davie's five-year tenure and may have signaled the Lobos' development into a threat in the Mountain West Conference.

Although the loss was a disappointing one for UTSA, simply reaching a bowl represented a huge step forward for a program that went a combined 7-17 in 2014 and 2015.

First-year head coach Frank Wilson has the team back on track, and the tenacity it showed on the road Saturday bodes well for its status in Conference USA moving forward.

Both New Mexico and Texas San Antonio appear to be on the rise, and there figures to be many more bowl appearances in their future.

Postgame Reaction

While New Mexico came out on top, UTSA posed a stiff challenge and largely won the statistical battle, and Davie acknowledged how tough the matchup was after game during an interview with ESPN (h/t Mountain West Conference on Twitter):

"It was a struggle all day long. Their defense really played us well. Their quarterback scrambled and made some plays, but the Lobos won nine games. The Lobos end up 9-4. So much credit to these players and these coaches."

Davie also credited his offense for coming through in the clutch despite finding yardage hard to come by for much of the day:

"We had enough offense when we needed it. I thought Lamar Jordan hung in there, made some plays scrambling. At the end of the game we do what we do. We were able to run the ball."

The mood was more somber for those involved with UTSA after the game, including Wilson.

His team fell just short, but he expressed belief that they gave it their all, according to JJ Perez of UTSA Insiders:

Wilson also made mention of the fact that scoring chances were at a premium due to how quickly the game went and how few possessions there were with the running game taking precedent for both teams:

Despite that, the Roadrunners lost to a nine-win team in a hostile environment by just three points, and that is something they can build on in 2017 and beyond.

Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter.