ALBUQUERQUE — Arizona committed too many turnovers and saw too much of Rodney Ferguson.

New Mexico's bruising tailback ran for 158 yards and two touchdowns and freshman James Aho tied a school record with five field goals to help the Lobos beat the mistake-prone Wildcats 36-28 on Saturday night.

"This was a good win because Arizona is a great team," Ferguson said. "It was a great morale check for us because if we didn't come out to play they could have beaten us bad."

Instead, New Mexico's victory capped a 3-0 day for the Mountain West against the Pac-10. BYU beat UCLA 59-0 and TCU beat Stanford 31-14.

"If we hit them on the right night, we're as good as anybody," Lobos coach Rocky Long said.

Ferguson also tossed a 25-yard trick play scoring pass to quarterback Donovan Porterie and the Lobos (1-2) knocked off the Wildcats (2-1) for the second straight year. They won 29-27 last year in Tucson.

"Ferguson had us off balance," Arizona coach Mike Stoops said. "They did a nice job of keeping us on our heels. It definitely doesn't help to have turnovers. We really didn't play well on defense, either."

New Mexico needed a boost after losing its first two games for the first time in eight years.

"The worst thing we could have done after two losses is to give up hope," said Porterie, who was an efficient 13-of-17 for 89 yards passing.

It was a big night for New Mexico's defense, which stopped the Wildcats on downs 22 yards from the end zone early in the fourth quarter, then got another big play when Glover Quin intercepted Willie Tuitama's pass near midfield with just under 8 minutes remaining.

Tuitama, who was 27-of-50 for 321 yards and three TDs, got the Wildcats to 36-28, throwing a 28-yard TD strike to Juron Criner with 4:38 to play, then got the ball back with 1:27 to go.

Tuitama's fourth-down attempt to Mike Thomas was incomplete with 40 seconds left, setting off a celebration on New Mexico's sideline.

The series is one of the oldest for both schools, dating to 1908, but the Wildcats haven't visited Albuquerque since 1990. They won't want to return after losing three fumbles and seeing Tuitama intercepted twice.

"It's a setback," Stoops said. "No loss is good."

New Mexico scored 19 points off those turnovers — four field goals by Aho and a huge TD only 18 seconds into the second half.

Clint McPeek forced a fumble by Arizona's Nic Grigsby on the first play from scrimmage in the third quarter, and Quin returned it 29 yards to the Wildcats' 10.

Ferguson ran to the end zone on the next snap, stretching to move the ball across the goal line. The TD was upheld after a replay review, and the Lobos led 27-14 after just two second-half plays from scrimmage.

"We won instead of making mistakes," Ferguson said. "It was a great win."

New Mexico's defense set the tone midway through the first quarter, forcing their first turnover when lineman Brett Kennedy caught Tuitama's screen pass and returned it 22 yards to set up Aho's first field goal, a 24-yard effort.

It was Kennedy's first play in college football.

"I'll bet you he never thought they were going to throw it to him," Long said. "The best part of it was he caught it. Obviously, he's never run with the ball before. If he would have stayed inside he would have scored."

At the time, New Mexico trailed 7-0 after Tuitama connected with Thomas on a 43-yard scoring pass.

"It changed the momentum," Long said. "The defense fed on the turnovers. The more turnovers we got, the harder we played."

Grigsby's 4-yard TD run in the third quarter pulled Arizona to 27-21 but Aho, who kicked a 43-yard field goal in the second period, was good from 48 and 42 yards as the Lobos made it 33-21 early in the fourth.

"I just go out there, take my steps and do what I can do," said Aho, a walk-on who made the team in spring practice. "I know I can hit it far, 52, so I just figured take it as another shot and see what I can do."

His fourth field goal came after New Mexico's Ian Clark sacked Tuitama, forcing another fumble, and Kendall Briscoe recovered.

"The more turnovers we get, the more opportunities we give our offense to put points on the board," Briscoe said. "We were flying around today. We were just active. When you're active and you fly around, you cause turnovers."

Arizona scored 111 points in wins over Idaho and Toledo in Tucson, but New Mexico's defense offered a tougher test.

The Lobos, who struggled early in homefield losses to TCU and Texas A&M, ended a skid of 11 straight losses when their opponent scores first.

New Mexico rallied to lead 20-14 at halftime, aided by a first-quarter trick play where Ferguson tossed a 25-yard TD pass to Porterie. Aho kicked field goals of 24 and 43 yards and Ferguson broke a 25-yard TD run just before the break.




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