Arizona vs. UNM 2015: Wildcats survive Lobos in points-filled New Mexico Bowl

Including a delightful Celebration Bowl between NC A&T and Alcorn State — a 41-34 A&T win — there were eight return touchdowns (three punt returns, a kick return, three interception returns, and a fumble return) and 10 touchdowns on gains of 30-plus yards in Saturday’s six bowls.

Eighteen touchdowns via defense, special teams, or huge gainer, combining to gain 1,082 yards. Are you not entertained?

After a big scare in the second half, Arizona hung on against New Mexico to win, 45-37, in the New Mexico Bowl, finishing with a winning record, 7-6, on the season. The Wildcats got a big performance from star linebacker Scooby Wright, and an efficient offense helped them seal the deal.

It was starting to look like Arizona was pulling away in the third quarter, building their lead to 42-24, but New Mexico wasn’t giving up that easily. Lamar Jordan punched in his third rushing touchdown of the day to make it 42-35. However, Jordan went down with an injury, requiring backup Austin Apodaca to come in. He led the Lobos down the field, but a fourth down sack by none other than Scooby Wright proved to ultimately be the dagger.

New Mexico’s kicker had a dream. A chance to carry the ball on the bright stage of a bowl game. The play was called and he left the huddle with a song in his heart -- a dream that he could run for a first down -- or even a touchdown. “Can you imagine that?” he thought, “a touchdown in a bowl game! Something to tell my family forever!”

Then gravity happened.

Bob Davie’s offense at New Mexico is pretty awesome to watch. The Lobos are running the triple option, but they’re running it out of the pistol formation. Here’s one set:

Davie’s not the first coach to have triple option looks out of the pistol, but man, I’ve never seen a formation like this:

In its triumphant return to bowl season, New Mexico has earned a trip to ... New Mexico. That might not be where most players hope to go for a bowl game, but it’s great for an improving Lobos squad that will get a home field advantage against border rival Arizona.

New Mexico hasn’t been to a bowl game since 2007 -- a shutout win in this same game against Nevada -- and it looks like things are on the upswing for the Lobos. Granted, the Mountain West hasn’t been great this year, but New Mexico was in the tougher division and came out tied for second. The program has really struggled after the terrible Mike Locksley era, so this is a needed step in the right direction under coach Bob Davie.

Early in this year’s coaching carousel, Arizona head coach Rich Rodriguez’s name came up as tied to the Virginia Tech job. Then he interviewed with South Carolina and, depending on who you believe, either didn’t get an offer or turned one down. He returned to Tucson, announced Arizona was where he wanted to be and got back to work.

Now, how does his team respond? If you’re listing reasons why teams lay eggs in bowl games, a head coach flirting with another job might show up. A disappointing season might, too. A year after winning 10 games for the first time in 16 years, the Wildcats stumbled to 6-6. I called this a rebuilding year in the offseason, but this wasn’t what I had in mind.

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After the 2014 Gildan New Mexico Bowl was the least watched in the game’s nine-year history, the 2015 matchup between the Mountain West Conference and Conference USA will look to draw eyes to University Stadium in Albuquerque.

In the past, it drew many more viewers for Pac-12 teams and it drew more points too, but less offense and lower-profile teams made for less excitement. After 190 points in the two years of Pac-12 ties, Utah State and UTEP combined for just 27 points in 2014.