The 2011 New Mexico Bowl was a post-season American

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivis ...

, held on December 17,

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

at University Stadium on the campus of the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; es, Universidad de Nuevo México) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Founded in 1889, it is the state's flagship academic institution and the largest by enrollment, with over 25,400 ...

Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...

as part of the 2011-12 NCAA Bowl season. The game, which was telecast at 12 p.m. MT on

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

, featured the

Wyoming Cowboys The Wyoming Cowboys and Cowgirls are the sport, athletic teams that represent the University of Wyoming, located in Laramie, Wyoming, Laramie. Wyoming is a member of the Mountain West Conference (MW) and competes in NCAA Division I, fielding 17 ...

from the Mountain West Conference versus the

Temple Owls The Temple Owls are the athletic teams that represent Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The current athletic director is Arthur Johnson. The owl has been the symbol and mascot for Temple University since its founding in the 18 ...

from the

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I collegiate athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Nine of the twel ...

. Temple made its first trip to the New Mexico Bowl, becoming the first team from the MAC to appear in the game. The Owls made just their fourth bowl appearance in school history, and their second in the last three years. Wyoming appeared in its second New Mexico Bowl. The Cowboys were 35–28 victors over Fresno State in the 2009 New Mexico Bowl. The two schools have only previously played each other on one occasion. Wyoming won the 1990 matchup in

Laramie, Wyoming Laramie is a city in and the county seat of Albany County, Wyoming, United States. The population was estimated 32,711 in 2019, making it the third-largest city in Wyoming after Cheyenne and Casper. Located on the Laramie River in southeastern ...

by a score of 38–23. Temple controlled the game from start to finish in a 37-15 win. The Owls were led by running back

Bernard Pierce Bernard Hayward Pierce (born May 10, 1990) is a former American football running back. He played college football for Temple University. He was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in the third round of the 2012 NFL Draft. Early years Pierce atten ...

who ran for 100 yards and two touchdowns. Temple's aggressive defense held Wyoming's spread offense to just 267 yards (127 passing).

Teams

Temple

The Owls were led by offensively RB

(1,381 yds., 25 TDs), QB Chester Stewart (743 passing yds.) and TE Evan Rodriguez (427 receiving yds.); and defensively by LB Stephen Johnson (113 tackles, 2.0 sacks), DL Adrian Robinson (47 tackles, 6.0 sacks), and DB Justin Gildea (46 tackles, 3.0 sacks, 3 INT). Mid-American Conference Football, Mid-American Conference, December, 2011

Wyoming

Making its 13th bowl game appearance, the Cowboys were led offensively by RB Alvester Alexander (678 rushing yds., 6 TDs), QB Brett Smith (385 att., 233 of 385 passes, 2,495 yards, 18 TDs), and WR Chris McNeill (504 receiving yds., 4 TDs); and defensively by SS Luke Ruff (97 tackles),DE

Gabe Knapton Gabriel Knapton (born May 10, 1989) is an American professional gridiron football defensive end who is currently a free agent. He played for the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League (CFL) from 2018 to 2019. College career Knapton p ...

(74 tackles, 6.5 sacks) and DB Blair Burns (48 tackles, 4 INT).

Game summary

Wyoming wore their home brown uniforms, and Temple wore white visitor uniforms. Temple sophomore quarterback Chris Coyer, the offensive MVP, threw for 169 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 71 yards. Defensive MVP, senior linebacker

Tahir Whitehead Tahir Ali Whitehead (born April 2, 1990) is a former American football linebacker. He played college football for Temple University, and was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the fifth round of the 2012 NFL Draft. Early years A native of Newark, ...

, tallied 11 tackles including 1.5 for a loss. Temple jumped out to a 37-7 lead behind a balanced offensive attack and out-gained Wyoming 424 yards to 267. Bernard Pierce ran for 100 yards and two touchdowns while backup Matt Brown added 49 yards and another score. Wide receiver Rod Streater caught a 61-yard touchdown at the end of the first half.

Scoring summary

Statistics

Game Notes

*Temple's three interceptions tied a New Mexico Bowl record. *Temple won its first bowl game since 1979. *Wyoming's bowl W/L record dropped to 6-7 *Bernard Pierce rushed for 1,481 yards and 27 TDs on the season *Brett Smith was the Mountain West Freshman of the Year

References

External links

Box Score - ESPN
{{DEFAULTSORT:New Mexico Bowl, 2011 2011–12 NCAA football bowl games

December 2011 sports events in the United States 2011 in sports in New Mexico