The team enjoyed success in comparison to the year before, where they went 6–6 before losing to San Jose State in the first inaugural New Mexico Bowl.

The Lobos' schedule also appeared to be stronger, playing tough road games against Arizona, TCU, Utah, and San Diego State.

Early success in the fourth quarter allowed New Mexico to go up 6–3 when John Sullivan connected for a 40-yard field goal.

New Mexico quarterback Donovan Porterie stepped up quickly, connecting on a 50-yard pass to Travis Brown to reach the Aggies' 25-yard line.

The second quarter was the start of Arizona's decline, with several key penalties called against them, and a turnover that led to a New Mexico touchdown.

New Mexico quarterback Donovan Porterie led the Lobos down the field several times and allowed them to score 12 points.

[3] After an impressive win in Arizona, the Lobos returned home to face 1-AA opponent Sacramento State.

New Mexico running back Rodney Ferguson had a total of 129 yards rushing and a career-high four touchdowns.

Early in the fourth quarter, the Lobos fumbled the ball away to BYU, which set up a touchdown by Hall.

New Mexico managed to hold BYU to a three and out possession, but the momentum quickly shifted when Frankie Solomon fumbled on the punt return.

[5] Following their loss to BYU, the Lobos headed to Wyoming for their second Mountain West Conference game.

At the end of quarter, a weather delay was issued because of strong lightning and heavy rain in the area.

After the delay, the second quarter began and New Mexico drove down the field, with Donovan Porterie completing a 63-yard TD pass to Travis Brown.

Early in the third quarter, Wyoming quarterback Karsten Sween fumbled on their own 2-yard line, leading to a New Mexico score.

[6] Coming off a road win against Wyoming, the Lobos visited Qualcomm Stadium to face another important conference game against San Diego State.

The Aztecs moved down the field rather quickly, and appeared to have the game in hand, but O'Connell made a crucial mistake when he fumbled the ball trying to run for the first down.

Rodney Ferguson's six-yard touchdown run with 15 seconds left in the game lifted New Mexico to a 20–17 victory.

In the second quarter, the Falcons stopped the Lobos and drove down the field to score a touchdown that gave them the lead by 3.

In the fourth quarter, Air Force began to drive down the field twice, but on both those possessions they fumbled the ball away to New Mexico.

The Lobos put up 6 points, including one field goal with just seconds left in the game to pull away from Air Force in a 34–31 victory.

[8] With the Lobos off to an impressive 6–2 start, most people could not have predicted what would happen when they invaded TCU for a key conference game.

[9] The Lobos returned home after a devastating loss to TCU to face their next MWC opponent, Colorado State.

The first quarter of the game proved to be an offensive battle, as the defense on both sides of the ball allowed 0 points.

On the Lobos' first possession, they appeared to be moving down the field effectively, but running back Rodney Ferguson fumbled away to the Utes.

New Mexico was driving down the field, when Paul Kruger knocked the ball out of Donovan Porterie's hands, where Koa Misi picked it up and ran it back for a Utes touchdown.

In the second quarter, New Mexico had great offensive success, scoring two touchdowns, one by a 63-yard pass to Marcus Smith, and the other with a run by Travis Brown.

To start the third quarter, Marcus Smith ran the kickoff 82-yards setting up an easy 1-yard touchdown run by Rodney Fergusson.

New Mexico would cap the win off when John Sullivan made a fourth-quarter field goal to make the score 27–6.

To start the game, Donovan Porterie threw two touchdown passes, giving the Lobos a big lead over the Wolfpack.

The win ended the 46-year-long drought the Lobos faced in the postseason, and it marked the first bowl victory under Rocky Long.