New Mexico's bowl fate is in limbo after the Lobos suffered a 42-24 home loss to Air Force to end its regular season 6-5 overall and 4-4 in Mountain West Conference play.
The Lobos extended its home turf woes, failing to contain Air Force's triple option defense and extending its home losing streak to three games.
"We practiced everything we needed to do against them, but they just came out stronger and played better than us," said senior linebacker Mike Mohoric, who led the Lobos with 20 tackles. "It's really disappointing because I think we were capable of playing much better all season, but we didn't get the job done.
Now the team's bowl fate rests in the hands of other teams. The Mountain West Conference has three bowl contracts -- the Las Vegas, Emerald and Poinsettia bowls. League champion TCU is all but assured a spot in either the Liberty of Houston bowls, making room for four league teams.
Three teams went into the weekend bowl eligible. Utah and Colorado State needed wins Saturday to become bowl eligible and were locked in tight contests.
If one of those teams loses, the Lobos are assured a bowl spot.
Should Utah and Colorado State both win, the Lobos still have a shot at earning a spot in the Fort Worth Bowl, which agreed to take a Mountain West team if the Big 12 Conference failed to field a bowl eligible team.
Kansas must beat Iowa State or Texas A&M must upset Texas next week to become bowl eligible and earn spots in the Fort Worth Bowl. If those two teams fail to qualify, it would open the door for the Lobos or whichever Mountain West team is passed up by the other bowl committees this weekend.
Lobos coach Rocky Long called the team's bowl chances shaky following the poor showing against Air Force.
New Mexico's offense struggled to move the ball consistency, then took a devastating blow when backup-turned-starter Chris Nelson broke his right collar bone with 9:12 remaining in the third quarter.
Sophomore Bryan Clampitt, a former walk-on who had no game experience, stepped in and went 11-of-17 passing for 129 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
"I tried to relax and help the team as best I could out there," Clampitt said. "I felt comfortable and tried to do everything the coaches asked me to do. It just wasn't enough today."
Senior wide receiver Hank Baskett was quick to praise Clampitt, who he said did well under immense pressure. Baskett struggled, finishing with two catches for eight yards. Going into the game, he averaged 6.5 catches for 106.3 yards per outing.
"Bryan worked hard out there. It was up to the rest of us to do our jobs and we didn't get it done," Baskett said. "I take the blame for this one because I didn't play the way I should have out there. I didn't step up the way my team needed me."
Senior DonTrell Moore carried the offense, possibly for the last time, with 143 yards, one touchdown and one two-point conversion on 28 carries. He has 4,973 yards on his career, good for 13th all-time among NCAA Division I players.
"It's frustrating to lose such a big game like this because the other team just outplayed us," he said. "It's not the way the seniors wanted to go out."

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