New Mexico 19, Navy 34

1234T
UNM (7-5)7120019
NAVY (10-2)14107334

Final

4:30 PM ET, December 30, 2004
Navy Memorial Stadium
ANNAPOLIS, MD

Navy uses 14-minute drive to cap 10-win season

VIDEO PLAYLIST video
WERE YOU THERE?
Passport

Did you attend this game? If so, start chronicling your sports memories today with ESPN's Sports Passport. Enter the games you attend, upload your photos and share your memories!
I was there »

Team Stat Comparison
 
1st Downs2322
Total Yards419393
Passing207124
Rushing212269
Penalties9-856-53
3rd Down Conversions8-118-14
4th Down Conversions0-22-2
Turnovers30
Possession27:3932:21
Individual Leaders
New Mexico Passing
 C/ATTYDSTDINT
McKamey15/2420712
Navy Passing
 C/ATTYDSTDINT
Polanco3/610110
Divis2/22300
New Mexico Rushing
 CARYDSTDLG
McKamey19138130
Cox1132010
Ferguson41919
Navy Rushing
 CARYDSTDLG
Polanco26136327
Eckel2485011
Tomlinson131031
New Mexico Receiving
 RECYDSTDLG
Baskett5115053
Moore32108
Hall223117
Augustyniak218011
Navy Receiving
 RECYDSTDLG
Polanco223017
Dryden161161
Roberts135035
Nelson1505
Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTERUNMNAVY
TD7:31LOGAN HALL 17 YD PASS FROM KOLE MCKAMEY (WES ZUNKER KICK)
Drive info: 13 plays, 66 yards.
70
TD5:01AARON POLANCO 14 YD RUN (GEOFF BLUMENFELD KICK)
Drive info: 7 plays, 80 yards.
77
TD2:01AARON POLANCO 1 YD RUN (GEOFF BLUMENFELD KICK)
Drive info: 5 plays, 22 yards.
714
SECOND QUARTERUNMNAVY
TD14:52COREY DRYDEN 61 YD PASS FROM AARON POLANCO (GEOFF BLUMENFELD KICK)
Drive info: 2 plays, 72 yards.
721
TD13:13RODNEY FERGUSON 4 YD RUN (MISSED KICK)
Drive info: 6 plays, 88 yards.
1321
FG9:19GEOFF BLUMENFELD 27 YD FG
Drive info: 8 plays, 50 yards.
1324
TD3:36KOLE MCKAMEY 3 YD RUN (FAILED 2PT PASS)
Drive info: 13 plays, 80 yards.
1924
THIRD QUARTERUNMNAVY
TD7:01AARON POLANCO 27 YD RUN (GEOFF BLUMENFELD KICK)
Drive info: 9 plays, 75 yards.
1931
FOURTH QUARTERUNMNAVY
FG2:15GEOFF BLUMENFELD 22 YD FG
Drive info: 26 plays, 94 yards.
1934

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Aaron Polanco noticed New Mexico's defense overloading the outside snap after snap, so Navy's quarterback kept the ball and ran all day.

In his final game, Polanco embarrassed the nation's eighth-best rush defense.

He ran for three touchdowns and passed for another, and Navy capped the academy's best season in 99 years with a 34-19 win over New Mexico in the Emerald Bowl on Thursday.

Polanco did just about everything else, too.

"I guess that's the way it worked out for me,'' he said. "The line played their hearts out.''

Polanco scored on runs of 14, 1 and 27 yards and completed a 61-yard touchdown pass to Corey Dryden, the longest of the season by Polanco and the first career score by Dryden. The Midshipmen didn't have a turnover, and their defense was also impressive, despite the rain-soaked field at SBC Park.

The unit forced two first-half turnovers that led to TDs and staged a goal-line stand late in the third quarter. Then Navy kept the ball for the next 14 minutes, 26 seconds -- reeling off 26 plays on the drive -- and held New Mexico to only six plays in the fourth quarter.

The Midshipmen (10-2) tied for the most wins in school history, last accomplished when Navy went 10-1-1 in 1905. It was a fitting end for the Mids, some of whom will head off to war in the coming year. Less than two months ago, Navy's players dealt with the death of former teammate JP Blecksmith in a military operation in Fallujah, Iraq.

"With what's going on in the world, there's just a bond. You witnessed that today,'' said Paul Johnson, Navy's third-year coach, who has turned around a program that went 1-20 in the two years before he arrived.

"This team will go down in the annals as a very special team. I said after the game that I'm so happy for these players. They've seen the bottom of the barrel and now found success. Any time you can see hard work rewarded it makes your job worthwhile.''

Polanco, who will head to flight school next summer, finished the season with 16 rushing touchdowns, a record by a quarterback this year. Temple's Walter Washington ran for 15. Polanco gained a Navy bowl record 136 yards on the ground for his fourth 100-yard rushing game and threw for 101 yards. He even caught a 17-yard pass from Frank Divis to set up his second TD -- and his two receptions were most by any Navy player.

New Mexico quarterback Kole McKamey had nearly as big a day after the Lobos (7-5) lost star tailback DonTrell Moore to a severe left knee injury late in the first quarter that will require surgery within the next 10 days.

McKamey threw for 207 yards and also rushed for 138, the first Lobos player to accomplish the feat since Graham Leigh in 1997. But McKamey had two interceptions and only had a few chances down the stretch.

"I've never heard of a 14-minute drive,'' Lobos coach Rocky Long said. "The strange thing is, we weren't playing bad defense.''

Being part of such a long drive is something players on both sides will remember. Those on the field were exhausted, and those watching also became tired.

"The drive to eat up the whole fourth quarter was huge. It was a great way to play defense,'' Johnson said.

Moore, who has rushed for more than 1,000 yards in each of the past three seasons and came in averaging 108.3 yards per game, was carted off the field after catching a shovel pass and taking a hard hit from cornerback Vaughn Kelley that caused Moore to fumble with 3:52 left in the first quarter.

Linebacker Lane Jackson pounced on the ball for his first fumble recovery this year, and Polanco scored five plays later. Jackson also made an interception as time expired in the first half.

The loss of Moore put additional pressure on McKamey.

"It was big,'' the quarterback said. "DonTrell is so multitalented. He can run and catch the ball out of the backfield.''

Navy built a 21-7 lead eight seconds into the second quarter on Polanco's 61-yard touchdown pass to Dryden.

The Lobos couldn't stop Navy's impressive triple-option offense. The Midshipmen snapped New Mexico's five-game winning streak and kept the Lobos from their first bowl victory in 43 years.

New Mexico lost in the Las Vegas Bowl the past two years and hasn't won a postseason game since beating Western Michigan 28-12 in the 1961 Aviation Bowl. The Lobos had won 11 straight games when they scored first.

The game's first punt didn't come until 1:01 before halftime.

When New Mexico kicker Wes Zunker missed a PAT in the second quarter, he had his streak of 46 straight conversions snapped one shy of the school record.

College Football Scores

Other Scores:

Tuesday, December 14th
Southern Miss 31 Final
North Texas 10
Tuesday, December 21st
Syracuse 14 Final
Georgia Tech 51
Wednesday, December 22nd
Bowling Green 52 Final
Memphis 35
Thursday, December 23rd
Marshall 14 Final
Cincinnati 32
Wyoming 24 Final
UCLA 21
Friday, December 24th
Hawaii 59 Final
UAB 40
Monday, December 27th
Virginia 34 Final
Fresno State 37 OT
Toledo 10 Final
Connecticut 39
Tuesday, December 28th
Miami (OH) 13 Final
Iowa State 17
Notre Dame 21 Final
Oregon State 38
Wednesday, December 29th
Colorado 33 Final
UTEP 28
Oklahoma State 7 Final
Ohio State 33
Thursday, December 30th
Boston College 37 Final
North Carolina 24
New Mexico 19 Final
Navy 34
Texas Tech 45 Final
California 31
Troy 21 Final
Northern Illinois 34
Friday, December 31st
Alabama 16 Final
Minnesota 20
Arizona State 27 Final
Purdue 23
Boise State 40 Final
Louisville 44
Miami (FL) 27 Final
Florida 10
Saturday, January 1st
Tennessee 38 Final
Texas A&M 7
Georgia 24 Final
Wisconsin 21
Florida State 30 Final
West Virginia 18
LSU 25 Final
Iowa 30
Michigan 37 Final
Texas 38
Pittsburgh 7 Final
Utah 35
Monday, January 3rd
Virginia Tech 13 Final
Auburn 16
Tuesday, January 4th
USC 55 Final
Oklahoma 19