The chants echoed through the Jim and Carol Laub Athletics-Academic Complex and emanated from the visiting locker room at Maverik Stadium, so loud that Utah State’s players and coaches could almost certainly, and painfully, hear them.

“Bronco! Bronco! Bronco! Bronco!”

New Mexico had just defeated Utah State 50-45 and snapped a seven-game losing streak against USU. The win also moved the Lobos to a 3-4 record on the season and 2-1 in Mountain West Conference play.

Jubilation is an apt description of the scene – at least for the Lobos.

After a tense back-and-forth affair with Utah State Saturday afternoon in Logan, New Mexico’s players were understandably on cloud nine, and much of their praise was directed toward their new head coach.

Bronco Mendenhall took over New Mexico’s football program last winter, and while he promised “sustained excellence,” few thought that would happen anytime soon.

But now Mendenhall has his team one win away from tying last year’s win total, and with the win over the Aggies, a bowl game is also a possibility for UNM.

That hasn’t happened for the Lobos program since the 2016 season. Since that nine-win campaign, there have been many two- and three-win seasons.

The Lobos prevailed impressively over USU, outscoring Utah State 21-7 in the fourth quarter and scoring two touchdowns in the final four minutes of the game to put it away.

Afterwards, Mendenhall was understandably excited for his team.

“It’s hard to find one word, but probably the most honest word is relief, and that led to elation quite quickly,” he said. “If it were one word, it would be relief.”

The victory was remarkable, Mendenhall added. On the road against a conference opponent, New Mexico had to rally from deficits of 17-0, 31-15 and 38-23, the last two coming in the second half.

It was a game-changing win for the Lobos, or at least that’s the likelihood. It was a victory I will never forget.

“I wanted to win,” Mendenhall said. “I wanted our players to have the opportunity to come back and actually seal a game like this, on the road, from those kinds of deficits, and see what that felt like.

“That we made a move to win the game, relief, but then the flood of all the other emotions that had more substance, that’s something I’ll remember forever.”

Utah State interim head coach Nate Dreiling credited the Lobos for their performance. Utah State wanted the win, even needed it, but the Lobos made plays when they needed to, especially on third down offensively.

“UNM was 10 of 15 on third down,” Dreiling said. “They stayed on the field long enough. … The game came down to three or four plays and we didn’t finish those plays. We are doing better and better, but the problem is that we still have so long to go before we can catch up with everyone else.”

This now also applies to New Mexico. Reconstruction under Mendenhall happened at a faster pace than many expected.