ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- For the first four minutes Saturday night, the University of the Incarnate Word had its way with the University of New Mexico, but the Cardinals ultimately dropped a 62-30 decision to the Lobos at Dreamstyle Stadium.
 
Freshman quarterback Jon Copeland, whose previous game was in high school, finished the evening with yeoman's statistics for a college quarterback: He hit 17 of 36 passes for 328 yards and a touchdown. Backup quarterback Sean Brophy engineered a five-play, 83-yard drive that resulted in a touchdown on a four-yard fumble recovery by Brandon McDuffie.
 
On the opening drive, the Cardinals marched 75 yards in 13 plays to score on a one-yard run by Copeland. The freshman signal caller hit three of five passes for 55 yards. He also rushed for eight yards, the last run a one-yard touchdown.
 
That gave UIW a 7-0 lead in their season opener against the Football Bowl Subdivison (FBS) Lobos.
 
On New Mexico's first possession of the game, however, the Lobos used a 60-yard drive that not only knotted the score, but also set the tone for the remainder of the game. The Cardinals showed moments of brilliance, but New Mexico exploited big plays down the stretch.
 
A 34-yard pass on New Mexico's next possession set up the Lobos' go-ahead touchdown. A 32-yard pass play on the subsequent Lobo drive led to a score that put the home team ahead by 14. A 69-yard touchdown pass as the first-quarter clock expired gave New Mexico a 28-7 lead.
 
On the third possession of the second quarter, UIW cut into New Mexico's advantage when Ra'Quanne Dickens set a UIW record for a touchdown run from scrimmage with a 90-yard rush down the sideline.
 
UIW's Cody Siedel kicked a 29-yard field goal with 1:01 remaining in the second quarter, closing the margin to 28-16, but New Mexico answered with a touchdown with five seconds left, sending the Lobos into the locker room with a 35-16 halftime lead.
 
On the third play after halftime, UNM used a 67-yard run from scrimmage to set up a touchdown. Then, midway through the third quarter, the Lobos ground out a methodical 12-play drive that gave New Mexico a 48-16 lead going into the fourth quarter.
 
UNM opened the fourth quarter with an eight play, 39-yard touchdown, but UIW answered as Cardinal quarterback Copeland completed a 43-yard pass to Lamont Johnson, followed by a 16-yard touchdown pass to Phillip Baptiste. New Mexico extended the lead once again with a 22-yard touchdown pass, but Brandon McDuffie scored on a fumble recovery in the last minute of the game for the final score of 62-30.
 
UIW faces its second FBS opponent of the season, traveling to Denton, Texas, to take on North Texas on Sept. 8. Kickoff is slated for 6:30 p.m. (CT).
 
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QUOTES FROM HEAD COACH ERIC MORRIS
On the key to getting into the end zone on the first drive… 
"Execution. Just like all the drives that we scored on today, we executed on a high level. On offense, we sputtered a couple times on penalties or self-inflicted wounds. That's something we've got to get over in a hurry or we're not going to be as good as we know we can be. The penalties killed us and made us go backwards."
 
On how offense impacts the tempo of the game…
"Anytime we can get a first down or a big play, we start moving fast. You saw what we did after the fact. We completed a couple drives and scored. We have to execute at a high level, start these drives off, and get the team in some good plays. I was happy with how Copeland played today, he saw the field really well.
 
On the big plays and moving forward…
"Most of them were mental mistakes. We lost some coverage on the back end and that's something you can't do at this level. We need to communicate better on the back end."