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The University of New Mexico football program won't face the fallout from an academic fraud investigation until after its bowl game.

UNM Athletics Director Paul Krebs said Monday the NCAA approved a 30-day extension for UNM to respond in writing to an academic fraud investigation involving the football program.

Krebs said one of the parties involved in the investigation no longer associated with UNM asked for the extension.

UNM now has until Jan. 7 to respond to four potential rules violations. Krebs said UNM is close to completing a response, but planned to wait until January to submit its report.

UNM revealed on Sept. 14 that it was under investigation by the NCAA, the body that oversees intercollegiate athletics and enforces rules designed to protect students.

The NCAA is alleging major rules violations by three Lobos assistant football coaches charged with helping four prospective players and one athlete who was enrolled at UNM obtain fraudulent course credit.

Two of the five players the NCAA says were involved in the incident eventually played for UNM. None of the athletes are currently in the football program.

The NCAA served notice of allegations in a letter to UNM on Sept. 6. The statement outlined the following allegations:

The coaches provided benefits to four prospective players and one athlete already in school by arranging for them to enroll in and receive "improper" course credit from Fresno Pacific University.

They lied about their involvement in a scheme to register players at Fresno Pacific and offers to pay for the courses.

The coaches provided "false and misleading" information to UNM and the NCAA enforcement staff about the connection to Fresno Pacific.

A coach provided his university-issued telephone number as the phone number for a player enrolling in correspondence courses at Fresno Pacific.

Athletes told investigators that a coach said they would receive credit for a Fresno Pacific course without having to complete any work.

A coach denied "he had registered or had any knowledge of other coaches registering prospective student-athletes in Fresno Pacific correspondence courses when, in fact, the coach had registered or assisted . . . them in their Fresno Pacific courses."

A UNM coach told enforcement investigators that he had never communicated with Fresno Pacific instructors when phone records revealed he had placed at least 17 calls to the instructor between February 2004 and January 2006.

Krebs said at the Sept. 14 news conference that UNM was cooperating with the NCAA investigation and had planned to respond to the NCAA in writing by Dec. 7.

The extension puts off what could have been a major distraction for the Lobos as they prepare to face Nevada in the New Mexico Bowl on Dec. 22 in a nationally televised game in Albuquerque.

Krebs previously said if school officials learn through their own investigation UNM has violated any NCAA rules, it will self-impose sanctions.

Krebs said at the time those penalties could include loss of recruiting visits, loss of scholarships, loss of TV appearances and a bowl ban.

None of the allegations involve head coach Rocky Long and the NCAA does not allege any lack of institutional control, the measuring stick the organization uses as a sign of gross misconduct that triggers its stiffest penalties.

Long has been mum about the NCAA allegations, saying he would not discuss the issue until after the football season in December.

UNM must appear before the NCAA's infractions committee next spring, and a decision by the NCAA would be issued at that time.