Mamta Popat/Arizona Daily Star

University of Arizona's Earl Mitchell, 49, barely gets a grip on New Mexico's OJ Swift, right, after Swift picked up a fumble in the second half at Arizona Stadium Saturday night. New Mexico won 29-27.

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TUCSON, Ariz. — The Lobos love being myth busters.

They have proven over and over during University of New Mexico football coach Rocky Long's tenure, they are the ultimate overachievers.

They toppled giants like BYU and Missouri on the road.

This time, it was Arizona's turn.

The Lobos escaped with a 29-27 win at Arizona for their first victory over a Pacific-10 team since a 1979 win over Oregon State in Albuquerque.

“It's just like coach Long told us, we're a team that breaks down barriers,” senior wide receiver Travis Brown said. “This is a huge victory for us. It shows that we are a team capable of beating the big-name teams. We are a strong team that keeps getting better every week.”

The Lobos waffled at times in the first half, allowing Arizona to dominate all but two possessions.

Those possessions, however, happened to be huge for UNM.

The team scored on the opening drive of the game, efficiently marching 80 yards to claim a 7-0 lead.

Then the Lobos' attack fizzled and it appeared a handful of Wildcats mistakes and lucky breaks were the only things keeping UNM in the game.

As time ticked down in the first half, the Lobos appeared to be trying to run out the clock on running plays. Arizona called timeout to force UNM to punt, hoping the Wildcats' speedy return team could make a play.

UNM awoke from its stupor and scored with three seconds left in the first half to take a 14-13 halftime lead.

Kelly Presnell/Arizona Daily Star

New Mexico safety Frankie Solomon shows off the football after his interception that squashed the University of Arizona's last drive late in the fourth quarter at Arizona Stadium, in Tucson Saturday night. The Lobos won 29-27.

“That drive was pretty important for us because it's when we woke up,” junior running back Rodney Ferguson said. “It showed that we weren't having trouble on offense because of anything they were doing. Our game plan was good. We just weren't making the right decisions.”

The two teams traded blows in the second half, but a few big heroes emerged to help UNM seal the win.

Senior linebacker George Carter stripped Arizona quarterback Willie Tuitamo near the 2-yard line and O.J. Swift recovered the ball. Swift ran it back 39 yards and the play set up a field goal by John Sullivan, putting UNM ahead 17-13.

Ferguson seemed to make a bonehead play of his own, fumbling on the goal line as he was poised to score. But the Lobos turned the fumble into nine points after forcing Tuitamo into a safety and scoring a touchdown on the next possession, pushing the score to 26-13 at the end of the third quarter.

The Wildcats' spread offense is designed to generate points quickly and helped Arizona mount a comeback.

Tuitama passed on every play of the next series, connecting on five-of-seven throws leading the Wildcats to a touchdown in two minutes, making the score 26-20.

The Lobos failed to score on the next possession, but the defense forced another fumble, this time by Arizona running back Chris Jennings on the UNM 24. Swift recovered again and ran it back for 30 yards.

After the drive stalled, Sullivan connected on a 44-yard field goal, pushing UNM to a 29-20 lead.

“It felt awesome,” Sullivan said. “That was the best moment of my career so far here at UNM. It was just perfect. I imagined myself hitting it perfectly, I knew we needed the points and it felt right the moment I hit it.”

Arizona scored again to make it a 29-27 game and after holding the Lobos on a three-and-out, got the ball back with less than two minutes to play. Sophomore Frankie Solomon thwarted Arizona's final drive, picking off a long pass by Tuitama at the UNM 40-yard line.

“I had seen him make the same kind of play before, so I bumped off the receiver and went after the ball,” Solomon said. “I acted like a receiver and it came right to me. It might have looked like it was a bad throw for him, but I think I did my job closing out the guy he was looking for and getting into the right position for the ball first. It was the perfect play.”

Ferguson finished with 94 rushing yards, ending a streak of consecutive 100-yard rushing games at five. But Ferguson's final 17 yards were critical.

The Lobos were facing third-and-nine with 1:23 left in the game, plenty of time for Arizona to mount one more scoring drive.

“The coaches told me I'm putting it on you hit the hole and carry this team,” Ferguson said. “I just kept running. I knew I had to stay on my feet because we all worked so hard for this win. We were so close to beating a Pac-10 team, I wasn't going to let it slip away.”