LAS VEGAS BOWL UCLA takes advantage of New Mexico's errors

The Bruins posted a 27-13 win and also blocked an extra point kick by the first woman to play in a Division I-A game.
LAS VEGAS (AP) -- UCLA spoiled Katie Hnida's historic moment, and gave the Bruins' new coach something to build on.
Hnida became the first woman to play in a Division I-A game Wednesday, trying an extra point kick that was blocked in New Mexico's 27-13 loss to UCLA in the Las Vegas Bowl.
"I can replay in my mind seeing that hand block the kick, and that's going to be what I think about before I go to bed tonight," Hnida said of her low kick.
Lobos coach Rocky Long defended his decision to use Hnida.
"Katie is a valuable member of our team," Long said. "I think it's a very unusual situation, and she's put in a position a lot of times that's very uncomfortable. I made the decision before the game that we were going to let her kick the first extra point."
Hnida, with her hair in a ponytail, attempted the kick after the Lobos took a 6-3 lead on Desmar Black's 55-yard interception return with 8:20 left in the first quarter.
Walked on at New Mexico
The 5-foot-9, 150-pound Hnida was on the Colorado roster in 1999 and suited up for the Buffaloes in the Insight.com Bowl. She walked on to the New Mexico team before this season.
"The only way that I've been able to handle this so well is because of the program that I am in," Hnida said. "The players and the coaches are absolutely phenomenal. This isn't common. It isn't going on anywhere else in the country."
UCLA interim coach Ed Kezirian's brief time in the spotlight went much better than Hnida's.
Kezirian, UCLA's director of academic services, filled in as coach after Bob Toledo was fired at the end of the regular season.
"This game isn't really about me, it's about the players," Kezirian said.
Karl Dorrell, a former UCLA receiver and more recently an assistant with the Denver Broncos, was hired last week to replace Toledo, but has not yet taken over the team.
Dorrell is inheriting a team loaded with talented underclassmen, led by sophomore receiver Craig Bragg, freshman safety Jarrad Page and freshman halfback Tyler Ebell.
All three had a hand in the bowl victory.
Bruins' big plays
Bragg returned a punt 74 yards for a touchdown to break a 6-6 tie in the third quarter, and Page's 29-yard interception return a minute into the fourth quarter sealed the win for UCLA (8-5).
UCLA got the big plays and defensive stops it needed in the second half to beat the Lobos, who were making just their second bowl appearance in 41 years.
Bragg, recruited by Toledo to be a game-breaker, did just that.
"I take it upon myself to do that and I did it today," he said.
Bragg had seven scoring plays this season of 30 yards or more and has a career average of nearly 42 yards on his TDs. He fielded the punt at the 26, broke a tackle and raced up the left sideline.
"I thought our miscues on special teams and on offense and the big punt return were obviously the difference in the game," Long said.
The Bruins added two touchdowns in the fourth quarter off New Mexico turnovers. Page scored after he picked off a pass from Casey Kelly that hit tight end Zach Cresap in the back.
Ebell scored with 10:40 left after New Mexico's third turnover, a fumble by receiver Joe Manning that was recovered by linebacker Brandon Chillar at the Lobos 31.
New Mexico (7-7) has played in only seven bowl games since 1939 and has not won one since 1961.
It showed.
Second half problems
While the Lobos' blitzing and stunting defense held UCLA's rushing game to 26 yards in the first half, New Mexico's offense struggled to sustain drives or killed them with penalties.
The Lobos' other score was on an 11-yard pass from Kelly to Manning in the fourth quarter.
UCLA got first-half field goals of 49 and 39 yards from Nate Fikse. The first one, with 10:24 left in the first quarter, was set up by freshman DonTrell Moore's fumble at the Lobos 21 on New Mexico's second play from scrimmage.
Moore, who ran for 1,117 yards this season, was held to 17 yards on 14 carries.