| Year Game Played: | 2009 |
| Game Name: | New Mexico Bowl |
| Caption: | New Mexico Bowl logo. |
| Football Season: | 2009 |
| Visitor Name Short: | Fresno State |
| Visitor Nickname: | Bulldogs |
| Visitor School: | California State University, Fresno |
| Home Name Short: | Wyoming |
| Home Nickname: | Cowboys |
| Home School: | University of Wyoming |
| Visitor Record: | 8–4 |
| Visitor Conference: | WAC |
| Home Record: | 6–6 |
| Home Conference: | Mountain West |
| Visitor Coach: | Pat Hill |
| Home Coach: | Dave Christensen |
| Visitor 1Q: | 0 |
| Visitor 2Q: | 14 |
| Visitor 3Q: | 7 |
| Visitor 4Q: | 7 |
| Visitor Ot: | 0 |
| Visitor 2Ot: | 0 |
| Home 1Q: | 7 |
| Home 2Q: | 7 |
| Home 3Q: | 3 |
| Home 4Q: | 11 |
| Home Ot: | 0 |
| Home 2Ot: | 7 |
| Date Game Played: | December 19 |
| Stadium: | University Stadium |
| City: | Albuquerque, New Mexico |
| Mvp: | QB Austyn Carta-Samuels, Wyoming DE Mitch Unrein, Wyoming |
| Odds: | Fresno State by 11[1] |
| Referee: | Mike Conlin (MAC) |
| Attendance: | 24,898[2] |
| Payout: | 750,000 per team |
| Us Network: | ESPN |
| Us Announcers Link: | List of announcers of major college bowl games |
| Us Announcers: | Terry Gannon & David Norrie |
| Ratings: | 2.78 [3] |
The 2009 New Mexico Bowl was a post-season American college football bowl game, held on December 19, 2009, at University Stadium on the campus of the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, New Mexico, as part of the 2009–10 NCAA bowl season. The game, telecast on ESPN, featured the Wyoming Cowboys from the Mountain West Conference and the Fresno State Bulldogs from the WAC. This was the first trip to the New Mexico Bowl for Wyoming. It was also their first trip to a post season bowl game since the 2004 season when the Cowboys defeated the 24–21 in the Pioneer PureVison Las Vegas Bowl. This marked Fresno State's second straight trip to the New Mexico Bowl; they were defeated 40–35 by Colorado State in the 2008 contest. Before the 2009 New Mexico Bowl, Wyoming and Fresno State had played each other a total of six times, playing in consecutive years from 1992–1997 as rivals in the Western Athletic Conference; the teams have split their match-ups with each squad winning three games. The last meeting in 1997 was won by Fresno State, 24–7.
Behind freshman quarterback Austyn Carta-Samuels, Wyoming upset Fresno State 35–28 in the game, which went into double overtime after a late field goal by Cowboy kicker Ian Watts. Carta-Samuels threw three touchdowns in the win including the game-winner in overtime, a 13-yard strike to David Leonard.
Wyoming wore their home Brown uniforms, and Fresno wore white visitor uniforms. Wyoming freshman Austyn Carta-Samuels, the offensive MVP, threw for 201 yards and three touchdowns including the game-winning 13-yard touchdown pass to David Leonard. Defensive MVP Mitch Unrein tallied six tackles and two sacks for the Wyoming defense including a forced fumble midway through the 4th quarter which led to the game-tying field goal. Wyoming stopped the nation's leading rusher, Fresno State's Ryan Mathews, on three rushing attempts in the first overtime. The Bulldogs tried a quarterback sneak on third down, and Mathews came up short again on fourth down.
| Statistics | Fresno | Wyoming |
|---|---|---|
| First Downs | 19 | 26 |
| Total offense, plays - yards | 64-366 | 83-438 |
| Rushes-yards (net) | 44-197 | 50-234 |
| Passing yards (net) | 169 | 204 |
| Passes, Comp-Att-Int | 14-20-0 | 18-33-1 |
| Time of Possession | 26:47 | 33:13 |