ALBUQUERQUE -- For BYU, playing New Mexico at University Stadium was kind of like one of those teen horror movies -- you know, where every time you think the monster is dead, it comes back to life and tries to take you out.

BYU survived New Mexico on Saturday 31-24, sending both the Lobos and their fans home disappointed with a repeat ending of just about every BYU-New Mexico contest lately. In fact, half the Lobo team left the field without shaking hands with the Cougars.

This one bit deep.

BYU forced five turnovers, including a 36-yard interception return for a touchdown by senior linebacker Bryan Kehl on New Mexico's first offensive series. A pass from Donovan Porterie bounced out of Travis Brown's hands and Kehl was in the right place to make a play. He gathered the ball in and raced down the sidelines with the first interception of his career.

"It fell in my hands and I ran with it," Kehl said. "I was really tired from the opening kickoff because I got double teamed. I was just glad I made it and didn't get caught."

Kehl finished with nine tackles (two for loss) and forced another turnover, knocking the ball out of Porterie's hands and recovering the ball himself on a fourth-down attempt.

The five turnovers -- two interceptions and three fumble recoveries -- turned the final score to BYU's favor in a game that went back and forth all night.

"That's the game of football," Kehl said. "We won the battle of turnovers. That's why we won the football game."

A 59-yard touchdown pass from Max Hall to Austin Collie gave BYU a seemingly commanding 21-6 lead with 9:23 to play in the third quarter. But New Mexico, as it seems to do all the time, came back. Hall and Manse Tonga combined to fumble a low shotgun snap and New Mexico recovered at the BYU 19. Rodney Ferguson scored from five yards out to close the lead to 21-13. Just before the end of the third quarter, Ferguson, who scored all three New Mexico touchdowns, caught a screen pass and rumbled 71 yards to paydirt. Porterie connected with Chris Mark for the two-point conversion and New Mexico had tied the score at 21-all with the fourth quarter still to play.

BYU created a scoring opportunity early in the fourth quarter. A group of BYU defenders hit New Mexico fullback Matt Quillen to force a fumble and sophomore defensive end Ian Dulan recovered at the Lobos 34. Four plays later, Hall teamed up with sophomore tight end Dennis Pitta for a 14-yard touchdown pass and a 28-21 advantage.

New Mexico drove deep into BYU territory on its next possession but ended up with a 43-yard John Sullivan field goal, making the score BYU 28, New Mexico 24 with 7:34 to play. The Lobos forced a BYU punt on the Cougars next possession but fumbled on the return and Chris Bolden recovered at the New Mexico 22.

The Cougars thought they'd clinched the game when Hall tossed an 11-yard scoring pass to sophomore tight end Andrew George, but an interminably long video review concluded with a reversal of the call on the field. BYU settled for a 22-yard Mitch Payne field goal and a 31-24 lead with 4:12 to play.

The BYU defense forced a three-and-out on the ensuing New Mexico possession, then the Cougar offense picked up a couple of first downs to keep the clock going. That included a key 16-yard scramble by Hall on third-and-10. BYU punted with 11 seconds left but New Mexico were penalized for roughing C.J. Santiago to end the game.

"Turnovers played a huge part of the nature of the game and our win," BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall said. "You take the turnovers away and the Lobos easily could have won the football game."

Collie finished with four catches for 98 yards and a touchdown and Hall was 18 of 40 for 251 yards and two scores. For New Mexico, Ferguson ended up with 87 rushing yards and 105 receiving for a total of 192.

Defensively, BYU recorded three sacks, Markell Staffieri led the Cougars with 10 tackles, followed by Kehl with nine and Kelly Poppinga with eight.

The game wasn't pretty -- much like the gory endings to those aforementioned horror movies -- but all BYU will takes it's big conference road win and go home.

"We don't really care what it looks like," Mendenhall said. "We just care about winning the game."

BYU (3-2 overall, 2-0 MWC) has a bye week to get healthy before traveling to UNLV on Oct. 13.

¢ Daily Herald Sports Editor Darnell Dickson can be reached at 344-2555 or by e-mail at ddickson@heraldextra.com