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?The New Mexico Lobos (0-1) open their home football season this Saturday by hosting Weber State (0-0). It?s the season opener for the Wildcats. Kickoff is 6:05 p.m., Mountain Time from University Stadium in Albuquerque. There will be no television coverage of the game. This is the first meeting between the Lobos and NCAA Div. I-AA Wildcats. A crowd in excess of 34,000 is expected.
?UNM opened the season last Saturday by dropping a 34-14 decision at 25th-ranked North Carolina State in the Black Coaches Association Bowl. The Lobos? last 0-2 start was 2000.
?New Mexico looks to build upon last year?s strong finish when it went a bowl-eligible 6-5 overall and 4-3 in the Mountain West Conference. After a 1-3 start, the Lobos won 5 of their last 7 games. Picked to finish seventh in the MWC preseason polls, UNM tied Utah for third place. It was just New Mexico?s fifth winning season since 1979. Despite last year?s strong finish, the league?s media projects a sixth-place finish for the Lobos in 2002. Weber State was 3-8 last year and 2-5 in the Big Sky Conference, finishing in sixth place.
?New Mexico has increased its win total by one each of past three seasons: 4 in 1999, 5 in 2000 and 6 in 2001. The only other schools to make that claim are Oregon and Fresno State.
?Thanks to an odd twist in the calender – there are 14 Saturdays from Labor Day weekend until Nov. 30 as required by the NCAA – teams are able to play 12 regular-season games in 2002. Schools will also be allowed to schedule a dozen in 2003, 2008, 2013 and 2014. The BCA Bowl against NC State was an exempt game, thus giving UNM 13 tries this year. New Mexico has played 13 games only one time in school history. The 1997 squad finished 9-4, including a Western Athletic Conference division title and an appearance in the Insight.com Bowl.
GAME-DAY SPONSORS/PROMOTIONS/TICKETS
?Single-game tickets are currently available online at tickets.com, or by calling (800) 905-3315 or 851-5050. Ticket outlets include Raley?s and Western Wearhouse locations in Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Rio Rancho. Tickets are also available at the UNM athletic ticket office at The Pit and the ticket office at the UNM Bookstore on main campus. Ticket office hours at The Pit are 8:30-5:30 Monday through Friday. The box office opens at 11 a.m. for 6 p.m. games and 9 a.m. for all games that start at 4 or earlier. Call (505) 925-5626 for more information.
?The Weber State game is sponsored by the New Mexico Lottery, KRQE News 13 and NewsRadio 770 KKOB. Mousepads and stress balls will be given away courtesy of the New Mexico Lottery. There will also be a fireworks show following the game. The UNM women’s golf team will be recognized between the third and fourth quarters for winning three consecutive MWC titles.
HOME OPENERS
?The Lobos have a 68-31-4 (.680) ledger in home openers and they are 5-2 in their last seven lid-lifters. UNM defeated UTEP last year 26-6, in front of a school-record crowd of 41,771.
LOBO HISTORY
?The University of New Mexico has a 402-471-31 overall record into its 104th season.
?UNM was founded in 1889, although the territory of New Mexico was not granted statehood until 1912. Three years later, the school?s first football game was played on Oct. 7, 1892, when a team representing UNM played a squad from Albuquerque High School in a vacant lot north of the town’s ice factory. The preps prevailed 5-0.
SEASON TICKET UPDATE
?Through noon on Friday, Aug. 23, Lobo fans had purchased more than 13,400 season tickets, eclipsing last year?s total of 13,202. It?s the ninth straight season New Mexico has sold at least 10,000 season tickets. The school record is 14,254 in 1998.
CAPTAINS
?New Mexico?s four captains were selected last spring by a vote of the team. The offensive captains are both juniors, QB Casey Kelly and WR Dwight Counter. NT Hebrews Josue and LB Charles Moss – both seniors – are the defensive captains.
INJURY UPDATE
?RB DonTrell Moore (strained knee) and LB Daniel Gawronski (ankle) are probable. LB Shannon Kincaid (strained knee) is questionable.
WEBER STATE NOTES?New Mexico is the only NCAA Div. I-A school Weber State will face this year…the Wildcats play out of the Big Sky Conference, which includes Eastern Washington, Idaho State, Montana, Montana State, Northern Arizona, Portland State and Sacramento State?Head coach Jerry Graybeal – who also coaches the linebackers – is in his 5th seasoon with the Wildcats where he has posted a 20-24 overall record…he played cornerback at Idaho State in 1997-78 and graduated from Eastern Washington in 1981… Graybeal was an assistant coach at Eastern Washington from 1981-97?Weber State returns 36 lettermen, 18 on both offense and defense…14 starters return, 6 offense, 6 defense and 2 specialists…departed is QB Tyler Gladwell, who completed 201 of 362 passes for 2,733 yards, 22 TDs and just 9 interceptions a year ago…the Wildcats also lost their top rusher in Johnnie Gray (1,571 yards and 15 TDs) and top receiver in Damon Greenberry (56 for 733 yards and 11 TDs)?The Wildcats averaged 31.5 points and 444.9 yards of total offense last season, but allowed 40.1 points and 503.8 yards on defense
NORTH CAROLINA STATE RECAP
?Junior QB Philip Rivers passed for 3 TDs and rushed twice for scores to lead the Wolfpack to a 34-14 victory in Raleigh…Rivers engineered four scoring drives of 80 yards or more, three of those in the first half as the Wolfpack took a 21-0 halftime lead.
?UNM made it 21-7 midway through the third quarter on a 3-yard run by RB Quincy Wright…NC State came right back with a 71-yard drive, capped by Rivers? 1-yard plunge…the key play came on a 3rd-and-4 at midfield…Rivers was forced to scramble and had a Lobo around his legs…as he was falling to the ground, Rivers flipped the ball to WR Sterling Hicks…the result was a 46-yard gain down to the Lobo 4…UNM answered with an 8-play, 79-yard drive resulting in a 5-yard pass from QB Casey Kelly to TE Bryan Penley to trim the margin to 27-13…Rivers was faced with another 3rd down situation at midfield on the Packs? next possession…this time he lofted a short pass over Lobo defenders for a 50-yard score and a 34-14 advantage
?The Lobos were held to 242 yards of total offense, 85 rushing and 157 passing…that?s the lowest total since 204 yards at UNLV on Nov. 11, 2000
?UNM has dropped eight straight non-conference road games outside the state of New Mexico…the last win was a 25-22 decision at Utah State on Sept. 20, 1997…UNM did win at New Mexico State in 2000
MORE NOTES FROM NC STATE
?The start of the game was delayed 37 minutes due to lightning
?Seeing the most extensive action of his four seasons at UNM, senior RB Quincy Wright (Los Angeles) made the most of his first career start…Wright rushed 11 times for 65 yards and was the Lobos? leading receiver with 4 receptions for 40 yards…he also made a tackle on the punt cover team
?UNM took 67 players to NC State and 27 of them were making their first appearance in a Lobo uniform…of those 27, 14 got into the game
?NCSU had 4 scoring drives covering at least 80 yards (80, 96, 89 and 83)…in 12 games in 2001, opponents only did that 7 times
?NC State converted 67% (10-15) of its 3rd downs, the best percentage against the Lobos since Air Force made 73% (11 of 15) in a 56-14 win on Oct. 3, 1998…the Wolfpack gained 181 yards on those 10 conversions, including TDs of 21, 1 and 50 yards, respectively
?True freshman P Tyler Gaus (San Diego, Calif.) punted 6 times for a 42.3-yard average…that was his net average as well as the UNM coverage team limited the Wolfpack to just 1 return for no yards…three of Gaus? kicks were downed inside the 20…an invited walk-on, Gaus came to UNM during two-a-days and earned the job last week
?Senior LB Charles Moss (Dallas, Texas) totaled 7 tackles, including 2 for losses, and a 15-yard interception, the second of his career
?Junior S Terrell Golden (Los Angeles) led UNM with 8 tackles, including one for a loss
?Junior WR Adrian Boyd (Flint, Mich.) tied for team honors by catching the first 4 passes of his career for 37 yards
?Two Lobo tight ends – Bryan Penley and Joe Fiola – caught just 6 passes for 37 yards during the 2001 season…at NC State, the TEs snared 4 receptions for 30 yards…Penley (Victoria, Texas) caught 3 passes for 19 yards, including a 5-yard TD pass, his first trip into the end zone as a Lobo…sophomore Mike Augustyniak (Edgewood, N.M.) had his first career catch, good for 11 yards
?Junior WR Dwight Counter (Lancaster, Texas) caught 1 pass for 6 yards…Counter has at least 1 reception in 12 straight games…his career numbers: 57 catches for 927 yards
?Junior QB Casey Kelly is now 5-3 as starter…his 19 completions – 1 short of his career-high – went to 9 different receivers
LOBO OFFENSIVE NOTES
?UNM has scored in 107 consecutive games, the 15th-longest active streak in the nation. The last team to blank the Lobos was BYU (35-0) on Nov. 7, 1992.
LOBO DEFENSIVE NOTES
?Only three backs have eclipsed 100 yards rushing against UNM since the start of 2000, a span of 24 games: Oregon State?s Ken Simonton (184) and UNLV?s Jeremi Rudolph (106) in 2000 and Utah?s Dameon Hunter (177) in 2001.
WORDS FROM THE COACH?(Rocky Long on North Carolina State) — ?I don?t think we had one player who played very well in the first half. The effort and execution was a little better in the second half. We were a little overcharged at the start of the game. We had too much emotion and not enough execution. I thought we held our own physically. We just missed a lot of assignments which is a reflection of our preparation and mental approach. I thought (running back) Quincy Wright had a nice game. That bodes well for the rest of the season especially when we get back to full strength at that position. Punting was also a concern going into the season, but Tyler Gaus had a good start to his career.?
?(on Weber State) — ?They run an offense similar to North Carolina State?s so we don?t have to make a lot of adjustments in our defensive preparation. There?s a lot of one-back sets. I expect to see some things in the game – on both sides of the ball – that we have not seen on film especially since this is their first game of the season and we have already played once. I know they will come in excited. They have enough athletes on their team to beat us if we don?t prepare properly. We need to take a more businesslike attitude to this week?s game.?
2002 PREVIEW
?A total of 38 lettermen return for the 2002 season, including 15 starters, 6 on offense, 7 on defense and 2 specialists. It?s one of the Lobos? youngest teams in a long time as only 10 seniors dot the roster, and just four of those are on the offensive side of the football.
Offense – The myriad formations employed by offensive coordinator Dan Dodd demonstrated remarkable improvement in 2001. The Lobos? offensive averages increased by 8.5 points and 110.2 yards from the previous season. UNM?s primary offensive goal in 2002 is to improve its pass completion percentage. New Mexico was true on just 42.6% of its attempts last year, the lowest accuracy in NCAA Div. I-A and the school?s worst passing performance in 28 years. UNM?s pass efficiency rating of 95.3 ranked 107th nationally.
Quarterback – Former walk-on and now-junior and co-captain Casey Kelly is firmly entrenched as the starter, a position he manned for the final seven games of the 2001 campaign when UNM went 5-2. His back-ups have no collegiate experience under center. Another former walk-on – senior Justin Millea – last played quarterback in the fall of 1997 as a senior at Silver High School in Silver City, N.M. Millea has spent the past two years primarily on kick cover teams. He moved to offense in the spring when redshirt freshman Jeff Grady opted to play baseball for the Lobos. True freshman Kole McKamey has looked solid in preseason drills and could also see time should Kelly go down.
Running Back – Gone are three seniors – Jarrod Baxter, Holmon Wiggins and Javier Hanson – who combined to gain 1,684 yards and rush for 13 TDs last year. Baxter, a 240-pound workhorse, rushed for 907 yards and 11 TDs last year. He was a 5th-round draft pick of the Houston Texans and looks to make the team as a blocking back. Wiggins totaled 2,912 all-purpose yards in his career, 1,833 of those on the ground. He was also the Lobos? leading punt returner in 2000 and ?01. The three replacements are redshirt freshmen DonTrell Moore and Tony Frazier and senior Quincy Wright. One of those players will be making his first start in a New Mexico uniform. Wright has gained 164 yards on 14 career totes.
Receiver – The Lobos are pretty deep here with seven players in the mix. The top-two receivers from last year are back in junior Dwight Counter (43-774-4 TDs) and senior Joe Manning (26-482-3 TDs). Three additional lettermen – senior Jake Farrel and juniors Rashaun Sanders and Terrence Thomas – return while redshirt junior Michael Brunker and sophomore Adrian Boyd are also expected to see action.
Offensive Line – With the unexpected exit of center Rashad McClure before preseason workouts, the Lobos now have an offensive line void of seniors. Sophomore guard Claude Terrell, a freshman all-America a year ago, and junior tackle Jason Lenzmeier are the returning starters. Junior Justin Colburn, who was supposed to start at tackle before McClure quit, moves over to the pivot, a position he manned in 2000. Redshirt junior Calvin McDonald starts at the other guard while sophomore Nate Hembree gets the nod at the other tackle spot. The average size of that quintet is 6-foot-4 and 307.4 lbs. True freshman Robert Turner has been a pleasant surprise and is expected to make the traveling squad as a back-up guard.
Tight End – Another position that has exclusively underclassmen. Junior Bryan Penley started last season and is a two-year letterman. Sophomore Mike Augustyniak and transfer Zach Cresap will play as well. Defense – Only eight schools have finished in the top-20 in total defense each of the past two years and New Mexico is one of them. UNM ranked 17th in 2000, allowing 309.4 yards a game. The Lobos were No. 18 in 2001, yielding just 310.8 yards a game.
Defensive Line – All three starters return from last year in junior defensive ends D.J. Renteria and Daniel Kegler. Senior co-captain Hebrews Josue is getting pushed by junior Guillermo Morrison for the start at nose tackle. Like last year, UNM is expected to rotate 7-8 players on the line.
Linebackers – The Lobos should be able to go six, possibly seven-deep, at a position that features three starters. Senior co-captain Charles Moss and sophomore Nick Speegle – a freshman all-American in 2001 when he started 4 games – are both honors candidates. Shannon Kincaid is expected to start on the outside opposite Speegle. Kincaid set a UNM linebackers? record, running a 4.49 in the 40. Reserves who should play are juniors Daniel Gawronski and Billy Strother and sophomores Chrishone Harris and Domingo Villarruel.
Safeties/Lobo – This is probably the team?s deepest position in terms of experience and ability. The two wolf safety spots and the lobo, or free safety, are patrolled by eight capable youngsters, five with previous playing expereince. There?s only one senior in the bunch in returning starter David Hall. The ubiquitous Terrell Golden – now a junior – will get the other start at wolf safety. Exuberant redshirt freshman Gabriel Fulbright and sophomore Josh Bazinet will provide relief. The lobo has three, maybe even four, solid candidates in sophomore Kevin Walton, 2000 MWC co-Newcomer of the Year Brandon Ratcliff and transfers Fola Fashola and Sidney Wiley all competing. All bring different attributes to the position and their playing time could be determined by the opponent?s offensive tendencies.
Cornerbacks – Senior David Crockett is one of the best in the conference after deflecting 14 passes a year ago, including an interception return for a TD. Senior Desmar Black looks to be the starter on the other side. Senior Brandon Gregory, junior transfer Corey Brown and redshirt freshman Jerrell Malone should also travel.
Special Teams – Sophomore Wes Zunker is expected to handle all placements and kickoff duties. The punter looks could be either transfer Matt Goldstein or walk-ons Tyler Gaus or Stephen Lemrond. Projected return men include Joe Manning, Brandon Gregory, David Hall, Brandon Ratcliff and Quincy Wright. Jake Farrel is the holder while Martin Lovato is back as the deep snapper.
GAME-DAY COACHING ASSIGNMENTS?Head coach Rocky Long is joined on the sidelines by assistant coaches Bob Bostad (offensive line), Jeff Conway (special teams/receivers), Curtis Luper (running backs), Lenny Rodriguez (linebackers) and Everett Todd (cornerbacks). Upstairs in the press box are offensive coordinator Dan Dodd, defensive coordinator Bronco Mendenhall, tight ends coach Jason Strauss and defensive line coach Grady Stretz.
BLOCK PARTY?With four blocked punts in 2001, the Lobos have rejected nine since the start of the 2000 season. Four of the rejections have been returned for scores over that span. After having gone 21 straight games during most of 1998 and all of ?99 without blocking a punt, the Lobos established a school record with five blocks in 2000. UNM rejected three in 1940, ?48 and ?79.
GRADES KEEP CLIMBING?The University of New Mexico football team compiled a 2.63 grade-point-average for the 2002 spring semester, the highest GPA since UNM began charting grades in the fall of 1988. UNM had a 2.59 GPA in the spring of 2000 and 2001. That means five of the top-seven semester GPAs have occurred under current head coach Rocky Long. Thirteen Lobos earned academic all-conference laurels during the 2001 season, also a record.
TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT?Five of the Lobos? last nine losses have been by four points or less. UNM lost conference games in 2000 to Colorado State (17-14), San Diego State (17-16) and UNLV (18-14). Last year, New Mexico dropped a 16-13 overtime game to Baylor and fell to BYU (24-20).
STADIUM IMPROVEMENTS/ATTENDANCE MARK?Last year, the home of New Mexico football – University Stadium – received its most significant renovation since it was erected in 1960, and it proved to be a smashing success. A record crowd of 41,771 witnessed the Lobos? season-opening 26-6 victory over UTEP on Sept. 1, 2001, crushing the previous mark of 37,156 for the Rice game in 1997. UNM averaged a school-record 31,268 fans in 2001.
?While the expanded stadium has just 37,370 fixed seats, UNM was able to shoehorn nearly 4,000 more fans into the UTEP game by selling 1,000 bleacher tickets in the south end and standing-room-only spots.
?A pavilion now connects the east and west stands for the first time. Renovation on the northwest corner of the stadium was completed in October of 2000 and includes new concession stands, restrooms, novelty stands and landscaping. The next phase is to renovate the remaining three corners with new facilities.
?The highlight of the renovation is a $1.8 million state-of-the-art videoboard at the north end of the stadium. Appropriately named LoboVision, the system has instant replay and live-action capabilities. Manufactured by Daktronics, Inc., the board measures 60 feet high and 61 feet wide. The videoboard is 21? x 28?. A staff of 10, including three cameras, is needed to operate the system during games.
LOBO TRACK SAYS THANKS TO FOOTBALL?Five members of the UNM football team combined to score 42.5 points at the 2002 Mountain West Conference Outdoor Track Championships. That was more than one-third of UNM?s team total of 125.5 points.
?WR Hank Baskett III placed 2nd in the high jump with a leap of 6-10 1/4. WR Michael Powdrell placed 3rd in the high jump (6-10 1/4) and 5th in the long jump (23-11 1/4). LB Shannon Kincaid was 4th in the long jump with a career-best effort of 24-2 1/2. NT Guillermo Morrison was 3rd in the discus (160-0) and 5th in the shot put (51-10 1/2) while RB Quincy Wright ran the 100 meters in 10.53 to claim second place.
SUCCESSFUL WALK-ONS?Some of the better-known Lobos – past and present – began their careers as walk-ons, including four team captains over the past two years. Departed seniors Jarrod Baxter, Brian Johnson and Mohammed Konte all started their UNM careers without athletic scholarships, as did junior quarterback Casey Kelly, an offensive team captain for the 2002 season who was awarded a scholarship prior to his sophomore campaign.
?Baxter, a fifth-round pick of the Houston Texans in the 2002 National Football League Draft, was a walk-on during the fall semester of 1997 under former head coach Dennis Franchione. He was placed on scholarship in the spring of 1998. Johnson, a two-time first team all-conference selection, was a 195-pound walk-on running back when he came to Albuquerque in the fall of ?97. He had to wait a year for a scholarship after impressing Long and his staff during ?98 spring drills. Konte, also a redshirt in ?97, paid his own way for three years before being placed on aid in the fall of 2000 and earned honorable mention all-conference honors.
?Former walk-ons placed on scholarship prior to the 2001 season include junior S Terrell Golden, a two-year starter and honorable mention all-conference selection last year, and junior WR Terrence Thomas. This year?s recipients are sophomore S Josh Bazinet, redshirt freshman C Ryan Cook, sophomore deep snapper Martin Lovato, sophomore fullback Ryan Rice and sophomore K Wes Zunker.
NEW RULES FOR 2002?The ?halo rule,” now states no player from the kicking team may be within two yards of a player on the receiving team positioned to catch a punt, kickoff or field goal. The penalty for non-contact violation increases from five to 10 yards. The penalty remains 15 yards when contact is made and flagrant offenders may be disqualified for the rest of the game. Also, flagrant personal fouls during possession by the defensive team can now carry from one extra period to the next. Previously, the player committing the foul would be disqualified for the remainder of the game, but the 15-yard penalty against his team was not assessed. Now, the player’s ejected and the penalty yardage is assessed at the start of the next overtime. It’s possible a team could start from the 10-yard line if there’s a flagrant foul at the end of the overtime. ?No team personnel shall engage in media interviews from the start of the first period until the end of the game, except for coaches being interviewed during halftime. ?All players of a team must wear facemasks of the same color. ?A team that scores a touchdown has the option of enforcing penalties for personal fouls by the opponent during the scoring down either on the try or the succeeding kickoff.