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Lobos-Bears Tangle Saturday at University Stadiume and on a 48-yard screen pass at Air Force...his scoring average of 10.7 ppg ranks 2nd in the MWC

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•The New Mexico Lobos (1-2, 0-1 MWC) return to non-league action this week when they play host to the Baylor Bears Saturday. Kickoff is 6:05 p.m., Mountain Time from University Stadium in Albuquerque. There is no television for the game. A crowd in excess of 30,000 is expected. UNM has not started 2-2 since 1998.

•The Lobos dropped to 1-2 overall and 0-1 in league play after a hard-fought 38-31 overtime decision at Air Force. It was the Mountain West Conference opener for both teams. Baylor evened its record at 1-1 with a 50-12 pasting over Samford. RB Jonathan Golden scored a school-record six TDs against the NCAA Div. I-AA Bulldogs. Golden rushed for 108 yards with five of his scores coming on the ground. Baylor led 30-0 at halftime.

•This is just the third meeting between the Lobos and Bears. Baylor won both prior contests that were played in Waco: 38-2 in 1984 and a 16-13 overtime victory last year. •UNM is 14-54-2 all-time against current members of the Big 12. The Lobos are 0-2 vs. Baylor, 3-6 vs. Colorado, 1-5 vs. Iowa State, 1-2 vs. Kansas, 4-1 vs. Kansas State, 0-1 vs. Missouri, 0-1 vs. Nebraska, 0-2 vs. Oklahoma, 0-2 vs. Oklahoma State, 0-2 vs. Texas, 0-1 vs. Texas A&M and 5-31-2 vs. Texas Tech. The Red Raiders will be at University Stadium later this month (Friday, Sept. 27) for a game televised by ESPN2.

•New Mexico has lost 13 straight games against current Big 12 affiliates. The last win was 29-24 over Texas Tech in Albuquerque in 1984. Since that victory, the Lobos have fallen to the Red Raiders eight times, twice to Baylor and once apiece to Kansas State, Nebraska and Texas.

•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. Baylor was 3-8 overall last year, 3-0 in non-league games and 0-8 in the Big 12.

•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.

SEASON TICKETS STILL AVAILABLE•Season tickets for UNM’s remaining five home games are currently available at the UNM Athletic Ticket at The Pit. Call (505) 925-LOBO for information.

•Through noon on Friday, Sept. 6, Lobo fans had purchased nearly 14,000 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.

GAME-DAY SPONSORS/PROMOTIONS•The Baylor game is sponsored by Bank of Albuquerque and 92.3 KRST. The fireworks show that was postponed after the Weber State game due to high winds will take place Saturday.

LAST YEAR VS. BAYLOR•The Bears took a 16-13 overtime win on a 29-yard field goal. The Lobos scored only three points despite having the ball inside the Baylor 5-yard line three times. UNM lost a fumble at the 4 late in the first half, then Jarrod Baxter was stripped heading into the end zone on a 4th-and-2 from the BU 3 on the Lobos’ first possession of overtime.

•The Lobos committed four turnovers on two fumbles and a pair of Rudy Caamano interceptions. Caamano did throw for a career-high 258 yards, including a 64-yard TD strike to WR Joe Manning.

•Safety Terrell Golden was named Mountain West Conference Defensive Player of the Week after totaling a career-high 13 tackles, including 4 stops for loss.

•WR Dwight Counter caught 5 passes for 119 yards. LOBOS FROM TEXAS•UNM has 33 players that hail from the Lone Star State. Of that total, 17 are on this week’s depth chart, including eight starters: WR Dwight Counter (Lancaster), OT Nate Hembree (Carrolton), OT Jason Lenzmeier (Frisco), LB Charles Moss (Dallas), TE Bryan Penley (Victoria), Lobo Brandon Ratcliff (Dallas), OG Claude Terrell (Texas City) and K Wes Zunker (New Braunfels).

UNM HISTORY•The University of New Mexico has a 403-472-31 overall record in 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.

INJURY UPDATE•LB Shannon Kincaid (strained knee at NC State) is questionable.

BAYLOR NOTES•The Bears return 48 lettermen from last year’s team, including 15 starters, six on offense and nine on defense. •Baylor is averaging 474 yards of total offense after two games, 294.5 yards through the air. •California returned two interceptions for scores – one covering 100 yards – in its 70-22 victory over Baylor on Aug. 31. The Golden Bears scored a school-record 35 points in the first quarter.•Sophomore Aaron Karas has been Baylor’s quarterback since early in the Cal game. He replaced senior Greg Cicero, who threw three interceptions in the first quarter.•The Bears boast one of the Big 12’s top receivers in senior Reggie Newhouse, who is the son of former Dallas Cowboys RB Robert Newhouse. The three-year letterman caught 61 passes for 706 yards and 8 TDs last season, and has 15 receptions for 283 yards and a TD in 2002. Newhouse had eight grabs for a career-high 164 yards at Cal. His career numbers are 123 catches for 1,695 yards and 13 TDs.•Baylor defensive ends coach Robert James was a Lobo assistant on Bill Mondt’s staff in 1978-79. James coached the UNM offensive and defensive lines.•Head coach Kevin Steele (Tennessee ‘81) has an 8-28 record into his 4th year at Baylor and as a head coach.

WORDS FROM THE HEAD COACH•(on Air Force) — “They made a couple more big plays than we did and that’s usually the difference in a competitive football game. Every game we have played against Air Force the past three years has been like that. Our kids made some improvement in our preparation to play a very good opponent. We made more plays than we did in the first two games, but it wasn’t enough. We made just enough errors to keep their drives alive.”•(on play of Quincy Wright) — “Quincy has proven to be a big-play guy for us. He is doing a better job than anyone would have anticipated.”•(on Baylor) — “Athletically, I think the teams match up very evenly. I know they are better than what they did at Cal. We expect to see a few more offensive formations this year because of a new offensive coordinator. We have been inconsistent on both sides of the ball. We need to improve on offense and defense.”

AIR FORCE RECAP•In the first overtime game involving two Mountain West Conference teams, Air Force took a 38-31 victory last Saturday at the Academy. The Falcons snapped a three-game losing streak to the Lobos in the process.

•AFA fullback Steve Massie scored on a 4-yard touchdown run on the Falcons’ first overtime possession. New Mexico advanced to the Air Force 11 on its ensuing OT possession, but three straight incomplete passes by quarterback Casey Kelly ended the Lobos’ scoring chance.

•Air Force jumped out to a 24-10 lead midway through the second quarter before UNM surged back with a furious rally over the final minutes of the half. Similar to its last game versus Weber State, the UNM defense and special teams sparked the comebacl. After the defense forced the Falcons to go three-and-out, senior Brandon Gregory blocked the punt at the Falcon 6-yard-line. Three plays later, Kelly lunged into the endzone to cut the deficit to 24-17. New Mexico regained possession with less than 30 seconds remaining in the half, which proved to be just enough time for a big play by senior running back Quincy Wright. On first-and-10 from the Air Force 48, Kelly hit Wright with a short screen pass on the right sideline. Following solid blocking by the Lobo offensive linemen, Wright burst through several arm tackles, then cut back across the grain and sprinted for the touchdown to knot the game at 24 going into the half.

•Air Force controlled the tempo early in the second half, running 22 of the first 25 plays of the third quarter. QB Chance Harridge capped a 14-play, 80-yard drive on the Falcons’ second possession with a 1-yard sneak to put the Air Force ahead 31-24.

•The New Mexico offense responded as Kelly completed 5 of 6 passes on the Lobos’ next possession to lead the team to the tying score. UNM converted all three third-down plays on the drive, including an impressive 20-yard strike from Kelly to WR Terrance Thomas on a 3rd-and-12 play from the Lobo 39. Three plays later, Wright pulled in a screen pass and scampered 20 yards down to the Air Force 13. UNM came right back with another screen to WR Joe Manning, who followed a convoy of blockers for the score to tie the game at 31 apiece with 11:03 remaining in regulation.

•Both offenses sputtered down the stretch. New Mexico advanced to its own 38-yard line with a minute left in regulation before being forced to punt, while Air Force’s final drive of the second half ended when Harridge was intercepted by UNM linebacker Nick Speegle just inside Lobo territory.

MORE FROM AIR FORCE•The Lobos are now 1-3 all-time in overtime games and have lost three straight

•Senior RB Quincy Wright (Los Angeles) rushed 25 times for 145 yards, plus he scored on a 48-yard screen pass late in the second period…Wright has gained 410 yards rushing the past two games, the highest consective-game total in school history…Wright set a UNM single-game record with 265 yards against Weber State

•The Lobos blocked their 10th punt since the start of the 2000 season – a span of 26 games – when Brandon Gregory (St. Louis, Mo.) stuffed the Air Force punter late in the second quarter…Curtis Flakes recovered on the Falcons’ 6 and QB Casey Kelly scored three plays later

•Junior QB Casey Kelly (Portland, Ore.) had a hand in all four of the Lobos’ TDs at Air Force…Kelly scored on runs of 1 and 4 yards and threw TD passes of 48 and 12 yards, respectively

•Senior WR Joe Manning (Lancaster, Calif.) caught 7 passes for 64 yards at Air Force…included in his totals was a 12-yard TD pass…Manning had 15 receptions for 199 yards and 3 TDs the past two years against the Falcons…he leads the team with 12 catches for 100 yards and a TD

•Senior LB Charles Moss (Dallas) was credited with a career-high 19 tackles against the Falcons to earn MWC Defensive Player of the Week honors…that’s the most stops by a Lobo since Brian Urlacher had 20 against Utah in 1999…Moss leads the team with 31 tackles

•Sophomore LB Nick Speegle (Albuquerque) snared his first career interception….it came late in regulation when Air Force had driven to the Lobo 45 with less than 10 seconds to play and thwarted a potential game-winning field goal attempt

•Junior DE D.J. Renteria (Roswell, N.M.) has recovered a fumble in each of the first 3 games to lead the MWC…he has 4 recoveries for his career

•Junior WR Counter (Lancaster, Texas) caught 4 passes for 29 yards…Counter has at least 1 reception in 14 straight games…his career numbers: 62 catches for 963 yards

THE WRIGHT STUFF•A virtual bit player on special teams in his first three years at UNM, senior RB Quincy Wright’s final season of collegiate football has been nothing short of a blockbuster…Wright entered 2002 with 164 career yards on 14 carries…through 3 games, the 5-10, 185-pound speedster has gained 475 yards on only 63 carries, a robust average of 7.5 yards per carry…he ranks 2nd in the MWC and 3rd nationally averaging 158.3 yards a game…Utah’s Marty Johnson leads the country at 202.5 yards a game followed by Fred Russell from Iowa at 160.0

•Wright has been more than just a runner, too, catching 8 passes for a team-high 132 yards…his 607 all-purpose yards – an average of 202.3 yards a game – ranks 2nd in the MWC and 6th in the nation…last year’s all-purpose yardage leader was Holmon Wiggins, who gained 1,064 yards…Wright has nearly half that total – 502 yards – the past 2 games

•Big plays have been part of his repertoire: Wright scored on runs of 34 and 63 yards against Weber State and on a 48-yard screen pass at Air Force…his scoring average of 10.7 ppg ranks 2nd in the MWC

•The last Lobo to produce three straight 100-yard rushing efforts was Lennox Gordon who did so against TCU (111), Rice (109) and San Diego State (140) in 1996

OFFENSE NOTES•UNM has scored in 109 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

•Casey Kelly is now 6-4 as starter…after completing just 47% of his passes last year, Kelly sits at 61% (50-82) the first 3 games…his 75% completion rate (12-16) against Weber State is his best single-game accuracy while at UNM…Kelly’s pass efficiency rating is 113.16 with 3 TD passes and 3 interceptions…last year’s rating was 105.42

•Kelly has completed passes to at least 7 different receivers in each of the first 3 games…he found 9 different ball-catchers in the season opener at North Carolina State

•The five starters on UNM’s offensive line have played every offensive snap through the first 3 games…C Justin Colburn (Wesminster, Colo.) leads the squad with 34 knockdown blocks

DEFENSE NOTES

•The 38 points scored by Air Force are the most against UNM in a MWC game since Wyoming tallied 42 in 1999

•From 2000-01, UNM ranked 6th nationally with 76 sacks…between 1999-2001, the Lobos were tied for 9th with Illinois and Purdue with 45 interceptions

•Only four backs have eclipsed 100 yards rushing against UNM since the start of 2000, a span of 26 games: Oregon State’s Ken Simonton (184) and UNLV’s Jeremi Rudolph (106) in 2000, Utah’s Dameon Hunter (177) in 2001 and Air Force’s Leotis Palmer (125) this season

•The Lobos had held 9 straight opponents to less than 200 yards rushing before Air Force totaled 261…the Falcons are only the second team in the past 23 games to reach 200 yards on the ground against UNM

•It’s been 43 games since UNM allowed 300 rushing yards…San Diego State churned for 349 yards in 1998

•UNM’s first three opponents have manufactured 8 scoring drives covering at least 80 yards…in 12 games in 2001, opponents only did that 7 times

•Foes have converted 58% (28-48) of their 3rd-downs…UNM only allowed 34% all of last year…NC State was an unsettling 67% (10-15) on 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

SPECIAL TEAMS NOTES•True freshman P Tyler Gaus (San Diego, Calif.) has punted 16 times for a 40.1-yard average…that’s also the team’s net average as only 2 of his punts have been returned for no yards…7 of his kicks have landed inside the opponents’ 20-yard line

•New Mexico led the MWC in kickoff coverage last year, allowing just 18.6 yards a return…the Lobos are off to a good start in 2002 as well as opponents have returned 8 kicks for a 16.1-yard average

•UNM has punted 179 consecutive times without having a kick blocked…the last rejector was Air Force’s Buck Hodgkinson, who did so in the first quarter of the 1999 season finale, 27 games ago

•The Lobos have returned 3 punts for TDs in the past 8 games…Dwight Counter had a 63-yard scoring return against Weber State on the first return of his career…one of the returns – last year versus New Mexico State – was the result of a blocked punt

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.

ALTERNATIVE SCORING•The Lobos have definitely found ways to put points on the board other than just on offense. Here’s a list of “other” scores since the start of the 2000 season:

2000 (3 TDs)Oregon State:Stephen Persley 20-yard punt return (on a block)Wyoming:Mike Barnett 25-yard fumble recoveryAir Force:Stephen Persley 19-yard punt return (on a block)

2001 (6 TDs, 2 safeties)UTEP:Terrell Golden safetyUtah:Gary Davis safetyWyoming:Stephen Persley 6-yard interception returnDavid Crockett 17-yard interception returnAir Force:Stephen Persley 25-yard fumble recoveryHolmon Wiggins 47-yard punt returnColorado State:Terrell Golden 24-yard fumble recoveryNew Mexico State:Amos Wilson 30-yard punt return (ona block)

2002 (2 TDs, 1 safety)Weber State:Daniel Kegler safetyBilly Strother 42-yard fumble recoveryDwight Counter 63-yard punt return

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.

LOBOS IN OVERTIME•The Lobos are 1-3 all-time in overtime games, including a 38-31 this year at Air Force. UNM played a pair of OT games in 1998, winning a 39-36 triple-OT thriller against Utah State and losing to San Diego State 36-33 in a single overtime. The Lobos suffered a 16-13 setback last year at Baylor in single overtime.

BLOCK PARTY•The Lobos have rejected 10 punts 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. The year-by-year blocks:

2000Texas Tech:Dave MaurerOregon State:Stephen Persley (TD by Persley)Air Force:Terrell Golden (TD by Persley)Utah:Stephen PersleyUNLV:Larry Davis

2001Texas Tech:Stephen PersleyBaylor:Derrick ShepherdSan Diego State:Derrick ShepherdNew Mexico State:Tony Mazotti (TD by Amos Wilson)

2002Air Force:Brandon Gregory