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•The New Mexico Lobos’ (6-5, 4-1 MWC) conference title hopes and bowl aspirations get a stern test this Saturday when they visit league-leading Colorado State (9-2, 5-0 MWC). Kickoff is 4:07 p.m. Mountain Time from Hughes Stadium in Fort Collins. The game will be televised by SportsWest and can be seen locally on KRQE-TV. It can also be picked up on the ESPN GamePlan package. •The Lobos have won three straight and four of five. Their last four-game winning streak was in 1997. CSU, ranked 15th in the latest coaches’ poll and No. 20 by AP, has won five in a row. UNM is 2-4 on the road this year.•CSU will clinch the MWC title with a win on Saturday. A Lobo victory would put UNM and Colorado State in a tie for first place with one game remaining. Both teams close the regular season at home on Nov. 30, UNM against Wyoming and the Rams hosting UNLV. •The past two games, the New Mexico defense has allowed just five field goals, 124 yards rushing and 371 yards of total offense. Colorado State ranks 13th in the nation in rushing offense (220.9 ypg), 19th in total offense (418.1 ypg) and 22nd in scoring offense (32.7 ppg).
QUICK HITS•Fresh off its first victory at BYU in 31 years, UNM needs to win one of its last two games to become bowl eligible. Picked to finish sixth in the MWC preaseason rankings and landing just one player on the preseason all-conference team, the Lobos are all alone in second place after sliding past BYU 20-16 last Saturday in Provo. UNM can finish no worse than in a tie for fourth place in the MWC. The preseason favorite to win the league, Colorado State is sitting atop the MWC. The Rams ripped San Diego State 49-21 last week at Qualcomm Stadium. •After losing to Air Force in the conference opener on Sept. 7, New Mexico has won four straight league games for the first time since 1982. The last time the Lobos won five straight conference encounters was 1970. The 4-1 loop mark is the best for UNM since the ‘82 squad finished 6-1 in the Western Athletic Conference. •The Lobos are 5-1 in November the past two years. The lone loss came last season against Colorado State in Albuquerque, 24-17. UNM was 1-9 in November from 1998-2000. The Rams are a remarkable 22-4 in November games under current head coach Sonny Lubick.•In addition to getting their first victory at BYU since 1971, the Lobos also collected their first win against San Diego State in Albuquerque since 1983 and their first-ever triumph at UNLV.•A victory in one of its final two games will give New Mexico the distinction of being the only school in the nation to increase its win total every year since 1999: The Lobos had 3 wins in 1998, 4 in 1999, 5 in 2000 and 6 in 2001. The only other schools to make that claim between 1999-2001 were Oregon and Fresno State, however, the Ducks and Bulldogs cannot surpass their total from last season.•UNM is 4-1 at home this year and will go after its first five-win campaign at University Stadium since 1997 when it hosts Wyoming on Nov. 30. Since the stadium was erected in 1960, the Lobos have won five home games just five times: 1961, ‘62, ‘64, ‘82 and ‘97. New Mexico is 7-2 in its last nine home games overall and 11-4 since the middle of the 2000 season.•The Lobos may have the youngest team in the nation with only eight seniors currently participating. TB Quincy Wright and S David Hall make 10 overall, but both are out for the season with injuries. UNM has three seniors playing on offense and five on defense.•The win over San Diego State on Nov. 9 makes New Mexico a perfect 6-0 following scheduled off weeks under Rocky Long. UNM has won nine straight games in such situations since the last setback in 1996.•New Mexico is 2-4 all-time in overtime, 1-2 this season. The three OT games in 2002 ties an NCAA single-season record held by several schools since the format was introduced in 1996. No school has played four overtime games in one season.•UNM is averaging 31,392 fans for five games. The school record, established last year, is 31,268.•Last year, New Mexico went a bowl-eligible 6-5 overall and 4-3 in the Mountain West Conference. After a 1-3 start, the Lobos won five of their last seven 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. Colorado State finished 7-5 overall and in second place in the MWC at 5-2. The Rams’ victory over UNM in Albuquerque sent CSU to the New Orleans Bowl where it whipped North Texas 45-20. •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.
UNM VS. RANKED TEAMS•UNM has lost six straight games to ranked opponents, three times to BYU and once each to Colorado State, Texas Tech and North Carolina State. The last win over a ranked foe was Nov. 5, 1994 as Dennis Franchione’s Lobos knocked off Utah 23-21 at University Stadium. The Utes came into the game 8-0 and ranked 9th in the nation. •The last time New Mexico defeated a ranked team on the road was Oct. 25, 1975. UNM upset No. 13 Arizona 44-34 in Tucson. The Wildcats were 5-0 going into the game. UNM was 2-4.
|Oct. 28, 1995|No. 22 Texas Tech 34, UNM 7|Albuquerque||Sept. 21, 1996|No. 25 BYU 17, UNM 14|Provo||Dec. 6, 1997|No. 20 Colorado State 41, UNM 13|Las Vegas||Oct. 16, 1999|No. 20 BYU 31, UNM 7|Albuquerque||Oct. 13, 2001|No. 17 BYU 24, UNM 20|Albuquerque||Aug. 24, 2002|No. 25 North Carolina State 34, UNM 14|Raleigh, N.C.|
THE COLORADO STATE SERIES•It’s the 50th meeting in a rivalry that began in 1935 when Colorado State won 7-6 in Albuquerque. The Rams lead 29-20 overall and have won four straight, including a 41-13 victory in the 1997 WAC Championship game in Las Vegas. UNM’s last win was 22-14 in Fort Collins in 1995. Colorado State has won 7 of the past 8 since 1992 and is 14-3 against the Lobos since 1983. CSU leads 15-11 in Albuquerque and 12-9 in Fort Collins. •Last year at University Stadium, Casey Kelly was intercepted on the Lobos’ final two possessions as CSU hung on for a 24-17 victory, squelching UNM’s bid to the New Orleans Bowl. New Mexico advanced to the Rams’ 36-yard line on its last two drives. CSU cornerback Justin Gallimore intercepted Kelly at the 19-yard line with 2:35 remaining, then safety Aaron Sprague picked off Kelly’s Hail Mary pass in the endzone as time expired. •New Mexico dominated the final statistics last year, outgaining the Rams 411-299, tallying a 24-17 advantage in first downs and finishing with a 32:40-27:20 advantage in time of possession. However, CSU finished plus-4 in turnovers as Kelly threw five interceptions, three in the first half, to tie a UNM school record. •Two years ago in Fort Collins, CSU snapped New Mexico’s three-game winning streak with a 17-14 victory.•UNM has lost five straight to Colorado State in Albuquerque. The last win was 24-23 in 1988 when the Lobos scored on the game’s final play, a 28-yard scoring pass from Jeremy Leach to Tony Jones.
UNM HISTORY•The Lobos have a 408-475-31 overall record in their 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. CARDIAC CARE•New Mexico has played four games this season where the outcome has not been decided, for all intents and purposes, until the final snap from scrimmage.•The Lobos have played three overtime games, including two straight in October. UNM lost in OT at Utah State 45-44 on Oct. 19, then followed that up with a 42-35 double-OT win at home against Utah. New Mexico lost at Air Force 38-31 on Sept. 7. The Falcons scored first, then UNM was unable to score on its possession.•At Utah State, the Lobos scored 14 points in a 53-second span to grab a 38-31 lead with 25 seconds remaining in regulation. Terrell Golden’s 59-yard interception – his second pick of the game – staked UNM to the seven-point bulge, but the Aggies scored on a 32-yard Hail Mary on the last play of regulation to knot the score at 38-38. Utah State scored first in overtime. The Lobos answered with a TD, but missed the extra point to end the game.•Utah scored in OT and the Lobos answered with their own TD. New Mexico got the ball first in the second overtime and scored on a 1-yard run. UNM then held the Utes on four downs from the 14.•New Mexico’s last five games – four of them wins – have been decided by nine points or less.
BYU RECAP•Another staggering defensive performance allowed the Lobos to leave BYU with a 20-16 victory, their first at Provo since 1971 when current head coach Rocky Long was UNM’s quarterback.•All was not secure until senior LB Charles Moss (Dallas, Texas) picked off a Matt Berry pass with 1:42 left in the game. The Lobos confused BYU into just 188 yards of total offense, 94 rushing and 94 passing. Ironically, that’s the fewest yards by a BYU team against UNM since that 1971 game when the Cougars had just 169 yards (103 rushing, 66 passing). BYU came into this year’s game ranked 17th in the nation in passing (279.8 ypg) and 18th in total offense (415.9 ypg).•New Mexico fell behind 10-0 after one quarter due to turnovers. QB Casey Kelly had an interception returned 80 yards for a TD, then DonTrell Moore’s fumble inside the Lobo 30-yard line led to a Cougar field goal.•The Lobos got back into the game thanks to a BYU miscue. Junior S Brandon Ratcliff (Dallas) returned a Berry interception to the Cougar 2. Two plays later, Moore scored from the 1. Later in the second quarter, UNM went on a monstrous 17-play, 82-yard drive that gobbled 8:02 off the clock. Kelly found WR Dwight Counter (Lancaster, Texas) on a 7-yard scoring pass as the Lobos grabbed a 14-10 lead. The march was kept alive by a BYU offsides penalty on 4th-and-1 near midfield and the Lobos converted another 4th-and-1 four plays later. •BYU’s longest play from scrimmage was 28 yards, provided by kicker Matt Payne on a fake punt right before halftime. The trickery led to a 52-yard field goal and pulled the Cougars to within 14-13 at the break.•Another Kelly interception in the third quarter put BYU at the Lobo 24. The defense held again, though, as the Cougars had to settle for a 37-yard field and a 16-14 advantage.•Mustering just one first down and 20 yards of offense in the third period, the Lobos got untracked on their second drive of the fourth quarter. Starting at their own 24 following a BYU punt, Kelly drove the Lobos 76 yards in six plays, culminating in Moore’s 2-yard plunge. The key plays were a beautiful 27-yard sideline toss to WR Adrian Boyd (Flint, Mich.) and Kelly’s audible on 2nd-and-11 from the BYU 34. The check-off to a speed-option play resulted in Moore bolting 32 yards to the 2.
DYNAMIC DEFENSE•It may be a stretch to say the best thing to happen to the UNM defense was allowing 976 yards of total offense – including 780 yards through the air – in back-to-back overtime games against Utah State and Utah. What it did, though, was force the Lobo coaching staff to take a long, hard look at its pass defense and lack thereof. Benefitting from a week off before entertaining pass-happy San Diego State on Nov. 9, the adjustments made in personnel and coverages have been seismic. A look at the numbers:
||First 9 Games|Last 2 Games||Rushing Def./Game|131.4|62.0||Yards/Rush|3.4|2.1||Rushing TDs|12|0||Passing Def./Game|257.4|123.5||Comp. Pct.|55.3 (176-318)|43.2 (29-67)| |Interceptions|8|3||Total Def./Game|388.9|185.5||Scoring Defense|29.4|12.0||Avg. 1st Downs|20.4|10.5||3rd Down Conv.|63-147 (43%)|4-31 (13%)|
|San Diego StateAvg.| Before UNM|vs. UNM||Passing|333.9|153||Total Offense|406.6|183||Scoring Offense|22.4|8|
|BYUAvg.| Before UNM|vs. UNM||Passing|279.8|194||Total Offense|415.9|188||Scoring Offense|25.0|16|
•The last time UNM held opponents to less than 200 yards in consecutive games was in 1983: 70 by UTEP and 135 by San Diego State…the last time for three straight was the final three games in 1964: 105 by Colorado State, 73 by Hawaii and 184 by Kansas State•UNM held SDSU and BYU to their lowest offensive totals of the season…San Diego State came into the game ranked 5th in the nation in passing and boasting two of the nation’s top-three receivers in J.R. Tolver and Kassim Hasgood…the duo combined to catch only 8 passes for 105 yards and no TDs•San Diego State started four drives inside UNM territory (36, 42, 38 and 46-yard lines) and got just two FGs…BYU started at the UNM 24 twice, but also managed just two FGs •BYU had gained more than 900 yards of total offense in two games prior to UNM, including 532 against Wyoming the week before…the Cougars were 17th in the nation in passing and 18th in total offense•The Lobos have not allowed an offensive touchdown in the past two games…essentially, the only TD against UNM in the past 10-plus quarters was one overtime score by Utah•New Mexico has moved from 79th to 49th in the nation in total defense (351.9 yards a game) in the past two weeks•In MWC games only, UNM leads the league in rushing defense, allowing 115.2 yards a game…opponents have averaged just 89.8 yards on the ground the past five games…the Lobos also lead the loop in pass defense efficiency (104.0 rating) and total defense (318.8 ypg)•The Lobos have forced 13 turnovers (5 fumbles, 8 interceptions) the past five games compared to 10 in the first six games•The first six games, UNM allowed opponents to score 21 out of 24 trips into the red zone…18 of those were TDs…the past 5 games, opponents have been inside the 20 on 14 occasions, but have scored only 5 TDs…the other 9 penetrations have resulted in 5 FGs, two missed FGs, one stop on downs and an interception
SPARKLING IN THE RED ZONE•The Lobo offense has been nearly flawless inside the red zone of late…UNM has scored 13 straight times inside the opponents’ 20-yard line and 12 of those scores have been TDs…the past 7 games, UNM’s 16 penetrations have resulted in 15 scores, 14 of those TDs…in its first four games, New Mexico entered the red zone 16 times and scored on 12 occasions, although only eight of the scores were touchdowns…red zone the past five games:
at UNLV,1-1:TDat Utah State, 5-5:TD, TD, FG, TD, TDUtah, 2-2:TD, TDSan Diego State, 2-2:TD, TDat BYU, 3-3:TD, TD, TD
MORE FROM BYU•The Lobos had dropped 13 straight games when committing more turnovers than their opponent, but have won their past two despite more miscues…UNM had three errors against both San Diego State and BYU…the Aztecs and Cougars each had two•Junior WR Adrian Boyd (Flint, Mich.) continues to be a very pleasant surprise in the Lobos’ offense, especially in the fly-motion series…a week after rushing 9 times for a career-high 64 yards against San Diego State, the former running back had several key plays at BYU…he caught 4 passes for a career-high 99 yards and rushed for 57 yards on 8 carries for 156 all-purpose yards…Boyd, a seldom-used running back in his first three seasons at UNM, was moved to receiver last spring…he has picked up 223 yards on 35 carries this season, an average of 6.4 yards per attempt…he is also the Lobos’ third-leading receiver with 23 catches for 280 yards•Senior LB Charles Moss (Dallas, Texas) tied for team honors with 7 tackles and added his team-high third interception of the season…the pick came with 1:42 left in the game and secured the Lobo win…Moss leads the team with 90 tackles…he has 222 stops in his career, which is 22 short of cracking the top-20•The Lobos constructed a 17-play scoring drive, the longest since Rocky Long took over at UNM in 1998…the procession covered 82 yards and consumed more than half (8:02) of the second quarter•The Lobos kept the ball for 34:41 against the Cougars after holding it for 37:08 against San Diego State…in conference games only, UNM leads the league by averaging 33:01 a game•S Brandon Ratcliff (Dallas, Texas) has stepped up his play the past 3 games…his 50-yard interception return set up the Lobos first score and carved into BYU’s 10-0 lead…against San Diego State, Ratcliff finished with 7 tackles, including 3 tackles for losses, 1.5 sacks and a fumble recovery…the combined sack of QB Adam Hall and subsequent fumble recovery sparked a Lobo scoring drive early in the fourth quarter…another combined sack resulted in the fourth-quarter safety and a 15-8 lead, the eventual final score…he had a career-high 12 tackles in the win over Utah•Sophomore DE Kyle Coulter (Sapulpa, Okla.) had his best game as a Lobo at BYU…with his parents watching as they travel to nearly every Lobo game, Coulter had 4 tackles, including 2 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks
OFFENSE NOTES•After averaging 146.8 rushing yards and scoring 9 TDs the first six games, UNM has averaged 220 yards and scored 12 times the past five contests…the Lobos had 257 yards at UNLV, 263 at Utah State and 268 against Utah…UNLV was allowing just 99 rushing yards a game, Utah 100.3•Under Rocky Long, the Lobos are 11-4 when rushing for 200 yards or more and 10-2 when exceeding 225 yards…the two losses came against Utah State (263 yards) this year and to Colorado State (254 yards) in 1999•Junior QB Casey Kelly (Portland, Ore.), playing with a soft cast on his broken left arm for the fourth straight game, attempted 97 straight passes before being intercepted in the first quarter at BYU…his last pick had been in the third quarter at New Mexico State on Sept. 21…Kelly and Brad Wright are the only Lobos to toss two scoring passes of 80 yards or more in a career…Kelly’s numbers the past 4 games:
||Comp.|Att.|Yds.|Int.|TDs|Rushing Att.|Yds.|TDs|Total Plays|Yds|TDs||at Utah State|18|25|202|0|3|10|26|0|35|228|3||Utah|11|23|134|0|2|12|55|2|35|189|4||San Diego State|9|15|70|0|0|16|28|1|31|98|1||at BYU|11|22|155|2|1|13|-8|0|35|147|1||Totals|49|85|561|2|6|51|101|3|136|662|9| •RB DonTrell Moore (Roswell, N.M.) has established a UNM freshman record with 9 rushing TDs in 2002…he scored twice against BYU while picking up 93 yards on 26 carries…Moore, who rushed 7 times for 0 yards in the first 3 games as Quincy Wright’s backup, has gained 760 yards in eight games since…he needs to average 120 yards in the last two contests to become only the second freshman in school history to reach 1,000 yards for a season…Winslow Oliver gained 1,063 yards in 1992…Moore has 493 yards the past four games, an average of 124.3 yards
||Att.|Yards|Avg.|TDs||at Utah State|25|166|6.6|2||Utah|27|163|6.0|1||San Diego State|22|71|3.2|1||at BYU|26|93|3.6|2||Total|100|493|4.9|6| •Moore’s 166 yards against Utah State is the 3rd-best effort ever by a Lobo freshman…Reginal Johnson galloped for 232 yards vs. Tulsa in 1996 and Oliver gained 186 yards against Air Force in 1992•With the insertion of 6-6, 340-pound redshirt freshman C Ryan Cook (Albuquerque) into the starting lineup at UNLV five games ago, the average size of the Lobos’ all-underclassmen offensive line is now 6-4 1/2 and 319 pounds, one of the largest lines in the country •Consistency has been a big part of the offensive line as demonstrated by the knockdown totals of the four Lobos who have started every game in 2002: OT Justin Colburn (109), OT Jason Lenzmeier (107), OG Claude Terrell (105) and OG Calvin McDonald (104) •New Mexico has scored just once on its opening drive of the game this season…after Weber State fumbled on its first snap from scrimmage, Quincy Wright scored on the next play from 34 yards out• Junior WR Dwight Counter (Lancaster, Texas) continues to move up UNM’s career receiving lists…Counter caught a 7-yard TD pass at BYU…he has eclipsed the century mark for yards three times in his career…Counter caught an 80-yard TD from Casey Kelly against Utah, tying for the 10th-longest in school history…Counter is the first Lobo with two scoring passes of 80 yards or more in a career…he caught an 85-yard TD from Kelly last year against Colorado State…Counter in the UNM record book:
|Career Receptions|Career Receiving Yards||9. 91 Zack Wesley|11. 1,302 Pascal Volz||10. 85 Ace Hendricks|12. 1,258 Ace Hendrick||11. 84 Ricky Martin|13. 1,213 Al Owens||12. 83 Dwight Counter|14. 1,199 Kenneth Whitehead|||15. 1,197 Dwight Counter|
•Redshirt freshman WR Hank Baskett (Clovis, N.M.) saw his first action as a Lobo at Utah State and caught 2 passes, both for TDs…he caught a 9-yard pass in the second quarter and had a 12-yard score in overtime…Baskett suffered a spinal concussion during two-a-days on Aug. 14 that required him being taken off the field on a backboard and admitted to University Hospital with minimal movement in his extremeties for several hours…Baskett sat idle for almost two months before being cleared for contact on Oct. 6•UNM had scored in 111 consecutive games, the 15th-longest active streak in the nation, before the 49-0 shutout by Texas Tech on Sept. 27…the last team to blank the Lobos had been BYU (35-0) on Nov. 7, 1992•Lobo tight ends have caught 24 passes for 226 yards and 4 TDs this season compared to last year’s numbers of just 6 catches for 37 yards…Bryan Penley (Victoria, Texas) leads the way with 16 grabs for 167 yards and a team-leading 3 TD catches…that’s the most receptions by a Lobo TE since Brian Johnson caught 18 for 212 yards in 1998•Seventeen different Lobos have scored during the 2002 season
MORE ON THE DEFENSE•Junior DE Daniel Kegler (Frostproof, Fla.) is second in the MWC with 6.5 QB sacks…two of his sacks have been for safeties•The Lobo defense accounted for 11 points on a touchdown, safety and the school’s first-ever defensive PAT at UNLV…after the Rebels pared the UNM lead to 21-16 with less than 10 minutes left in the game, they went for two…the halfback pass from Larry Croom to QB Kurt Nantkes was picked off by S Brandon Ratcliff and returned about 101 yards for the duece, giving the Lobos a 23-16 advantage •Twice this year, a Lobo has caused a turnover then lateraled the ball off to a teammate for a TD…against Weber State, NT Hebrews Josue stripped QB Tate Bennett and ran 41 yards before handing off to LB Billy Strother who took it the remaining 42 yards…LB Charles Moss intercepted UNLV’s Jason Thomas and advanced it 5 yards before being tackled…Moss pitched to CB Desmar Black who rambled the 25 yards for his first career score•In the 23-0 win over Baylor, UNM allowed just 107 yards, the stingiest effort since holding UTEP to 70 yards in 1983…it ranks as the 10th-lowest total ever yielded by a Lobo team•Junior DE D.J. Renteria (Roswell, N.M.) has recovered four fumbles, a figure that leads the MWC…the UNM single-season record for fumble recoveries is 5 by Tom Cole in 1984 and Charles Butler in 1994…Renteria has 5 recoveries for his career•Only five backs have eclipsed 100 yards rushing against UNM since the start of the 2000 season, a span of 34 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) and New Mexico State’s Paul Dombrowski (136) this year•The Lobos had held 9 straight opponents to less than 200 yards rushing before Air Force totaled 261 and New Mexico State got 262…only three times in the past 31 games has an opponent reached 200 yards on the ground…the 262 yards by New Mexico State are the most against the Lobos since Air Force had 283 in 1999•It’s been 51 games since UNM allowed 300 rushing yards…San Diego State churned for 349 yards in 1998•UNM’s first three opponents produced 8 scoring drives covering at least 80 yards…in 12 games in 2001, opponents only did that 7 times
SPECIAL TEAMS NOTES•Dwight Counter is 2nd in the MWC and 32nd nationally in punt returns, averaging 12.5 yards a return…Counter scored on a 63-yard return against Weber State…he returned 4 punts for 107 yards against Baylor, the highest single-game total since Chad Smith set a UNM record with 142 yards on 7 returns against UTEP in 1996…Counter’s 74-yard return against Baylor – which was not a TD – ties for the 7th-longest in school history…the Lobos are 29th in the nation in punt returns, averaging 12.1 yards•The Lobos have returned 3 punts for TDs in the past 16 games…Counter had the 63-yarder against Weber State on his first career return•UNM has blocked 11 punts since the start of the 2000 season – a span of 34 games…Brandon Gregory (St. Louis, Mo.) stuffed the Air Force punter earlier this year and Billy Strother had one against San Diego State•True freshman P Tyler Gaus (San Diego, Calif.) has punted 66 times for a 40.1-yard average…21 of his kicks have landed inside the opponents’ 20-yard line…UNM is 2nd in the MWC and 17th nationally in net punting at 37.0 yards…only 30 of Gaus’ punts have been returned for a total of 185 yards, an average of 6.2 yards•UNM has punted 229 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, 35 games ago
COLORADO STATE NOTES•Head coach Sonny Lubick is 104-55 in his 14th season as a head coach. He is 83-36 in his 10th year at CSU, which includes five conference titles and six bowl games in the past seven years. A three-time pick for conference coach of the year, Lubick’s teams have posted a sterling 57-17 record in conference games while with the Rams. Lubick is 6-1 against New Mexico, 2-1 in Fort Collins and 4-0 in Albuquerque.•CSU had seven players chosen to the preseason All-MWC team: QB Bradlee Van Pelt and RB Cecil Sapp on offense, and DL Peter Hogan, LBs Eric Pauly and Drew Wood and DB Dexter Wynn on defense. Additionally, Wynn was chosen the top return man for punts and kickoffs while Joey Huber was picked as the league’s top punter. •Senior RB Cecil Sapp ranks 1st in the MWC and 17th nationally in rushing averaging 118.4 yards a game.•In the Rams’ 49-21 romp over San Diego State last Saturday, Van Pelt threw for three TDs and ran for two more as CSU piled up a season-high 533 yards of offense.
WORDS FROM ROCKY LONG•(On BYU) — “I’m really proud of the players and I know we’re really happy and excited, but I know there’s a lot of work to do yet. This team has proved that no matter what happens early in the game, we’ll come back and do something to get ourselves back into it. I thought we were physical on both sides of the ball and I think if you’re physical you should be in every game. I think we played with heart and soul, and it was enough to win.” •(On Colorado State) — “Our defense has been very good the past two games, but we will probably have to change some things this week. Our approach will be different than what we did to get ready for San Diego State and BYU. To step up and beat a quality team like Colorado State, we will have to be very good not only on offense and defense, but special teams as well. They are the program that many of us in the Mountain West Conference are trying to emulate. CSU doesn’t have all the advantages that maybe BYU and Air Force has – outside of some good in-state recruiting – and that’s what makes their program all the more impressive. They are a consistent competitor for the conference title. That’s what we are trying to do with our program. I like that it is late in the season and we are still competing for a conference title, a bowl game and a winning record. That shows some consistency in our program, but we’re still a work in progress, too.”