Oct. 10, 2005
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The New Mexico Lobos (3-3, 1-2 MWC) look to end a three-game losing streak Saturday when they meet the Wyoming Cowboys (4-2, 2-1 MWC) in Laramie. Kickoff is 1:05 p.m., Mountain Time from War Memorial Stadium. The game will be televised live by ESPN+Plus, shown locally by UPN50 in Albuquerque and be available on ESPN GamePlan. UNM has won five straight games when appearing on ESPN+Plus. The last loss was to BYU (24-20) in 2001.
After a stinging 27-24 loss to BYU last Saturday in Albuquerque – a game the Lobos led 24-13 entering the fourth quarter – New Mexico has dropped three in a row for the first time since September of 2003.
New Mexico seeks to avoid its first four-game losing streak since the last four games of 1998, Rocky Long’s first season at UNM. The Lobos have not lost three MWC games since 2001 when they finished 4-3. They were 5-2 every season from 2002-04. UNM has not fallen in three straight MWC games since the last three games of the 2000 campaign. New Mexico is also in danger of losing three consecutive October contests for the first time since 1996.
Wyoming saw its four-game winning streak snapped at home by TCU, falling 28-14. The Horned Frogs forced seven Cowboy turnovers – four interceptions and three fumbles – and only had one scoring drive longer than 19 yards. The Lobos can relate to Wyoming’s dismay as UNM committed six turnovers at TCU in a 49-28 loss on Oct. 1. In that setback, TCU was 0-13 on 3rd down conversions, but had three 1-play scoring drives and another that was just two plays. All four of those scores took less than 10 seconds in time of possession and were a combined 99 yards in distance. The Frogs scored 28 points following Lobo turnovers.
This is the 58th meeting between New Mexico and Wyoming. The Pokes have a slim 31-26 lead, although the Lobos have won five straight for the first time since a 7-game blitz between 1969-75. UNM has won two in a row in Laramie. The last time it took three straight victories at Wyoming was 1970, `72 and 74. The Pokes have a 15-12 advantage over UNM when playing at home.
New Mexico was picked to finish 2nd in the MWC in 2005, receiving six first-place votes. Wyoming was chosen third with five votes for a first-place finish. The Cowboys were 7-5 a year ago, 3-4 in the MWC, but toppled UCLA 24-21 in the Las Vegas Bowl.
New Mexico is in a challenging stretch where it plays four of five games on the road. UNM is at San Diego State next week before facing Colorado State at home on Friday, Oct. 28.Since 2003, the Lobos are 6-2 in their last eight MWC road games. They have also captured eight of their past 11 and are 10-4 in their last 14 situations away from Albuquerque. New Mexico is 14-8 in October games since the 1999 season, but it has lost two in a row.
Of the Lobos’ 85 student-athletes on scholarship, 13 started their careers as walk-ons. The 2005 squad has 23 scholarship players from New Mexico representing 12 different high schools. Eighteen of the 23 are from Albuquerque led by five from La Cueva High School. Seven of the 23 came to UNM as walk-ons.
It’s a veteran New Mexico team as 17 starters – including two specialists – return from last year’s squad that went 7-5 overall and 5-2 in the MWC, good for second place. The Lobos welcomed back 41 lettermen, 19 on offense, 19 on defense and three specialists.
NEW MEXICO, WYOMING STATISTICALLY SPEAKING –
New Mexico will be facing a Wyoming team that leads the MWC in scoring defense (19.8 ppg), pass defense (161.7 ypg), pass efficiency defense (96.2 rating) and total defense (306.5 ypg). If you take away the 32 points and 411 yards Wyoming allowed at Florida in the season opener, the Cowboys have yielded averages of just 17.4 points and 285.6 yards in their past five games.
Wyoming’s top three running backs are freshmen. Leading the way is Wynel Seldon, who is averaging 82.7 yards in six games. The 6-0, 204-pounder has scored six TDs.
WR Jovon Bouknight has caught a pass in 42 straight games, the longest current streak in the nation. Bouknight, already the MWC career leader with 25 receiving TDs, has 4,861 all-purpose yards in his brilliant career, trailing only UNM’s DonTrell Moore (5,112) in that category. Bouknight, who had 11 catches for 157 yards and 2 TDs against TCU, has 18 receptions for 206 yards, but no TDs, in three career games against the Lobos.
Saturday’s game features two of the MWC’s top receivers. Bouknight is 4th in the league in catches (5.8 pg) and 3rd in yards (91.7 ypg), while UNM’s Hank Baskett is 1st in yards (114.0 ypg) and 2nd in receptions (7.2).
The Lobos have 24 sacks against the Pokes the past three meetings. Because of all the dumps, UNM has held Wyoming to just 155 net rushing yards since the 2002 game, an average of 51 a game. In the past three meetings, New Mexico has limited the Cowboys to averages of 10.7 points and 252.7 yards.
Lobo TB DonTrell Moore has averaged 159.7 yards rushing in three career games against Wyoming. Moore’s best output came during his freshman season when he gained 176 yards and tied a school record with 5 TDs (3 rushing and 2 receiving).
LONG GETS SCHOOL RECORD FOR CAREER VICTORIES –
In his eighth season, Rocky Long has become the school’s winningest head coach. The 45-35 decision at Missouri on Sept. 10 was the 42nd victory for Long and pushed him past Roy Johnson, who was 41-32-6 from 1920-30.
The only coach to guide New Mexico to three bowl games, Long has coached more games (91) than any other Lobo mentor. He has a 43-48 record at his alma mater, but is 31-25 since 2001. UNM is 18-13 since the start of the 2003 season and has won 17 of its past 27 since Sept. 27, 2003.
Late last season, UNM and Long agreed on a contract extension good through the 2009 season. A raise of approximately $100,000 per year kicked in Jan. 1, 2005, increasing Long’s total package to more than $425,000 annually.
NEW MEXICO-WYOMING SERIES NOTES –
The series started in 1930 with a 19-6 Wyoming victory in Albuquerque. The two rivals played every year between 1949-94. The 26-3 win in Laramie in 2003 came after the UNM traveling party got four hours of sleep due to travel delays the night before, a snowy field and a game-time wind chill of 5-below zero. That 23-point margin is the Lobos’ largest in 27 games in Laramie. UNM head coach Rocky Long was Wyoming’s defensive coordinator and secondary coach under Al Kincaid from 1981-85.
LAST YEAR IN ALBUQUERQUE –
Quarterback Kole McKamey scored on an 80-yard option run in the third quarter and New Mexico’s defense kept Wyoming out of the end zone in a 16-9 win that ensured the Lobos of a third straight bowl bid, a first in school history. It was UNM’s fifth straight win.
McKamey, mediocre in the first half when he completed just 5 of 11 passes for 40 yards, erased a 6-2 Wyoming lead with his scoring run with 6:13 left in the third quarter. McKamey faked a handoff, found a seam in the defense and outran Wyoming safety Ron Rockett with 6:13 left in the third quarter.
Wyoming came right back and tied the game at 9-9 on Deric Yaussi’s third field goal, a career-best 51-yarder with 1:46 left in the third. Yaussi, who also had field goals of 31 and 25 yards in the first half, missed from 52 and 48 yards earlier in the third quarter. DonTrell Moore broke the tie with a 20-yard touchdown run on the second play of the fourth quarter. It was set up by McKamey’s 24-yard run.
Wyoming’s final drive, which started at the Cowboys’ 1-yard line after Tyler Gaus’ punt bounced out of bounds there, ended at the New Mexico 39 with just over four minutes left. Wyoming elected to punt and the Lobos ran out the clock.
McKamey finished with 152 yards rushing on 15 carries and Moore had 150 on 28 carries to go over 1,000 yards for the third straight season. McKamey had 111 yards rushing in the third quarter. Wyoming halfback Ivan Harrison darted his way for 93 yards on 26 carries, while Corey Bramlet was 19-of-31 for 213 yards.
New Mexico’s defense accounted for the Lobos only points in the first half. Linebacker Nick Speegle and safety Charles Brown sacked Bramlet in the end zone for a safety.
TWO YEARS AGO IN LARAMIE –
New Mexico’s final regular-season game of 2003 was played on Nov. 22, and, at the time, it was Wyoming’s latest home game since 1939.
Keeping an eye on the forecast during the week of the game, the weather was expected to be miserable: Bitter cold with wind and snow. Mother Nature kept her promise.
As is customary on UNM’s road trips, the traveling party departed Albuquerque the day before the game due to arrive the Laramie airport around 6 p.m. Due to blowing snow, the plane was unable to land in Laramie and was diverted to Denver International Airport, about 125 miles away. The plane landed, waited, then decided to make another attempt at landing in Laramie. The second try was also aborted as conditions worsened. Back to DIA as athletics department officials scurried to find ground transportation from Denver to Laramie.
A couple of buses were rounded up for the team, while vans and cars were rented for the remainder of the traveling party. After a team dinner at Burger King in the Denver airport, the buses headed for Wyoming around 11 p.m. Four hours later, the team pulled into its Laramie hotel and trudged through half-a-foot of snow in their tennis shoes. Kickoff was less than nine hours away.
With Friday’s team dinner long pitched in the trash and position meetings cancelled, the Lobos got about four hours of sleep. The wake-up call was 7:30 a.m., and the pregame meal began at 8. A few meetings followed then it was time to head for the stadium.
At 10:30 a.m., Lobo starting offensive linemen Justin Colburn, Ryan Cook and Jason Lenzmeier walked onto the field at War Memorial in shorts and sleeveless t-shirts. They stayed for about two minutes. At the same time, the Wyoming grounds crew was busy removing snow from a frozen field.
Kickoff was 12:07 p.m. The weather? Snow, wind, a temperature of nine degrees with a wind chill of minus-5, and that was as warm as it would get all afternoon.
On a day when the mailman would have called in sick, the Lobos were unfazed by all the obstacles. The final score was 26-3 in UNM’s favor, its biggest win ever in Laramie. UNM gained 413 yards of total offense as a dominating offensive line plowed holes for running backs DonTrell Moore and D.D. Cox, both who snow-shoed their way to more than 100 yards rushing. The Lobo defense held the Cowboys to their lowest point (3) and yardage (122) totals of the season.
The team bused to Cheyenne after the game to catch the charter flight home. Of course, the plane was two hours late due to weather. UNM landed in Albuquerque about 10 p.m., ending one of the more memorable odysseys in Lobo football history.
Wyoming hosted UNLV a week later. Temperature at kickoff? 50 degrees.
BYU RECAP –
John Beck threw for 371 yards, including the game-winning 23-yard pass to Matt Allen with 1:40 left as Brigham Young rallied for a stirring 27-24 win over New Mexico. With BYU down 24-19 with 2:48 left, Beck needed just a minute and eight seconds to take the Cougars 80 yards on five plays. Curtis Brown added a two-point conversion run.
Beck was 5-for-5 on the winning drive, including passes of 29 yards to Todd Watkins and 14 yards to Brown. The pass to Brown got the Cougars to the Lobos’ 23 and on the next play Beck hit Allen near the sidelines, and Allen juked his way past a Lobo defender into the end zone. Beck also threw TD passes of 11 yards to Daniel Coats and 5 yards to Joe Semanoff.
New Mexico lost its third straight and saw its bid to win back-to-back games against the Cougars for the first time in 34 years disappear.
The Lobos led 24-13 early in the fourth quarter and were driving for another score when Kole McKamey fumbled on a run inside BYU’s 10, and linebacker Markell Staffieri recovered for the Cougars at the 7. Until then, McKamey had baffled the Cougars with his footwork and receiver Hank Baskett was pulling in McKamey’s passes.
Beck, who completed 34-of-44 passes, completed eight passes in the ensuing 93-yard drive that ended with Brown scoring on a 9-yard run to cut the deficit to 24-19 with 7:15 left.
New Mexico went conservative with its next possession and the Lobos got a couple of first downs with the help of two pass interference calls on BYU defenders. But the Cougars held and took over at their own 20 with 2:48 left. New Mexico had a final shot at forcing overtime and reached BYU’s 47 before turning the ball over on downs with less than a minute remaining.
McKamey had 321 yards of total offense – 103 yards rushing and 218 passing – and scored on a 2-yard run in the second quarter. Baskett caught a career-high 11 passes for 141 yards and the Lobos also got rushing TDs in the first half of 16 yards from Travis Brown and 2 yards from DonTrell Moore.
BYU POSTGAME NOTES –
With the 27-24 loss the Lobos drop their fourth straight game to BYU at University Stadium…the road team has won the last five games in the series…the Cougars are the only team in the MWC Rocky Long has not defeated in Albuquerque (0-4)
Since 2001, the Lobos had been 26-2 when taking a lead into the 4th quarter…the only losses were to BYU in 2001 (led 13-10, but lost 24-20) and to Washington State last year (led 14-7, but lost 21-17)…the last time UNM lost after having a lead of at least 11 points entering the final period – as it did against BYU Saturday – was at Air Force in 1992…the Lobos led the Falcons 25-6, but lost 33-32
Sophomore QB Kole McKamey became the first Lobo to get 100 yards rushing and 100 yards passing in a game three times, all of those coming in the past 7 games…McKamey had 103 rushing and 218 passing vs. BYU…he had 138 yards rushing and 207 yards passing in last year’s Emerald Bowl against Navy and 152 yards rushing and 172 yards passing earlier this season against New Mexico State
Senior WR Hank Baskett, a Biletnikoff Award candidate, had a career-high 11 catches for 141 yards, raising his season totals to 43 catches for 684 yards…the 11 receptions are the most by a Lobo since Martinez Williams had 11 against UNLV in 1999…it was Baskett’s third 100-yard receiving game of the season and 7th of his career…he now has 1,901 career receiving yards, moving into 6th place all-time at UNM…he ranks tied for 7th with Martinez Williams with 116 career receptions at UNM…Cougar defenders were flagged three times for pass interference while guarding Baskett…he has drawn eight interference penalties this year…Baskett has gone over 100 yards five times in his last nine games
Attendance was 39,233, the fifth largest crowd in University Stadium history
BYU outscored the Lobos 14-0 in the fourth quarter, gaining 161 yards in the process, including scoring drives of 93 and 80 yards…UNM has been outscored 55-27 in the fourth period this year, but it’s 31-3 in the opponents’ favor the past four contests…the three points came on a FG at UTEP
Senior RB DonTrell Moore rushed 22 times for 82 yards and scored his sixth rushing TD this year…he totaled five in 11 games last season…he upped his New Mexico and MWC career records to 43 rushing TDs and 51 total TDs…Moore now has 4,300 rushing yards in his career, moving into 43rd place on the NCAA career rushing list…Moore is 3 yards shy of the 42nd spot held by Bo Jackson, who had 4,303 yards at Auburn from 1982-85
Sophomore WR Travis Brown scored his first career TD on a career-long 16-yard run…he finished with 59 yards on six carries to go along with his two catches for 8 yards…Brown had 15 career yards on five attempts entering the night…he also had 5 knockdown blocks
Senior DT Evroy Thompson recorded 5 tackles, including 3 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks…Thompson now leads UNM with 6.5 tackles for loss and 4 sacks
NT Marcus Parker blocked the Cougars’ first extra point attempt…Terrell Golden was the last Lobo to block a PAT, against Northern Arizona in 2000
New Mexico only used 17 defensive players…nine of those 17 played at least 60 snaps…linemen Marcus Parker and Evroy Thompson played every defensive snap
Sophomore S Tyson Ditmore recorded his first career interception, which thwarted a BYU scoring drive at the 2-yard line…that was UNM’s first red-zone stop of the season
Freshman S DeAndre Wright recorded a career-high 10 tackles…his previous high was five at UTEP…he had seven in the first half alone
Freshman S Blake Ligon has made 24 of his 30 tackles this season in the last three games…he had six solos and two assisted tackles vs. BYU…Sophomore LB Cody Kase recorded the first solo sack of his career…he now has 1.5 sacks on the year…Senior DE Adam Garday recorded a sack in the game…he now has 1.5 sacks on the year, matching his 12 game total of a year ago.
Senior TE Logan Hall’s 34-yard catch to set up the Lobos’ first TD was a career-long…he finished with two catches for 39 yards
NEW GOALS FOR DonTrell Moore –
After becoming the school’s career rushing leader with a 120-yard performance against New Mexico State on Sept. 17, DonTrell Moore is now turning his attention to some other standards:
He needs 375 yards in the Lobos’ final 5 games – and average of 75 ypg – to become the sixth player in the history of NCAA Div. I-A football to reach 1,000 yards rushing four times in a career: Tony Dorsett (Pittsburgh 1973-76), Amos Lawrence (North Carolina 1977-80), Denvis Manns (New Mexico State 1995-98), Ron Dayne (Wisconsin 1996-99) and Cedric Benson (Texas 2001-04) were the first five.
The past 4 games, Moore has rushed for an average of 125.5 ypg, plus 7 TDs. He has moved into 43rd place on the NCAA Div. I-A career rushing list with 4,300 yards…only 10 players have reached 5,000 yards