Aug. 28, 2006
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The 108th season of New Mexico football gets underway Saturday when the Lobos host Portland State. It’s the first meeting between the Lobos and Vikings and the first of four straight non-conference games to open the year. Kickoff is 6:30 p.m. Mountain Time. The game will be televised live via the MountainWest Sports Network (mtn.) from University Stadium in Albuquerque.
New Mexico looks to halt a three-game home losing streak this weekend. The Lobos’ last win at University Stadium was 38-21 over New Mexico State on Sept. 17, 2005. That was followed by conference losses to BYU, Colorado State and Air Force. UNM has not lost four straight home games since a five-game skid in 1998-99.
The Lobos are gunning for their sixth straight non-losing season, a feat only accomplished during a seven-year run from 1958-64.
Portland State is the first of seven opponents that will visit the New Mexico campus in 2006. That ties for the second-most home games in program history. UNM also played seven home games in 1946, 1995 and 2003. The most is eight in 1938.
TICKET OFFERS/GAME PROMOTIONS –
Saturday’s game is American Indian Night. UNM acting President David Harris and Lobo athletics director Paul Krebs invited 22 of the state’s tribal leaders to the season opener. Letters were also sent to each of the pueblo’s senior wellness centers, senior recreation departments and youth recreation departments.
American Indians can purchase $14 tickets for just $7, however, the offer is available on advance sales only and not the day of the game. UNM will honor the local tribal leaders with an on-field presentation at halftime.
The first 10,000 fans will receive Lobo car magnets courtesy of the New Mexico Lottery
NEW MEXICO IN 2006 –
New Mexico head coach Rocky Long welcomes a young team that returns just 35 lettermen, the fewest in the Mountain West Conference. Despite that figure, the Lobos were picked to finish fifth in the MWC. The total includes just 10 returning starters on offense and defense, plus a kicker and a deep snapper. As of Aug. 25, the roster breakdown lists 16 seniors, 27 juniors, 18 sophomores and 47 true or redshirt freshman.
In addition to a lot of new players on the field, New Mexico has four new coaches, a new offense, a slightly different defense and a new philosophy for special teams. Only two assistant coaches from 2005 are overseeing the same positions they had last year: Cornell Jackson (running backs) and Troy Reffett (cornerbacks).
Three new assistants are on offense. The Lobos’ new West Coast attack is being guided by Bob Toledo, formerly the head coach at UCLA and Rocky Long’s boss with the Bruins in 1996-97. Toldeo is assistant head coach and offensive coordinator. Veteran assistant Bob Stanley has taken over offensive line duties for Bob Bostad, who accepted the same position at Wisconsin, while Todd Throckmorton oversees the tight ends. That was a vacancy made available following Grady Stretz’s departure to Arizona State in the winter.
Danny Gonzales moves from his position as video coordinator to coaching the safeties and punters. Gonzales has been with the program – either as a player, volunteer or on staff – since 1994. Jason Strauss, tight ends coach the past four years, is now the video coordinator
Defensive coordinator Osia Lewis and Lenny Rodriguez switched position responsibilities. Lewis is mentoring the linebackers, Rodriguez the defensive line. Rodriguez begins his ninth season on Rocky Long’s staff, giving him the longest tenure for a Lobo assistant since personnel records were available in the late 1940s.
The defense has changed somewhat in that Long has brought back the lobo position made famous in the late 1990s by Brian Urlacher, now in his seventh season as middle linebacker with the Chicago Bears. UNM is employing two lobos, which is a linebacker-safety hybrid.
Dan Dodd, the Lobos’ offensive coordinator from 2000-05, is now in charge of recruiting, special teams, receivers and kickers. One coach was in charge of all special teams last year, but now Dodd oversees several assistants who may have one of more of the special team units.
HEAD COACH Rocky Long –
The school’s career leader in wins, head coach Rocky Long begins his ninth season at his alma mater. The only coach to guide New Mexico to three bowl games, Long has coached more games (96) than any other Lobo mentor. He has a 46-50 record, but is 34-27 since 2001.
PORTLAND STATE INFO –
Portland State University, located in Portland, Ore., is an NCAA Div. I-AA institution and a member of the Big Sky Conference. Members of the Big Sky include Eastern Washington, Idaho State, Montana, Montana State, Northern Arizona, Northern Colorado, Sacramento State and Weber State.
PSU visits Div. I-A schools California and Oregon in 2006, marking the first time it has faced three upper division schools in one season. The Vikings play just four home games this season.
Picked to finish fourth in the Big Sky in 2006, Portland State returns 41 lettermen, including 14 starters from last year’s team that finished 6-5 overall, 4-3 in the loop. It was the Vikings’ sixth winning season in the past seven years.
The offensive and defensive lines return nearly intact for Portland State led by preseason All-American Brennan Carvalho at guard and all-conference Peter St. John at the other guard spot. The O-line boasts a combined 12 years of experience among the five starters. Senior Sawyer Smith (6-5, 230) will start at quarterback, while New Mexico State transfer Mu’Ammar Ali (5-8, 200) is listed No. 1 on the depth chart at tailback.
The Vikings claim to have the best set of cornerbacks in the Big Sky. Senior Dominic Dixon is another preseason All-America who has started the past two years while senior Odell Jackson mans the other side.
Most impressive last year was the Vikings’ narrow 21-14 loss at Boise State. Boise, which finished 9-4 a year ago, came into the contest with a 26-game home winning streak, but never led until there was 8:03 left in the game.
Dating to 1968, Portland State is 1-20 all-time against NCAA I-A competition. The lone win was 45-20 over Hawai’i in the 2000 season opener. The Lobos’ last game against an NCAA I-AA institution was the opening game of the 2003 season. UNM whipped Texas State 72-8.
Two other Mountain West Conference schools are hosting opponents from the Big Sky Saturday: Weber State is at Colorado State and UNLV entertains Idaho State.
The Vikings list 17 Div. I-A transfers on their roster, including four former New Mexico State Aggies: junior WR Mika’il Ali, senior TB Mu’Ammar Ali, junior DB Salah Ali and junior K Todd Walker, who is from Santa Fe.
Other transfers include freshman WR Matt Bramow (Oregon), junior LB Christian Carlson (Fresno State), senior DT Matthis Gehring (Oregon State), senior LB Adam Hayward (Colorado State), junior DL Dave Howell (Miami, Fla.), senior WR Tremayne Kirkland (UNLV), sophomore RB James Magee (Ohio U.), senior DT CJ Niusulu (UCLA), freshman WR Blake Normine (Oregon State), freshman LB Ryan Pederson (Oregon), sophomore CB Adarrious Ross (Utah), junior FB Olaniyi Sobomehin (Oregon State) and junior DT Casey Tyler (Washington).
Head coach Tim Walsh has an 83-64 record in his 14th year at Portland State. He is 110-78 overall, including four seasons at Sonoma State from 1989-92. Among Walsh’s former assistants include three current Div. I-A head coaches: Dan Hawkins (Colorado), Gary Patterson (TCU) and Chris Peterson (Boise State).
SEASON TICKET UPDATE –
Through Friday, Aug. 25, a total of 14,333 season tickets had been sold. UNM fans purchased a school-record 17,404 season tickets in 2005.
2006 CAPTAINS –
The 2006 captains as chosen by their teammates are senior QB Kole McKamey (Artesia, N.M.) and senior OT Robert Turner (Austin, Texas) on offense and senior lobo Quincy Black (Chicago, Ill.) and junior LB Cody Kase (Valencia, Calif.) on defense.
UNM OPENERS –
The Lobos have a 63-41-3 (.603) mark in season openers, but they are just 3-4 in their last seven. UNM is 71-32-4 (.682) in home openers, including 8-3 in its past 11. New Mexico is 27-19 in lid-lifters at University Stadium. The first game on Sept. 17, 1960, resulted in a 77-6 pasting of the University of Mexico, the Lobos’ largest margin of victory at the stadium. UNM edged UNLV last year 24-22.
Head coach Rocky Long is 5-3 in both season and home openers in his career at UNM.
New Mexico’s second-largest home crowd came in the 2001 opener as 41,771 fans shoehorned into the stadium to witness the 26-6 triumph over UTEP. That was the first game after the seating addition in the north end zone.
2006 PERSONNEL – VERY, VERY YOUNG –
The 2006 Lobos return 35 lettermen. That includes 12 starters from a team that finished 6-5 overall and 4-4 in the MWC. UNM returns 18 lettermen on offense, 15 on defense and two specialists. The breakdown of returning starters is six on offense, four on defense, a kicker and a deep snapper.
The Lobos have just 16 seniors, the fewest since 11 in 2002. Of those 16, only six are three-year lettermen: DL Billy Brittain, K Kenny Byrd, LB Justin Clayton, OT Patrick Hodges, QB Kole McKamey and OT Robert Turner. However, McKamey and Turner are the only players of the six that have started a game at UNM.
Of the 16 seniors, four started as walk-ons and two still are. The 2005 Lobo team had 22 seniors, including 12 that were three-year letterwinners entering the season.
UNM’s leading returning rusher is senior QB Kole McKamey with 871 career yards. The last time the leading returnee had fewer career rushing yards was 2002 when Quincy Wright began the season with 164. The Lobos’ top returning running back – from a yardage standpoint – is sophomore Rodney Ferguson, who gained all of 48 career yards in 11 carries in 2004. He redshirted last year.
The Lobos’ returning tackles leader is senior lobo Quincy Black with 81 career stops. The last time the returning leader had less than 81 was 1994 when DE Buddy Billingsley, DT Damon Burrest and LB Trent Coit all entered the season with 75 in their careers.
New Mexico lists five seniors on defense, however, Black is the lone senior who has started a game.
Excluding kickers, the number of career starts for the 2006 Lobo team is 151, 104 for eight players on offense and 47 for eight on defense. The last time a UNM defense had fewer starts was at least 20 years ago, possibly longer, due to the unavailability of records for career starts.
KEY PERSONNEL NEEDS TO BE REPLACED –
The Lobos lost some marquee performers from the 2005 team, including a dozen players who were four-year letterwinners, four of those who are currently on NFL rosters.
The headliners that moved on were TB DonTrell Moore and his 4,973 career rushing yards, 13th on the NCAA charts. Moore was the 2005 MWC Offensive Player of the Year and twice led the league in rushing.
C Ryan Cook was a three-time first team all-conference pick, the only center in UNM history to be so named three times in a career. Cook was a 2nd-round draft choice of the Minnesota Vikings.
WR Hank Baskett III finished his career with 140 catches for nearly 2,300 yards, including 67 receptions for 1,071 yards a year ago. Baskett signed a free-agent contract with Minnesota, but was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles where he is projected to start the season opener.
Last year, Moore and Baskett provided New Mexico with its first 1,000-yard rusher and 1,000-yard receiver in the same season.
Seven starters are gone from the defense, including first team all-conference selections Gabriel Fulbright (CB), Mike Mohoric (LB) and Evroy Thompson (DE). All three starters on the defensive line and both cornerbacks are new in 2006.