Sept. 1, 2008
Lobo Football
What: New Mexico Lobos vs. Texas A&M Aggies
When: 3 p.m. Saturday
Where: University Stadium
Tickets: www.unmtickets.com; 925-5858 or 1-877-664-8661; The Pit ticket office; UNM bookstore
Last week: Lobos lost 26-3 Saturday to TCU
By Richard Stevens
Senior Writer/GoLobos.com
The learning curve for new Lobos adjusting to the speed of Division I-A football is one game.
At least, that’s what New Mexico coach Rocky Long is hoping as UNM heads into game two Saturday at 3 p.m. when Texas A&M visits University Stadium.
Long said the speed of the TCU Horned Frogs was a factor with some of his first-year players, who had not appeared in a game – or who had not played much – as Lobos. UNM lost 26-3 Saturday in its season and Mountain West Conference opener.
“They should be over that now,” Long said Sunday. “They should be much better this week. A&M is probably going to be bigger and more physical, but I don’t think they will be any faster.”
Long said he cut some slack for some first-year offensive linemen, some inexperienced receivers and other Lobos not familiar with the quickness of big-time football. But the learning days had better be over, if the Lobos expect to be on the favorable side of the scoreboard after Saturday’s visit by A&M.
Long said he felt his defense “handled the speed just fine,” but thought TCU’s defensive speed caused the UNM offense some problems, especially early.
The Donovan Porterie offense in the first half failed to get into the end zone and the Brad Gruner offense of the second half failed to get into the end zone. Gruner took over for Porterie in the second half when the Lobos’ starting quarterback left the game late in the second quarter with a neck injury. Long said Porterie is expected to practice this week and start on Saturday against A&M.
The Lobo offense had only nine first downs and 56 yards rushing against TCU. And 81 of UNM’s 186 total yards came on one play – a Gruner to Chris Hernandez pass that led to the Lobos’ only score. UNM’s James Aho hit a 28-yard field goal in the third quarter to make the score 16-3 in favor of TCU.
It was the third consecutive season opener in which UNM did not score a touchdown.
“I thought we’d play better than that,” said Long. “I guess that’s the biggest question: why don’t we play good early?”
Long said the Lobos have been consistent on defense over the years because the defense has been consistent in philosophy and in coaching. Long has had several defensive coordinators over his 11 seasons at UNM, but they all coach the Long style of defense with Long calling the plays on game day.
Long said in order for an offense to be consistent it usually has to have the same philosophy/offensive coordinator plus experienced players.
Dave Baldwin is in his second year as Long’s offensive coordinator, but Baldwin is looking at a lot of inexperience on the O-line and receiving corp. Long said the only year he had a returning coordinator and decent returning offensive experience was 2005. UNM opened that season with three wins: over UNLV, Missouri and New Mexico State, averaging 35.6 points per game.
“We also aren’t USC (Southern Cal),” said Long. “We develop players here, so when we have an experienced team, they have to be developed. They (USC) have something like six tailbacks who were the No. 1-ranked running back in the country when they came out of high school”
Long said a key to high-level performance is “being sure of what you’re doing, so you can do it all full speed.” That takes game experience. Again, Long is hoping that lesson was learned in one game.
The TCU win was paced by quarterback Andy Dalton, who ran for two touchdowns. The Frogs scored on their first three possessions and needed a span of just over four minutes to build a 16-0 lead on the Lobos in the game.
Dalton scored on runs of 11 and 4 yards, the second TD set up by Jeremy Kerley’s 53-yard punt return midway through the fourth quarter.
A short punt by first-year Lobo punter Adam Miller gave the Horned Frogs the ball on the New Mexico 30 and set up a four-play drive that ended with Dalton’s 11-yard scoring run. The Lobos got off one play on their ensuing possession as Porterie’s pass hit TCU safety Steven Coleman in the chest at the New Mexico 35 and Coleman returned it to the nine. Halfback Joseph Turner scored on second down from two yards out. TCU also got field goals of 50 and 39 yards from Ross Evans.
Editor’s note: Richard Stevens is a former Associate Sports Editor and sports columnist for The Albuquerque Tribune. You can reach him at rstevens50@comcast.net. Previous articles are available at The Richard Stevens Corner