Oct. 3, 2008
Lobo Football
What: Lobos vs. Wyoming
When: Saturday, 7:30 p.m.
Where: University Stadium
Tickets: www.unmtickets.com; 925-5858; 1-877-664-8661; The Pit’s ticket office; UNM bookstore
Television: Live on The Mtn. (Ch. 276 Comcast; Ch. 616 DirecTV)
By Richard Stevens
Senior Writer/GoLobos.com
Jason Lenzmeier’s trench hogs loved their Aggie pancakes. Now, the Lobo hogs are hoping to dine on Cowboy pancakes. This second meal won’t come as easy to these hungry UNM linemen, dubbed The Hitmen.
The New Mexico offensive line coach and his Lobos know one thing for sure: pancakes (a flat-on-his-back defender) won’t be served up against the Wyoming Cowboys as sweetly as they came in UNM’s 35-24 win over the New Mexico State Aggies last week.
“Wyoming is bigger and stronger,” said Lenzmeier of the 7:30 p.m. homecoming kickoff Saturday in University Stadium against the visiting Cowboys. “It’s going to be a lot tougher. But it doesn’t matter who you line up against, you want to knock them down.”
The Aggies went down like a teetering row of dominoes before the ferocious charge of Lenzmeier’s Hitmen. The five UNM linemen who played in Cruces totaled 95 knockdowns, which includes pancakes, but also includes players knocked to their knees. Senior tackle Sylvester Hatten and junior guard Joshua Taufalele led the UNM feast with 24 knockdowns apiece. Senior guard Matt Streid had 22, junior center Erik Cook had 13 and freshman tackle Byron Bell had 12.
“That’s (95) the most knockdowns I’ve seen as a player and a coach (8 seasons),” said Lenzmeier. “I don’t know if any Lobo team has been close to that number.”
The 95 knockdowns were 46 more than the O-line’s previous high this season of 49 against TCU.
“Winning is what makes you the happiest out there, but you love it when you can put a guy down,” said the 6-foot-3, 299-pound Hatten. “It makes you feel strong. It makes you feel like you’re taking the spirit out of a player. When you knock a guy down 24 times, he starts to not want to get up.”
Said Taufalele: “I like to see Aggies on their backs. To do that, you just have to want it more than the other guy does. When you put somebody on the ground, it just seems to take some of the fight out of them. Now, we have to go out and do it again.”
It would be helpful if Lenzmeier’s hogs could knock a whole lot of Cowboys out of their saddles come Saturday. Wyoming isn’t setting the Mountain West Conference on fire, but these ‘Pokes aren’t the sissy, drug-store type either. They are big. They are tough. And they’re hungry for a MWC win. They stand 2-3 overall and 0-2 in league play. The Lobos are 2-3 and 0-1.
New Mexico coach Rocky Long says when his Lobos stand across from Wyoming, it will be “like looking in a mirror.” Long says Wyoming is a “struggling” football team “just like us.” He says the Cowboys have a physical defense and prefer to run the ball on offense behind a tough offensive line. He says the Cowboys are not small.
Long is expecting to see a whole lot of Lobo and Cowboy defenders favoring the line of scrimmage – with one possible wildcard thrown into the mix. The ‘Pokes have narrowed their QB position down to one guy, junior Karsten Sween, a least for their visit to University Stadium.
“They picked a starting quarterback and he was their starter for the last two years,” said Long. “So they are bringing an experienced quarterback in to play against us that has had success right on our own field. He was a redshirt freshman (in 2006), started his first game and they won 14-10.”
The UNM game will be Sween’s first start of the season, but he has 18 previous starts for Wyoming. He completed 19-of-32 passes at UNM on Oct. 7, 2006 in that Cowboy win at University Stadium. He also threw for 204 yards and two TDs.
The Cowboys probably need to generate a little air offense, too. UNM has held Wyoming to 60.6 rushing yards in the past eight games: seven won by UNM. Wyoming is averaging 161.6 yards rushing and 107.4 yards passing.
The Lobos probably have the edge in momentum. UNM is coming off an 11-point win over NMSU in which the Lobos scored the final 19 points of the game. Wyoming was pounded at home by Bowling Green, 45-16. The desperate ‘Pokes used four quarterbacks, who threw four interceptions. Sween threw one pick. The Cowboys have committed 19 total turnovers, more than any other FBS team this season.
Still, despite nine fumbles, the Cowboys’ strength appears to be on the ground. Wyoming got 114 yards rushing from Devin Moore against Bowling Green. UNM is a grind-it-out team, too, especially since the Lobos are looking at a huddle featuring redshirt freshman, Brad Gruner. Gruner is 17-of-42 on the season with five interceptions and two TDs.
“We need to pass the ball if we expect to win many more games,” said coach Long.
That might be true against teams like BYU and Utah, but the Lobos’ ground game did the trick at NMSU. The Lobos average 183.2 yards per game via the run. UNM got 146 yards rushing from senior Paul Baker and 297 yards on the ground against the Aggies.
It was a good day in Cruces for UNM runners, but that means the Lobo O-Line, which struggled early in the season, had a fine day against Aggies.
“We can be better,” said Lenzmeier. “This is one of the more athletic groups we’ve had. They run well and play hard, but they just need a bunch of snaps. They need games.”
The UNM O-line should be a huge key against Wyoming, especially if the Cowboys dare the Lobos to try and beat them with Gruner’s young arm.
“I think the two teams are equal in ability and I think the two teams are hungry for a win,” said Long. “The two teams have exactly the same mentality going into the game.”
UNM’s Rodney Ferguson, who injured a shoulder in Cruces, is expected to see at least limited duty against Wyoming. Long said Wyoming also has a Ferguson-type “bruising” back and a quicker back like UNM’s Paul Baker.
“It’s the same deal except they’re not going to be playing an inexperienced quarterback anymore,” said Long. “Now, they’re putting the veteran back in there so I’m sure that they feel that will make them a lot better on offense.”
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