Oct. 5, 2008
Final Stats | Quotes | Notes
Lobo Football
Saturday: Lobos 24, Wyoming 0
Next: Lobos at Brigham Young (Oct. 11)
By Richard Stevens
Senior Writer/GoLobos.com
In a way, the game was over about 15 clicks into this rain-drenched Mountain West Conference contest between the New Mexico Lobos and Wyoming Cowboys played Saturday at University Stadium.
The Cowboys didn’t waste anytime in showing why they led the nation in turnovers as QB Karsten Sween’s first play of the game, a pass, was tipped by Lobo linebacker Carmen Messina and fell into the welcoming hands of UNM’s Frankie Solomon, who galloped 13 yards into the Wyoming end zone.
It was over then because the Cowboys not once reached the Lobos end zone as UNM registered its first-ever MWC shutout and its first league shutout since 1983.
“The interception for the TD was as good a play as you can have to open the game,” said UNM linebacker Zach Arnett, an Albuquerque La Cueva High graduate, who led UNM with 16 tackles. “The defense talked about playing good from the opening kickoff because we had been falling behind too much lately. Everyone was in the right place at the right time on that play.
“We got a shutout. That’s a great stat for a defense. The best. What else can a defense ask for?”
The 7-0 lead was a huge turnaround for a UNM team that trailed 16-0 to TCU, 14-0 to Texas A&M, 21-0 to Tulsa and 14-0 to New Mexico State in the first quarter. It got even better.
The Lobos, who had not scored first in their five previous games, found themselves in an unusual situation at the 6:01 mark of the first quarter. That’s when freshman James Wright ran in from one-yard out, James Aho added the kick, and the Lobos were up 14-0.
This grabbing the lead thing is kind of fun, kind of smart. And it kind of makes things easier on the Lobos, who have won 14 straight games when scoring first.
Maybe the Lobos ought to keep it up, especially looking at this coming Saturday’s visit to Provo, Utah to play the undefeated Brigham Young Cougars, who are ranked No. 7 in The Associated Press poll.
“We are looking at playing a Top Ten team, the defending Mountain West champs at their place,” said Arnett. “We need a great week of preparation.”
But first, the Lobos have a short time to enjoy the pounding of the Cowboys. The win pushed the Lobos to 3-3 on the year and 1-1 in league play. The Lobos lost to TCU 26-3 in UNM’s season opener on Aug. 30 in Albuquerque. The win also raised the Lobos’ mark to 41-40-3 in homecoming games.
It was probably best for the Cowboys that they left their six-shooters back in Laramie. Because if the ‘Pokes had been armed and dangerous Saturday night in University Stadium, they probably would have shot themselves in the foot.
Actually, they kind of did that anyway with Sween’s pass that led to Solomon’s TD. Wyoming came into the game leading FBS teams in turnovers with 19. They got No. 20 fewer than 15 seconds into the game and on their first offensive play.
“It probably hurt Wyoming psychologically worse than it helped us get the momentum,” said Lobos coach Rocky Long. “I feel bad for them because that happened to us earlier in the season. You turn the ball over close to the goal line, it’s hard to win the game. I feel their pain.”
The Lobos dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball and ran for 317 yards against Wyoming. UNM totaled 350 yards, but the 33 passing yards has Long concerned looking ahead to the visit to BYU.
“Obviously, we are struggling throwing the ball,” he said. Long said the win came from good defense, controlling the line of scrimmage and running the football. “We ran the ball good enough and played good enough defense to win,” he said, adding that redshirt freshman Brad Gruner “is going to have to throw it a whole lot better than he did tonight for us to win down the road.”
Gruner went 8-of-19 through the air for 33 yards. He threw no TDs, but had no interceptions. Wright led UNM with 120 yards on the ground and Paul Baker had 90 and Gruner added 80. Senior Rodney Ferguson did not play, nursing an injured shoulder.
Arnett got Player of The Game honors with his 16 tackles, but the Lobo senior says he must have a friend in the press box.
“I think I had some generous official scoring because looking back, I don’t remember 16 tackles,” he said. “We’ll see on film. That’s when the real stats show up.”
One stat that won’t be disputed is Solomon’s interception and run to score. He said the play was one of the easier ones he has made this season.
“I was just standing there. It came right to me,” said the UNM safety. “I didn’t have to do much but catch it. It went straight up and came straight down to me. I was pretty sure I was going to get in the end zone. There was nobody in front of me.”
Solomon also said he is pumped to visit Provo. “It will be exciting because they are a high-ranked team and we will go into their place as big underdogs.”
The Lobos grabbed their 14-0 lead in the first, but it wasn’t a huge statistical quarter for UNM. The Lobos had 73 total yards on 16 offensive plays to 39 yards on 15 plays for the visitors from Laramie. The time of possession was 7:33 for UNM and 7:27 for Wyoming. But the Lobos had points on the scoreboard and Wyoming had been shutout.
Wyoming had a decent drive killed at the 7:15 mark of the second quarter by what else: a turnover. The Cowboys were going for it on 4th-and-seven at the UNM 30-yard line, but Sween mishandled the snap and UNM’s Arnett recovered.
Gruner then showed off his wheels to the University Stadium crowd of 28,752 two plays later. The redshirt freshman came out of the pocket, went around the left side and rambled 52 yards to Wyoming’s 12-yard line. The drive ended with a 1-yard run by Gruner out of the shotgun. Aho kicked again and UNM sat on a fat 21-0 lead at the 5:58 mark of the second quarter. The score stayed that way as the two teams marched into halftime.
Again, the stats didn’t lean dramatically toward the Lobos, except on the board. The Lobos had 163 yards at the half on 34 snaps. The Cowboys had 119 yards on 35 plays. Wyoming went into the locker room winning the time of possession 17:26 to 12:34. Wyoming had two turnovers and the Lobos had none.
The third quarter didn’t produce much on the field and nothing on the scoreboard for either team. The most interesting note of the quarter was UNM’s Arnett already had a career-high in tackles with a whole quarter to play.
The game stats hadn’t changed much after the third quarter. UNM had 232 yards on 52 plays and Wyoming had 161 total yards on 50 snaps. Wyoming’s possession time was 24:10 and UNM was at 20:50. The Cowboys were 4-of-12 on third-down conversions and UNM was 0-of-9.
The Cowboys had still not penetrated the UNM red zone. UNM’s big edge came in rushing with 199 yards to 95 for Wyoming.
The first big play of the fourth quarter was a 39-yard punt return by UNM’s Ian Clark which set up the Lobos 1st-and-10 at the Wyoming 32-yard line with 9:40 to play. UNM’s Wright went 22 yards to place the Lobos on the Wyoming 7-yard line. Gruner, out of the shotgun, faked a handoff up the middle and went around UNM’s right side for an apparent TD. It was nullified by a UNM holding call that pushed the ball back to the Wyoming 16-yard line.
The Lobos had to settle for a 37-yard field goal by Aho at the 7:18 mark. UNM was up 24-0.
The Cowboys gave the Lobos another gift at 4:17 when Sween again mishandled a snap, picked it up, then lost the football again when he was hit which by UNM’s Herbert Felder III. Felder also recovered the fumble. The Lobos slowly worked the ball down the field and got a 42-yard run by Wright to earn a first down at the Wyoming two-yard line. The Lobos took a knee on their final offensive play to end the game.
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