Oct. 31, 2008
Lobo Football
What: Lobos vs. No. 9/10 Utah
When: 7:36 p.m., Saturday
Where: University Stadium
Television: The Mtn (276 Comcast; 616 DirecTV)
Radio: 770 KKOB-AM
By Richard Stevens
Senior Writer/GoLobos.com
For all Lobos, it is a game of paradox, of challenge, of great opportunity all wrapped around a feel-good farewell hug for 21 UNM seniors playing their last game at University Stadium.
But mostly the game is about winning, about spoiling things for the undefeated Utah Utes, who are looking down the road at possible BCS bowl glory.
That’s the paradox for the Lobos. The University of New Mexico’s goal is to make the postseason and the Lobos need to win two-of-three to become bowl eligible. A win over Utah would help UNM’s win column. But a win over the Utes might also eliminate the Lobos from the postseason.
Lobos coach Rocky Long says UNM’s (4-5, 2-3) best shot at the postseason probably hinges on a Mountain West Conference team making it to a BCS bowl which would give the MWC a chance at five bowls. Utah (8-0, 4-0) is still the league’s best BCS shot, but TCU (8-1, 5-0) has an outside chance.
But if the No. 9/10-ranked Utes drop a game to UNM, the Utes probably will drop off the BCS radar screen. Then the MWC might only send four teams into the postseason and those four teams probably would be Utah, TCU, Air Force and BYU.
When it comes down to making the postseason or beating Utah, Long says there is no question what his Lobos want to do.
“We’re here to win,” said Long. “We could probably ruin (our postseason) this weekend (by winning), which we would like to do.”
The challenge of beating a top 10 team plus the opportunity to prove that UNM can beat an upper-tier MWC team becomes paramount for Long’s Lobos.
Mostly, the Lobos don’t like to lose, but there is always something about beating a team from the state of Utah that gives all Lobos a high.
This upset will not come easy. The Utes are ranked in the top 10 nationally in five defensive categories. The scary one for UNM is the 85.8 yards the Utes yield in rushing defense (9th) and the 264 yards they yield in total defense (6th).
The Lobos strength on offense is handing the ball off to senior Rodney Ferguson, who averages 108.1 yards per game. UNM averages 222.6 yards rushing, good for 13th place on the national scale.
This run thing is strength vs. strength.
However, the Utes are not a one-sided football team. Their offense, behind senior QB Brian Johnson, tops the MWC in scoring at 39 points per game. Behind Johnson, Utah has won 16 of 17 games. He ranks 24th in the nation in pass efficiency.
“Johnson is a very experienced quarterback, who knows what he is doing,” said Long, who is starting redshirt freshman Brad Gruner in the QB spot.
Long does not want Johnson on the football field Saturday night and really needs Ferguson and the UNM offense to mount some clock-eating drives that end in UNM points.
“If we can run the football and keep it away from them, we have a chance,” said Long.
The Utes frequently run their offense out of the spread formation, but there is a lot of pure power in the Utah offense. “Their basic philosophy is, `We’re going to smash you,'” said Long.
Still, the Utes feed off balance. They average 223.5 yards in the air and 184 yards on the ground. They have run the ball 340 times and have passed it 222 times.
“It’s not a pure spread,” said Long. “They will run out of pro formations, double tight ends, throw some power runs at you. But they cloud your picture. They use a lot of smoke and mirrors.”
Long said Utah gives you a look on offense that suggests a certain type of play and then they will do something else.
“We have to play really well and we have to make some big plays or cause them to make some bad plays,” said Long.
The Lobos did not play well in their 23-10 loss on Oct. 23 at Air Force, allowing the Falcons to score 17 points following four Lobo turnovers.
Just as bad, the Lobos were beaten up front. “We weren’t tough enough or physical enough at the line of scrimmage,” said Long.
That has to change against the Utes, who have held opponents to under 20 yards rushing in 18 of the past 32 quarters. And here’s a stat that should get the attention of the UNM offensive line: Utah has held four teams to under 60 yards rushing, including 53 rushing yards given up to Air Force.
The Lobos are looking at a lot of hurdles going into Saturday’s game and one hurdle is UNM playing with 19 of 22 starters nursing some sort of injury.
“It’s been like that for four or five weeks,” said Long.
Long did say he won’t have any problem getting his Lobos motivated for Utah’s visit.
“When you play a top 10 team, you don’t have to say a word,” said Long. “They (Lobos) know how good the Utes are.
“But (getting motivated) has nothing to do with them being ranked tenth or us being 4-5. All that other stuff has very little to do with the real motivation of athletes. Players care about winning.”
The Lobos finish their 2008 season at UNLV and at Colorado State.
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