Nov. 1, 2008
Final Stats | Quotes | Notes | Game Action 
Lobo Football
Saturday: Utah 13, Lobos 10
Next: Lobos at UNLV (Nov. 8)
By Richard Stevens
Senior Writer/GoLobos.com
Lobo quarterback Brad Gruner said, “It was a lot of little things.” And he was right. The Utah Utes ran five more total plays, had one more first down, 104 more total yards, converted two more third down chances, punted one fewer times, and had three more points.
The points were the biggest of the little differences. The Utes put 13 points on the scoreboard Saturday night at University Stadium and the University of New Mexico put up 10.
It was a gutsy showing by the UNM defense in holding the top scoring team in the Mountain West Conference to 13 points. The No. 9/10-ranked Utes (9-0) had scored more than 30 points a game in their past seven wins and put up 49 on Colorado State in Utah’s last game on Oct. 18. The Utes had been averaging 39 points a game. Utah also had two weeks to prepare for the UNM defense.
The Utes kind of ran into a red wall in the Lobos, but that didn’t make things any easier for the 4-6 Lobos, who now have to win their final two games to become bowl eligible.
“There are no moral victories here,” said Lobo senior linebacker Zach Arnett. “You either win or you lose.”
The look in Arnett’s eye carried an obvious message: “Let’s play another quarter, Utes, and see what happens.” But it doesn’t work that way either. The Lobos’ last realistic chance at victory ended when UNM was looking at a 4th-and-3 at the Utah 48-yard line as the game clocked ticked down near the four-minute mark. Gruner dropped back, jogged to his left, and then reversed field and looked back the other way, toward the east side of University Stadium. There wasn’t anything there. The Lobo tried to make something out of nothing, but his pass went low and incomplete.
The Utes took over with 3:46 to play.
“It was a trick play. A throw back,” said the redshirt freshman. “But they (Utah defense) stayed home.”
Said Lobo coach Rocky Long: “The game was won and lost on 4th-and-3 at about the 50-yard line. That was my call. Right or wrong, it was time to decide who was going to win the game.”
A UNM first down might not have led to any UNM points, but it did seal the win for the undefeated Utes. The Utes went to work on the clock while UNM burned its three timeouts. Utah used the Lobos’ final timeout at 2:08 to discuss a 4th-and-6 at the UNM 35-yard line. The Utes decided to punt. Not a bad decision. Louie Sakoda’s boot died 99 1/2 yards away from the Utah end zone.
“He’s a great player,” Long said of Sakoda.
Gruner did a good job working his offense to the UNM 48-yard line, before time expired, keeping the Utes’ BCS bowl hopes alive. The Lobos’ bowl hopes rely on UNM winning back-to-back games on the road – and then finding a bowl to take them.
The Lobos ended the game with 284 total yards to 388 for Utah. The Lobos did not turn over the ball while Utah gave up a fumble and an interception. The UNM pick by DeAndre Wright came in the Lobos’ end zone.
The Utes’ defense mirrored the Lobos throughout the game with a bend-don’t-break attitude. The Utes did a good job holding UNM’s running game to 114 yards and holding Lobo senior Rodney Ferguson to 34 yards, his lowest output of the season. Gruner actually was UNM’s top ground man with 62 yards. Ferguson came into the game averaging 108.1 yards per game.
“It hurts a lot. We wanted to go out with a win,” said Ferguson. The Lobos end their regular season with games at UNLV and at Colorado State.
“If we aren’t motivated to win the next game, there is something wrong with you,” said Arnett. “There is a lot of football to go, but our destiny is in our hands, if we want to go to a bowl. But we have to win the fifth one first.”
Said Long: “The way things look, if you’re 6-6, you’re going to have a pick of a couple of bowls. Right now, the bowl peope are worried there might not be enough guys qualified. If we can play good enough to win two more games, we’d be more than happy to go to a bowl game.”
The first quarter wasn’t a great 15 minutes for the Lobos, but it wasn’t awful on the scoreboard. The Utes had 22 offensive plays to nine for UNM and Utah had three first downs to none for the Lobos. The Lobos had only one yard in offense in that period, but Utah’s 94 total yards produced only a 43-yard field goal by Sakoda. The Lobos trailed 3-0 going into the second quarter. UNM was hanging around.
The Lobos needed a big play on offense or possibly a Ute turnover to get something going on the scoreboard. The Lobos got it quickly. Utah fumbled a punt on the first play of the second quarter that UNM’s Carmen Messina recovered at the Utah 42-yard line. The Lobos got one first down before sputtering on offense and UNM was looking at a 41-yard field goal by James Aho. It was blocked by Utah’s Aiona Key.
The Lobos held on defense and then put together their best drive of the first half. The Lobos got back-to-back first downs, the second a 12-yard run by Gruner up the middle that gave UNM a first down at the Utah 39-yard line. The Lobos converted a 3rd-and-5 on a Gruner pass to Bryant Williams and UNM had a first at the Utah 26.
With less than six minutes to play in the half, UNM had a 3rd-and-5 at the Utah 21. Gruner threw low and incomplete and UNM was looking at another Aho field goal attempt. This one the 5-foot-9 freshman hit from 38 yards to tie the game 3-3. The drive not only produced some points, but it was a psychological victory for the Lobos’ offense in moving the ball agianst the tough Utah defense.
The Utes came back with a decent drive. A key play was a review on a 15-yard completion from Johnson to Freddie Brown, who lost the ball as he tumbled around on the turf. The official review left the ball with Utah. A holding penalty pushed Utah back to the UNM 31 with 37 seconds to play. Johnson completed an 11-yard pass to David Reed to set up Sakoda for a 38-yard field goal, which he hit at the gun. The Utes scrampered off the field with a 6-3 halftime lead. The Lobos were still hanging around.
The Lobos’ second quarter was much better than the first. UNM managed 81 yards on offense and established a bit of a running game behind 56 yards rushing. UNM had 25 offensive plays for 82 yards and the Utes had 26 plays for 169 yards. The Utes outplayed the Lobos in the first half, but it wasn’t domination and the scoreboard gap was only three points.
The Utes held UNM on the Lobos’ first possession of the second half and had good field position at their 48-yard line. They did nothing with it, but a Sakoda punt was downed at the UNM two-yard line with 10:46 to play in the third quarter. The pressure was on the UNM offensive to get out of the hole and change the field-position edge which leaned toward Utah. A 29-yard pass from Gruner to Chris Hernandez did exactly this, handing the Lobos a first down at their own 31-yard line. This drive ended on a fumbled pitch from Gruner to Ferguson, that Ferguson fell on. UNM punted and Utah started at its 31-yard line.
The Utes inched it down the field and finally got a big play off the UNM defense when Johnson pitched to Darrell Mack for a 26-yard gain to the UNM 3-yard line. A false start pushed the Utes back to the UNM 8-yard line. The Utes got into the end zone off a dash of razzle dazzle. Johnson hit Jereme Brooks on a quick hitter to the left side, Brooks flipped the ball to Brent Casteel coming out of the back field and he beat the UNM defense into the northwest corner of the end zone. Sakoda toed the PAT and Utah led 13-3. The Lobos were two scores away from a tie or the lead.
The Lobos came back strong. The Lobos got three consecutive first downs to set up at the Utah 25-yard line. Ferguson powered off left tackle for what appeared to be UNM’s fourth consecutive, but he fumbled as he hit the ground and Utah recovered.
An official review of the play returned the ball to the Lobos, as TV replays showed Ferguson was clearly on his back when the ball popped loose. Ferguson went 10 yards into the end zone on his next carry as the quarter ended. Aho added the PAT and UNM trailed 13-10 with 15 minutes to play.
Neither team could score the rest of the way in. Utah had the best chance when Johnson floated a pass into the end zone which Wright intercepted with 10:59 left to play.
The Lobos played the game turnover-free for the second time this season. UNM had been 19-2 under Long when not committing a turnover.
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