New Mexico Football Report

New Mexico is divided by North and South, though a clear cut  line of demarcation has never been established.  In cultural terms, Northern New Mexico is defined as the area of heavy Spanish settlement. This includes primarily the north central region along the Sangre de Cristo mountain range  and the northern Rio Grande valley. Geographically Northern New Mexico spans an area that takes in all of New Mexico's tri-cultural influences. 

When New Mexico was assigned a second area code, many New Mexicans mistakingly assumed that  the Northern part of the state would maintain the 505 area code and the southern part would adopt the 575. It wasn't that cut and dry. The traditional 505 area code now only covers 1/4 of the entire state. This quadrant however, includes a good chunk of the state's population. (Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Rio Rancho, Las Vegas, Farmington, Gallup)

575 covers the southern region (Socorro,Las Cruces, Deming, Alamogordo) the eastern plains (Roswell, Carlsbad, Clovis, Hobbs) and the northeast region (Taos & Raton,Tucumcari) As you can see, 575 also covers a large northern area. So we can't use 575 to differentiate between the two regions. What Now? Some New Mexicans consider Tucumcari to be in the south and Santa Rosa to be in the north, although  Tucumcari is further north than Santa Rosa.

Ft. Sumner is generally considered to be in Southern New Mexico, even if it's just a short drive from Santa Rosa. Nobody would ever say that Belen is in the South, yet it's not much further north than Clovis or Ft. Sumner. Folks in Southern New Mexico consider Socorro to be in the South, folks in Socorro consider themselves to be in the North. Portales is further North than Socorro, but that city is firmly planted (in the minds of its denizens) in the south.

I can settle this right here and now! If you study a map of the state, it's easy to see that State Highway 60 is the cut-off line. Highway 60 runs from the Texas border (at Clovis) west to I-25, where it jots south to Socorro and then continues west to Arizona.  What this boundary line also firmly establishes, is that to the North you have an overwhelming amount of Lobo fans and to the South, there's a tendency to favor the Aggies.

As for the scattering of Arizona Wildcat fans in Southwestern New Mexico, they're simply an  abomination that I wish would go away, and  I'll avoid the fact that  Texas Tech has more fans in Eastern New Mexico than either the Lobos or Aggies. This is what it boils down to... North = Lobos, South = Aggies.  The media has taken to calling this game "The Rio Grande Rivalry" and Saturday's game was the 103rd. meeting between the two squads.

The UNM Lobos lead the series 67-32-5, once referred to as "the Battle of I-25" the series predates not just I-25, but also New Mexico's admission into the union (1912) Up until 1959 NMSU was known as New Mexico A&M. Their longest winning streak in this series is four games, which they were trying to match on Saturday. On the other hand, UNM the state's flagship institution of higher learning once won  18 straight.

UNM Lobos   27   New Mexico St. Univ. Aggies  14

UNM's motto is Lux Hominum Vita.   Life, the Light of Men and out of life's school of war: What does not destroy one, makes one stronger. The Lobo's went through a meatgrinder, not once (Univ. of Texas) but twice (Texas Tech) only to come out stronger than they were before.  I'm a simple man, "the formula of my happiness: a Yes, a No, a straight line, a goal" Add to that a football victory over NMSU, the first since 2008 and happiness lives here again.

This being "The Rio Grande Rivalry" my happiness comes at the expense of my fellow New Mexicans,  the Aggies.  I dwell not on their pain, but on my joy. As that pandering mythmaker of yesteryear,  Grantland Rice would say,  "A cyclone can't be snared. It may be surrounded, but somewhere it breaks through to keep on going" Kasey Carrier, who rushed for 129 yds. was that cyclone,  as New Mexico snapped a 24 game road losing streak, 27-14.

On this day the Aggies were "a drab outline against a dull gray sky,"  eleven empty jerseys on offense, eleven empty jerseys on defense. Their cause was devoid of effort, their eyes empty of light... the fuel of competition.  These were not the fighting Aggies, for gone was the fire and determination that we saw against Ohio Univ. "Let those who whipped you know at least they, too, have had a fight" These were not Aggies, they were impostors. 

There was a kind of hush all over Aggie Stadium as UNM came out and dominated the first half. The Lobo running game, missing for the first three games of the season, suddenly came to life.  The old adage in football of course says that if you can run the ball, you can pass the ball. UNM ate up the clock with drives of 71, 84 & 64 yds., but a 26 yd. field goal from UNM's Justus Adams was the Lobo's sole score.  

That is, until Jhurell Pressley's 7 yd. run in the second quarter put UNM up 10-0.  Andrew Manley could move the Aggies, but couldn't get them in scoring position. NMSU hasn't been able to run the ball all season, but the one drive that NMSU scored on, featured some timely runs. The Aggie drive covered 75 yds. on five plays, and culminated with Robert Clay scoring from 11 yds. out. The two teams went into the break with UNM up 10-7.  

"When the battle breaks against you and the crowd forgets to cheer" in the second half it became apparent that NMSU had no answer for UNM's variation of the triple option. The Lobos slowly and methodically controlled the clock and the football. Not that Aggies were without hope, Manley kept them moving forward, but the Aggie offense would prove to be their own worse enemy. The Aggies fumbled three times and lost two.

During one third quarter sequence, UNM fumbled the ball away to NMSU with the score still 10-7. The Aggies had a perfect opportunity to score and take the lead, but Manley fumbled the ball away on first down. UNM got the ball back and scored on Kasey Carrier's 29 yd. scamper. Up 20-7, the Lobos held up four fingers to signal the fourth quarter... something they hadn't done while holding a lead since the season opener against Southern Univ.  

"And when he switched his course again and crashed into the line, The massive guard named failure did a two-step on his spine" The Lobos racked up 302 net yards rushing compared to the 78 by the Aggies, that and the miscues & penalties embodied NMSU's futile efforts.  Andrew Manley's passing numbers  22-34 for 256 yds show that the Aggies could get to the twenty but just couldn't get beyond that. 

B.R. Holbrook completed 11-18 for 92 yds. passing and rushed 9 times for 34 yds., Carrier carried 21 times for 129 yds., 1 td., Jhurell Pressley rushed 15 times for 71 yds. and 2 td's. Chase Clayton carried 3 times for 36 yds. The Lobos hit on all cylinders, something Bob Davies liked, “This is what kind of team we have to be,” Davie said. “… Just the physical nature in which (the Lobos) played this game is something we can build on.”

For UNM's Senior class it was their last try against an Aggie squad that had beat them three straight seasons. There's not many of them left, that recruiting class came in with Mike Locksley, losing got the better of most. Sr. LB Joe Stoner put it in perspective "Saturday's victory was a fitting reward for those who stayed, It's a great feeling to stick around and keep fighting and be a Lobo.

A disturbing incident dampened the mood at Aggie Memorial Stadium. At approx. 8 p.m. a female fan attending the game was struck in the leg by a bullet. The woman, was sitting in Section B, behind the south end zone, when she felt was she thought was an insect bite. Upon further inspection she realized it was far more serious. She was attended to in the stands and then airlifted to an El Paso hospital. 

The injury did not appear to be life threatening and she was reported to be in stable condition on Sunday. The shot apparently came from outside the stadium and no one in the stadium heard a gunshot. Evidence and witnesses would indicate that the bullet was fired from a distance, possibly by someone firing into the air in celebration. "We haven't found any evidence to suggest something happened in the stands itself"  reported NMSU police. 

I know what most of you are thinking.... "they shoot guns in the air when NMSU scores?"  I'm not going to lie to you, in years past that may have been the case,  I just didn't think they still did that. But, My Gawd!, who shoots a firearm near any athletic event? The Aggie football squad brought a lasso to a gunfight, however at least one of their fans brought a gun. 

  

Aggies, oh Aggies,  

we'll win this game or know the reason why! 

And when we win (or lose) this game

we'll buy a keg of booze

and we'll drink it to the Aggies 'til we wobble in our shoes!