New Mexico Football Report

They'll be coming 'round the Mountain

San Diego State stunned No. 19 Boise State 21-19 on Saturday night at Bronco Stadium -- handing the Broncos only their fourth home loss in 14 seasons and dashing any hopes they had of a Bowl Championship Series bowl game in 2012.  This creates a four way tie for first place in the MWC with San Diego St., Fresno St., Boise St. and Air Force all with just one conference loss. The Broncos do not play Fresno St. or Air Force this season.

Boise St. will have to share the league title, unless  the other three schools all lose a second game and the Broncos win out. The Wizard of Owyhee has been exposed as a mere mortal. As I noted when they struggled to get by UNM earlier this season, Boise St. is overrated.  After the loss to Michigan St., I commented (on that bastion of knee jerk sports fanatics, Yahoo Sports) that Joe Southwick is no Kellen Moore and that the Broncos would lose 3-4 games.

To their coaching staff's credit, The Broncos came around to being a shadow of their former selves. They may yet lose a third game (they finish the season against Nevada, who has their number) either way they're irrelevant. SDSU set the tone on the opening kickoff, as Colin Lockett fielded the ball in the end zone and dashed 100 yards for a touchdown. The Aztecs wouldn't score again in the half, but it did send a message.

San Diego St. is coached by former UNM head coach (and alumnus) Rocky Long. Both the Aztecs and Broncos will leave the Mountain West Conf. for The Big East at the end of the season. With all their other future conference foes clear across the country, it appears that a fierce rivalary could be building between the two wayward schools. They better hope so, Memphis, Houston, SMU, Rutgers or Central Florida as rivals will be a much harder sell.

Flyboy Fight Club (or why Dave Christensen shouldn't fuck with Mr. Howdy Doody)

The Air Force Academy reported that 27 cadets were injured in a brawl during an unofficial ritual marking the first snowfall of the season. Six cadets were taken to an off-campus hospital after the Oct. 25 rumble and have been released, others were treated at a cadet clinic.The injuries included concussions, cuts and a human bite, and some cadets required stitches.

The ritual is called ‘‘First Shirt/First Snow’’ and involves freshmen trying to throw cadet first sergeants, known as first shirts into the snow. ‘‘This ritual has devolved to become increasingly violent, with significant numbers of cadets requiring medical care over the past two years" said a spokesman from the academy, ‘‘What used to be (freshmen) throwing the first shirt into the snow has turned into a brawl between upperclassmen defending the first sergeant and the (freshmen) trying to capture the first sergeant.’’

Academy officials were treating the incident as a ‘‘teachable moment,’’ said a school spokesman. He said he did not know of any plans to discipline cadets. Brig. Gen. Gregory Lengyel, the commandant of cadets, said in a statement that the brawl was unacceptable. Lengyel did not say how many cadets were involved but said it was a ‘‘relatively small number.’’ It wasn’t immediately known how many cadets have injured in the past. ‘‘Obviously, this has gotten out of hand and cannot be repeated,’’ Brig Gen. Lengyel stopped short of banning the ritual and said cadets could propose keeping it if they found a way to avoid violence.

UNM Lobos  7       UNLV Rebels   35

Up until now, the Lobos have come out on top of the teams that they're capable of beating. This loss however is inexplicable, not on the field mind you, on the field it was quite obvious that UNLV was dominant.  This game wasn't lost on the field of play, but in the hearts and minds of the Lobo players. “We got whipped,” Davie said. “We can look at the stats all we want; they whipped us.” The stats in question was time of possession, UNM controlled the ball for   a school record 41 minutes.

That's an overrated statistic, the Lobos scored just once after crossing into UNLV's side of the field, meanwhile they gave up plays of 58 yards or more. UNM had a game plan and they executed that plan, what they failed to do was score. “We didn’t finish, and we had a couple of mental mistakes and stuff like that, that hurt us,” Lobo Qb. Cole Gautsche stated. It could be that MWC coaches are catching on to the Lobo option, Kasey Carrier (the 2nd. leading rusher in the country coming in to the game) was held to 52 yds. on 18 carries.

Cole Gautsche was behind center (with B.R. Holbrook out with a separated shoulder), the Rebels keyed in on the true freshman, making it a point to hit him whether he had the ball or not. The purpose being to distrupt the option offense at the starting point.  That's the template for beating UNM and you can bet that Wyoming, Nevada and CSU will follow suit.  Gautsche finished with 45 hard earned yards on 11 carries. Cole, did have a career day passing.... 43 yards, although he did throw an interception as UNM was driving for a score.

The Lobos (4-6, 1-4) didn't score until the third quarter on Carlos Wiggins 5 yard run to close the gap to 21-7. But it was all Rebels after that, as UNM's defense simply was out muscled by Bradley Randle (113 yds.) and Tim Cornett (107 yds.) UNLV Qb. Nick Sherry finished 17-27 for 289 yards, 2 td's and 2 ints.  Basking the glow of a rare conference victory, UNLV head coach Bobby Hauck couldn't hold back "We've got to do that more often, that was fun"  For UNM a weekend in Vegas had all the appeal of a carny fun house  no fun... no fun at all.

In an attempt to make sense of this loss and the rather impotent performance by the Lobos on both sides of the ball, I would point a finger at their lavish accommodations  The UNM Lobo page on FB posted a picture of the Lobos lounging at their hotel.  See, that's the problem, don't coddle them!  What UNM should do is  have the team pitch tents in the parking lot and then feed them box lunches. Spartan living conditions makes for angry young men, which makes for angry focused football players, Coach Davie however can stay at a Motel 6.

The Lobos now head down the home stretch. Three games are left on the schedule with two coming against fellow cellar dwellers Wyoming and Colorado St. (combined records of 4-14) the other game is against the Univ. of Nevada.  The Wolfpack were considered favorites to challenge Boise St. for the league crown but have fallen off considerably in conference play and limp in at  6-3, 3-2.  Three improbable wins for the Lobos and they finish at 7-6, the more likely scenario has them limping in at 4-9, possibly 5-8. 

NMSU Aggies    7               Auburn Tigers    42

Time to get paid and time to get slayed, on the bright side the Aggies did hold Auburn to just seven points in the first half.  The Tigers were riding a five game losing streak while NMSU had lost seven straight going into the game. In the first half both teams played like what they are... bad football teams. Auburn's misfiring offense kept NMSU in the game, however the Aggie's equally inept offense couldn't take advantage. “They didn’t do much to stop us; we just stopped ourselves,” Aggie Qb. Andrew Manley said.

Auburn's best defense was played by NMSU's offense, at least in the first half. The second half was a different story, that's when the Tigers finally realized that they play in the SEC and not the WAC. “The second half, it just went downhill.” lamented Andrew Manley, who finished 17 of 30 passes for 222 yards but was sacked four times. Austin Franklin gained 154 yards on seven catches, including a meaningless 51-yard effort (if there is such a thing) “I’m sure that there are a lot of upset fans. When you’re 1-7, that comes with the territory" Coach Gene Chizik said prior to the game. The win allows the pressure release valve to open ever so slightly.

Auburn off to its worst start in sixty years,  celebrated like they had just rolled their arch rivals 'Bama, War Eagle!  “There were a lot of guys that are extremely happy, coaches and players, in the locker room,” coach Gene Chizik said. “It’s been a little while since we’ve had that feeling. It was good to see everybody with a smile on their face.” Oh sure, everybody, everywhere was celebrating at the expense of New Mexico schools. At least we put a smile on Jonna Chizik's face, who was seen mouthing "thank you" to the heavens, before cutting loose with a raspy "War Eagle!" that echoed across half empty Jordan-Hare stadium.

While NMSU head coach DeWayne Walker was not in a celebratory mood, he wasn't a sourpuss either, “We needed to get some things going more on offense to give our team a chance to win,” Walker said while keeping everything in perspective “Unfortunately, when they decided that they were just going to run the ball down our throat, they did. At that moment I thought I heard Jonna Chizik yell "How's that pigskin taste you godless heathens" Maybe it was just my imagination, Coach Walker brushed it off and continued “I’m just a little disappointed in the second half. We didn’t emulate how we played the first half.” 

I've said it before and I'll say it again, football is and always will be a game of two haves. The haves and the have-nots, here in New Mexico we are plainly aware of what side of that line we occupy.  Basketball season kicks off at both UNM and NMSU this week, and already you can feel the dwindling football fans being pulled in that direction. New Mexico's rally cry has always been "Just you wait till basketball season starts!" and this year is no different.  Hope springs eternal at most schools, but when you have a history of gridiron failure like UNM, NMSU, UTEP or the U. of Idaho, then hope is in short supply.  War Eagle!

NMSU returns home for a game  against suddenly resurgent San Jose State (bound for the MWC in 2013) and soon to be fellow independent BYU. The Aggies close out the 2012 campaign on the road against Texas St. Univ. in their final WAC football game ever. NMSU is already committed to playing as an independent in 2013, with AD McKinley Boston confirming recently that the 2013 football schedule is almost complete. Although no specific teams were mentioned, NMSU does have tentative games scheduled at Texas, UCLA, and New Mexico and a home contest vs. UTEP.

The Aggies are also negotiating a rare same season home and home series with the Univ. of Idaho Vandals.  While the two-legged tie is a common staple of NFL divisional opponents, it's almost unheard of in all other levels of football. NMSU will continue as a football independent "unless something happens" as A.D. Boston put it. That something would be, an invitation from a football playing conference. Even though the football program will be independent in 2013, NMSU will remain a WAC member in all other sports.