New Mexico Football Report

Nothing says high handed arrogance like "Do you know who I am?" a favorite of New Mexico scalawags and scoundrels. It's usually uttered when police pull them over for DUI or arrive at the scene of domestic disturbance call. Pushing your weight around is a time honored tradition in this state. Every local even remotely connected to a public figure or anyone holding elected office quickly picks up on it, including Meiko Locksley a sophomore on the UNM football squad once coached by his daddy.

The apple it seems, doesn't fall far from the tree. A security guard at the apartments where Locksley's girlfriend lives had reported hearing "yelling and slapping noises." APD officers were summoned and they arrived to find Meiko sitting in his SUV (the same one Joshua Butts drove) The vehicle smelled of marijuana smoke, although none was found in his possession. According to police officers, Locksley was "uncooperative & irate" he greeted them by yelling: "Do you know who I am?" having drawn a blank, he grew agitated and responded "I'm a Locksley, I'm a UNM football player."

Every officer on the scene who kept a straight face when Meiko said that should receive a commendation. Tossing out the Locksley name in this state won't curry much favor.  When questioned, Locksley's girlfriend stated that Meiko had not hit her and that the argument was her fault for "being mad at him" She refused to press charges because "she didn't want Locksley to get in trouble at UNM." No charges were filed and Locksley was not arrested.

That old saying comes to mind: "Good riddance to bad rubbish." The stench of arrogance and failure brought upon us by Mike Locksley still hangs heavy in the air.  Meiko Locksley has probably suited up for the last time as a Lobo, he won't be missed. Bob Davie will have his hands full when he takes over as head coach at UNM. First on the order of things: clear out losers like Meiko. In the future Lobo football won't coddle or tolerate dope smokers and woman beaters, unless they're potential All-Americans.

Bob Davie ushers in a new era for UNM football, he's a hardnosed disciplinarian with a strong work ethic. He will quickly weed out lazy, weak willed, ganja puffing slackers. "I'm taking this job for the right reasons, It is fragile here, losing takes a toll on everybody." said Davie, "I have to stabilize this program, I have to change this culture, we need to out-work and out-hustle everyone else."  In other words, get ready for the shit to hit the fan. New Mexico football is going to get a make-over like we haven't seen since the days of Dennis Franchione.  Davie plans to avoid going the juco route unlike Franchione. His plan calls for hitting the recruiting trail in New Mexico and Texas. Locksley recruited quite a few instate kids, but he came up short in Texas.

"This is a bigtime university and a bigtime city" said Davie "I love this state, it is a little different, a little quirky, it's not for everyone and that fires me up."  Davie was not on anyone's list of candidates for the UNM job, nor was anyone aware that he was seeking the position. So, after the names of Terry Bowden & Tommy Bowden had been mentioned as possible choices, his hiring caught many by surprise.  For the last ten years, Davie has been an analyst for ESPN. Since his firing at Notre Dame he had not sought out any other coaching jobs.

UNM  10    Wyoming  31

On the cold, blustry tundra of War Memorial Stadium, with game time temperatures of 27 degrees the Lobos gave new meaning to the very definition of halfhearted. One more brutal game and the Locksley/Barlow era will draw to a close. Personally, I can't slam the book shut on this nasty chapter of Lobo football fast enough. Coming off their first win of the year and only their third in three seasons, you would hope for more of an effort from UNM. Fuck it!, why go out fighting when whimpering suits you better?

This is an improved bunch of Cowboys. After Saturday's 31-10 win over UNM, they're now 7-3, and in Laramie folks are actually talking Mountain West title and bowl game... imagine that! Wyoming is the example for UNM to build on, last year after they lost to the Lobos (they would finish 3-9), their fans were ready to see Dave Christensen out on a rail. This was just one year removed from a New Mexico Bowl win over Fresno St.... Pay attention Lobo fans!, now their patience is paying off. 

When the season started Wyoming was without a quarterback. Two year starter Austyn Carta-Samuels had decided to transfer (he wound up at Vanderbilt)  His departure left Wyoming thin at quarterback, until  Freshman gem Brett Smith emerged.  Likewise The Lobos also found themselves without a quarterback after Stump Godfrey bolted for Hawai'i.  Tarean Austin was Locksley's starter, B.R. Holbrook took over when Barlow was appointed interim head coach, both quarterbacks have been less than effective. 

Against New Mexico Smith rushed 12 times for 140 yds, including one touchdown run of 69 yds. He also completed 23-38 passes for 212 yds. for a total of 352 total yards. How's that for a balanced attack? Wyoming had possession of the football for 33 minutes and was 11-17 on third down tries, not too shabby. Smith has already surpassed the Mountain West record for total offense by a freshman Qb. a record previously held by TCU's Andy Dalton (now with the Bengals)   

While New Mexico's blind man's bluff approach to defense allowed Wyoming's spread offense to run wild. UNM's offense was forced to punt five times and turned the ball over twice in the second half. The Lobos actually had the lead late in the second quarter, B.R. Holbrook capped off a touchdown drive with a five yard run, to put UNM up 10-7 (adding to a field goal by James Aho, who finally broke his streak of 5 straight misses) With 1:41 left in the first half, the Cowboys ran nine plays and scored to retake the lead at halftime.

George Barlow summed it up for UNM: “We went back to making mistakes we’ve been making, we weren’t moving the ball consistently enough to keep the defense off the field, and when the defense was on the field we didn’t tackle very well and didn’t play well on third downs.”  Which is George Barlow's way of saying that the defense amounts to nothing more than snail snot. 

NMSU 7   BYU 42

Here's the skinny: BYU's Jake Heaps made his first start since getting benched following a loss to Utah St. (Sept. 30th) Cougar starter Riley Nelson is out (presumably for the season) with broken ribs and a partially collapsed lung. Against NMSU it didn't matter, Heaps finished with 238 yds. passing and four touchdown passes as the Cougars blew out the Aggies 42-7. 

Matt Christian threw a touchdown pass to Austin Franklin for NMSU's only score, then true to form he left the game in the third quarter with an injury. Also, true to form, Travaughn Colwell came in and fumbled the ball away setting up a BYU score. It was that kind of game for the Aggies who were coming off an encouraging 48-45 win over Fresno St. (in which they racked up 500 yards of offense)  

BYU's defense is made of stronger and much older material than Fresno St. and it showed. It was Senior night in Provo, which meant that every 26 year old Zoob on the squad, herded his wifes and kids out onto the field at halftime, dragging things out and delaying the inevitable for the Aggies. Two things I noticed during this game, 1. Someone should tell the Lobos that clean living and laying off the marijuana does make you better football players. 2. I don't miss BYU in the Mountain West, they are insufferable asshats. 

Something tells me that meaningless games against Idaho, NMSU & Hawai'i in November won't help your standing in the BCS much. Being a football independent is the kiss of death (unless you're Notre Dame) Whereas BYU could once feed off their scrawny brethren in the MWC, now they're reduced to picking gristle off bleached bones. Sometimes being alone on an island just means that you're going to starve to death all by yourself.  Egads!