New Mexico Football Report

The title of "Worst Div.1 FBS team" has now moved down south, UTEP would be more than deserving of that accolade if not for their win over NMSU. The only thing NMSU has going for it, is that their sole victory came over Sacramento St., which is now 5-2 and competing for the Big Sky title. UTEP on the other hand, beat the Aggies...

If I must choose, then the Aggies are hands down the worst college football team in America, that doesn't travel to its games on a bus.

Colorado's three Div. 1 teams (Univ. of Colorado & Colorado St. in the FBS and Northern Colorado in the FCS) are a combined 3-16 overall.  Univ. of Colorado has the dubious honor of being the only school on this list from a BCS conference.

The FBS bottom dwellers from bad to worse,

10. Colorado St. 1-6 (beat their rivals U. of Colorado for the first time since 2009)
9.   Colorado 1-5 (without a doubt the worst BCS squad in the nation, seriously WTF!)
8.   Southern Miss  0-6 (hard schedule, plays UAB,UTEP & Memphis should win at least 2)
7.   Buffalo 1-5 (only win came against Morgan St., drubbed by N. Illinois in their last game)
6.   Eastern Michigan  0-6 (gave Michigan St. a scrap, but have been blown out twice since)
5.   FIU    1-6 (their lone win came against Akron, no blow outs, a few close losses)
4.   Massachusetts   0-6 (have played a murderous schedule in their debut FBS season)
3.   Akron  1-6  (beat Morgan St.,kept it closer against Ohio U. than NMSU did, lost to FIU)
2.   Idaho  1-6 (only win was against NMSU, Vandals won't win another game this year)
1.   NMSU  1-5 (beat Sac St., a decent FCS squad,but they've hardly been competitive since)

I'm really starting to like this new MWC, for one simple reason, it's more balanced. No more getting kicked around by Utah, BYU, TCU & Boise St. that's four likely losses gone from the UNM schedule. The incoming schools are good and have the potential to get even better, Nevada, Fresno St., Utah St. but not San Jose St..... never San Jose St. And how's that new look Big East Conference looking like right about now? 

The two MWC schools moving to the Big East, Boise St. and San Diego St. aren't exactly setting the college world on fire. Boise St. is a shakey 5-1, but Chris Petersen keeps finding ways to win and that's a testament to his coaching abilities more than the Bronco's talent. I was down on the Broncos for jumping to the Big East, but financially it makes too much sense to turn down. Boise St. is one of the few BCS schools getting by from paycheck to paycheck. 

San Diego St. is 4-3 and I would bet dollars to doughnuts that Rocky Long gets the boot after this season. In case you missed it Rocky stated  before the start of the season, that the Aztecs would go for it on fourth down on most plays past midfield rather than punt. His line of reasoning being.... that percentage wise you break even. Then he didn't stick to his guns and got all wishy washy about it. That alone should have got him fired, now he's just dragging SDSU down with him.

Of the future Big East schools , UCF at 4-2 is the best, Memphis is 1-5, Houston is 3-3, SMU is 2-4 all from Conference USA. Out of six new schools, the Big East is getting one (Boise St.) capable of winning on a consistent basis. The move from the MWC to the Big East is a lateral move at best, but it does come with the coveted BCS bid. Former UNM head coach, Mike Locksley is now the offensive coordinator at Maryland. The Terrapins got off to a slow start but are now 4-2 overall, 2-0 in ACC Atlantic Division, which goes to show that sometimes good things do happen to bad people. 

I'm in awe of the turnaround that Bob Davie has engineered at UNM. The Lobos have not had a winning record seven games into the season since 2007 (5-2) They have already surpassed the total number of wins during the entire  Mike Locksley era. (3) and UNM's scrappy win over Hawai'i on the road, was the first outside the state of New Mexico since 2007. The amazing thing about the Lobos' turnaround is that Coach Davie is doing it with the same players that Locksley could coax nothing from.

When a pack of Locksley recruits followed him out the door following the 2011 season, it was assumed that the 2012 edition of Lobo football would hit a new low. Old Mother Hubbard's cupboard couldn't have been any emptier than the UNM roster. However, a renewed sense of commitment is taking root at UNM and it's obvious that the departing players were little more than deadwood, fire starters and malcontents.  Better to cut the cancer out, then to allow it to spread.

UNM's wins have come against teams that have a combined record of 8-16 (Texas St. & Southern each have three wins apiece, NMSU & Hawai'i each have one) Unlike Locksley's Lobos, UNM under Coach Davie, is winning the games that they're supposed to win. Upcoming games against, Colorado St., Wyoming, UNLV and even Air Force next week are suddenly games that the Lobos are fully capable of winning.

UNM Lobos   35                     Hawai'i  Warriors   23 

Jet lag and distractions aside, the Lobos hit the ground running in Honolulu. UNM scored on each of their first three possessions to take a commanding 21-0 lead in the second quarter. Kasey Carrier took up where he had left off against Texas St., putting the Lobos on the scoreboard first with a 23 yd. td. run. Hawai'i then fumbled the ensuing kickoff with Marquis Bundy recovering for UNM. A short drive led to a 6 yd. td. run by SaQwan Edwards. UNM then ate up the clock, running 14 plays to move the ball 66 yds. for another score by Kasey Carrier, this one a 1 yd. td plunge. 

Having thoroughly whipped the Warriors for most of the first half, the Lobos appeared to step back and catch their breath. Hawai'i regrouped, Qb. Sean Schroeder found Scott Harding for a 51 yd. td. pass for the Warrior's first score. Hawai'i had an opportunity to cut further into the Lobo lead, but with the ball on the UNM 14 yd. line, a 15 yd. penalty turned a chip-shot field goal into a 39 yd. miss by Tyler Hadden. Hadden then hit a career long 49 yd. field goal just before the half ended to cut the Lobo lead almost in half. Up until their first scoring drive, Hawai'i had run just three offensive plays in the half. 

At the break UNM was up 21-10. Cole Gautsche broke free for a 76 yd. td. run that gave the Lobos an 18 point cushion 28-10. Hawai'i came back on the ensuing kickoff, thanks to a Mike Edwards 100 yd. return for a score. Down 28-17, the now resurgent Warriors got the ball back and drove into New Mexico's half of the field. That's when the Lobo defense came up big, stopping Hawai'i on a fourth and 1. On the Lobo's first play from scrimmage Cole Gautsche took a blow to the head, the true freshman left the game and did not return. Minus one of their primary weapons, the Lobo drive fizzled out.

A fumble by Schroeder killed the Warriors' first drive of the fourth quarter. (recovered by Joseph Harris) They later put together a 9 play, 64 yd. drive for another score to cut the Lobo lead to five points 28-23, an attempted two point conversion failed. Gut check time for UNM, it was now 1:00 a.m. Albuquerque time and Coach Davie could now see his team struggling from the effects of jet lag and the four hour difference from the Mountain time zone. “We were able to weather their storm because we had a bunch of guys that hung in there and kept fighting.”  a tremendous, gutsy effort by a bunch of guys that really wanted to win their fourth game.

B.R. Holbrook hobbled by a knee injury, stood the test and led the Lobos on an 11 play, 75 yd. drive that burned 6 minutes off the clock and culminated in a 5 yd. td. run by a gimpy Holbrook.  35-23. Time of possession was the key for UNM, 38:32 compared to Hawai'i with 21:28. During key possessions the Lobos ate up the clock like Joey Chesnutt eats hot dogs  As the old football adage goes, "Your offense can't score, if it's not on the field" UNM recovered three Warrior fumbles, while taking care of the ball, "They turned the ball over three times and we had zero turnovers," said Coach Davie. " That's big for us and that's how we have to win."

Kasey Carrier, the MWC offensive player of the week, finished with 161 yds rushing  on 35 carries and 2 td's.  The Lobos accumulated 452 yards in total offense, 332 on the ground and 120 in the air. The Lobos who eschewed the passing game against Texas St., opened with five consecutive pass plays. B.R. Holbrook finished 7 for 12 passing, 109 yds. most collected during that opening drive.  UNM now ranks 120th in the nation in passing and 8th in rushing. The Lobos rushed for 300+ yards for the fourth week in a row and fifth time this season. Cole Gautsche added 104 yards giving UNM two 100 yd. rushers in one game for the first time since 2007.

The Lobos have now won two straight, three of their last four and this was UNM's fifth straight win against Hawai'i dating back to 1998 when both were members of the WAC. The victory was also the first for Bob Davie in the Mountain West Conf. Gautsche did not return with team on Sunday, he was kept in Honolulu overnight for observation. Cole returned to Albuquerque on Monday and was evaluated on Tuesday. His status for the Air Force game has yet to be determined.