Pressure mounts on Lobo basketball
Kiffin expects to return as Tide’s offensive coordinator
Everybody has a nose, and everybody seemingly has an opinion on what’s wrong with Lobo men’s basketball. Of course, not everybody has this particular conduit to voice an opinion, unless it’s a 100word Speak Up! So here goes. This crisis didn’t begin in Hawaii. It began when the Lobos squandered a 17-point lead and lost to visiting Rice. Yeah, Tim Williams calling the time-out when none remained sealed the deal, But UNM might have lost in an overtime anyway.
As it was, Lobo players facilitated the collapse when they decided that just making the winning play suddenly wasn’t good enough. They had to pass off the backboard. They had to alley-oop. They had to show out for the Lobo fans, or whoever. Coach Craig Neal later blamed himself for the team’s “immaturity.” No argument. That was only on Dec. 19, and yet it seems so long ago. Then, their error was in flying too close to the sun. Now, they have free-fallen into an abyss of dysfunction.
Neal said Friday that there “a lot of agendas” and “issues” on his 7-6 team that was once 7-2. That implies problems more serious than — and in addition to — a void
Deshaun Watson said he met Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton when he was in high school, and the two are still friends.
“We’ve always had a good relationship,” Watson said. “As we talk, each and every year it keeps growing. We always have that close bond and we’re both each other’s biggest supporters, cheering each other on.”
Watson also grew up a big fan of Tim Tebow. He said he usually chose to be the Florida Gators when playing NCAA Football video games.
“I used to love playing with Tim Tebow, and then as I got older, I started playing with Oregon a little bit more. I just liked to spread the teams around and do the up-tempo things.”
Watson said he feels his dual-threat ability should help, not hurt, his NFL prospects.
“A lot of people think that being a dual threat, you can’t really throw the ball. Well, it’s really not about throwing for 400 yards every game. It’s about getting the ‘W,’” Watson said. “There’s a lot of quarterbacks that can run and have been successful doing it at the next level.
“Cam Newton is one right now. Michael Vick in his younger days. Alex Smith is doing a great job. I could go on and on. Russell Wilson. There’s a lot of guys out there that can do both and be successful.”
ALABAMA: Lane Kiffin said Sunday that he’d “love to be back” with the Crimson Tide for a third season as offensive coordinator. The former USC and Tennessee coach has helped the Tide reach the College Football Playoff in each of his two seasons in Tuscaloosa. Alabama faces Michigan State on Thursday in Dallas.
Kiffin, 40, said he passed up some opportunities to leave Alabama after last season. “It didn’t feel right,” Kiffin said.
He already has had three major head coaching jobs. He was fired by USC five games into the 2013 season, and there weren’t many opportunities for him at that point — until Alabama head coach Nick Saban came calling.
“He really took a chance on me. The phone wasn’t ringing, even for assistant coaching jobs,” Kiffin said.
Kiffin vowed that Derrick Henry, the Heisman Trophy winner who leads the nation in rushing yards (1,986) and rushing TDs (23), will get plenty of touches Thursday even if he does not top his workload in recent games against Auburn (46 carries, 271 yards) and Florida (44 carries, 189 yards).
“Hopefully, we give the ball to Derrick more than they did (to Elliott),” said a smiling Kiffin, referencing Ohio State and tailback Ezekiel Elliott, who carried only 11 times in a 17-14 loss to Michigan State that cost the Buckeyes a chance at the Big Ten and national titles.
NOTRE DAME: Coach Brian Kelly has wasted little time heaping praise on the Irish’s next opponent — Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl.
“We think we’re playing the best team in the country,” Kelly said. “No disrespect to any teams in the final four. We’re playing the defending national champs. There aren’t many holes in this team.”
And his kind words weren’t reserved solely for the Buckeyes.
“We think our football team is as good as any in the country, but we understand that you’ve got to win it on the field,” he said.
Both of the 10-2 Irish’s losses were by two points, including one at No. 1 Clemson.
ARIZONA: Receiver Cayleb Jones announced on Twitter Sunday that he will skip his senior season and enter the NFL draft.
The 6-foot-3, 215-pound Jones was a tough matchup for opposing defenses during his two seasons in Arizona. New Mexico certainly can attest to that. Jones caught four passes for 182 yards, including a 78-yard touchdown, in the Wildcats’ 45-37 win over the Lobos in the Gildan New Mexico Bowl on Dec. 19. He caught 55 catches for 904 yards and five TDs this season.
FLORIDA: Starting right tackle Mason Halter and backup linebacker Anthony Harrell did not make the trip to Orlando for the Citrus Bowl on New Year’s Day against No. 17 Michigan. Both players are redshirt seniors, so their college careers are over.