Patient Parker comes up big for UNM
TULSA, Okla. — Bijon Parker always believed the wait would be worth it. Saturday, it was.
Parker, a redshirt junior free safety from Fairfax High School in Los Angeles, made an interception Saturday that thwarted what could have been a winning Tulsa drive — and set up what proved to be the winning drive for his New Mexico Lobos.
His key contribution to UNM’s 16-13 victory, Parker said afterward, was the supreme moment of his UNM career.
“So far, yeah,” he said outside a boisterous UNM postgame locker room. “I’ve worked so hard. I had to wait my turn, with injuries.
“Everything’s falling into place. Everything I worked for is just starting to go right.”
Parker’s long journey to Saturday’s success began in 2013, when he signed a UNM letter of intent. But instead of enrolling that year, he “grayshirted,” and came to Albuquerque the following January — becoming part of the 2014 recruiting class.
He then sat out the 2014 season as a redshirt. When he finally got on the playing field the following fall, some 33 months had passed since he’d last played in a game for Fairfax.
The wait continued. Parker spent most of the past two seasons playing behind the tandem of Daniel Henry and Ryan Santos at safety. He finally stepped into the starting lineup this fall at free safety, holding off all challengers.
He entered Saturday’s game with 12 tackles, a tackle for loss, a sack and a pass breakup — but with no interceptions. A New Mexico State pass had ticked off his fingertips, only to be snagged by an Aggies receiver for an 81-yard touchdown. The play gave NMSU an early lead that it would not relinquish in a 30-28 UNM loss on Sept. 9.
During Saturday’s game, another possible interception eluded his grasp.
“I owed my team from earlier (in Saturday’s) game, and I owed them for New Mexico State,” he said. “I had to get it back.”
On the key interception, he said, the Lobos were in a coverage they’d shown only once before during the game.
“It was random,” he said. “We called it once in the first quarter, but we brought it back.”
On a second-and-9 play from the Tulsa 46-yard line, Golden Hurricane quarterback Chad President threw for a possible first down.
Diving for the ball, Parker made a clean interception — upheld by the obligatory official review.
“I knew I caught it,” he said.
Of the sure-handed diving catch, he said, that’s what all those practice sessions were for. “Our practices are as close to games as you can get,” he said.
Parker’s interception put a final stop to a Tulsa offense that entered the game averaging 47 points per game but scored just one touchdown against UNM.
Lobos coach Bob Davie, Parker said, had read to the team some pre-game chatter suggesting the Golden Hurricane might hang 50 points on the UNM defense.
“I took that to heart, and so did our whole defense,” he said. “To come in here and let a team put up 50 points, we weren’t going to let that fly.”