Davie: Lobos feel backed into a corner
Injuries, blowout loss have put UNM in difficult spot
No animals were harmed during the recording and transcription of Tuesday’s University of New Mexico fall sports luncheon.
But Lobos football coach Bob Davie, normally not given to pop-culture references, used a couple of scenes from a 2004 movie to describe his team’s situation this week.
“It’s been a glass house (actually a case) of emotion,” Davie said, of an up-and-down season that so far has produced a 3-3 record (1-2 in Mountain West Conference play) and, last Saturday, a sobering, 38-0 loss at Fresno State.
“I’m about to kick Baxter off the bridge here.”
For those who’ve never seen “Anchorman: the Legend of Ron Burgundy,” the latter reference was to a scene in which Jack Black’s character punts Baxter, Will Ferrell/Ron Burgundy’s beloved dog, off a bridge.
In a later scene, a hysterical Ron Burgundy, describing Baxter’s fate from a phone booth, is asked where he’s calling from. “I’m in a glass case of emotion!” he says between sobs.
Davie, a dog owner, is by no means punting on the 2017 season. But, with an immensely talented Colorado State team coming to Dreamstyle Stadium Friday on the heels of the Fresno State debacle, he said, “I can tell our football team feels like it’s backed into a corner, and we all know what’s coming in here Friday night.
He added, however, “We all know what it’s gonna take to make this team competitive . ... You have to adjust and you have to adapt. You can’t tuck your tail between our
legs and say, ‘Oh my God, what’s happening here?’ You’ve got to come up with solutions, and you have to adapt.”
That process is complicated by the absence of UNM’s firstand second-team offensive right tackles, prompting wholesale mixing and matching in the offensive line.
Valley redshirt freshman Teton Saltes, who had worked his way into the starting lineup, suffered a knee injury five plays into the Fresno State game. Later, Izrael Castellanos, who replaced Saltes, left the game with concussion symptoms. Both players are expected to miss the CSU game.
Davie said sophomore Chris Estrella will move from left guard to right tackle, and sophomore Charlie Grammel, backed up by senior Ray Baylor III, will start at left guard. Should Estrella have to come out, Davie said, Grammel would move to right tackle.
The reshuffling up front complicates the Lobos’ task of getting their running game back in gear after UNM gained only 109 yards rushing in the loss to Fresno State. But the defense, which yielded 526 yards to the Bulldogs — Colorado State averages 520 per game — will be without starting outside rush linebacker Rhashaun Epting (shoulder) and probably without starting strong safety Jacob Girgle (knee).
Speaking both of the Fresno State game and of the injuries, Davie said, “Nobody cares. That’s what football is.
“... It’s not doomsday, (but) we are backed in a corner right now, and we’ve got to find some solutions and keep fighting. And I know we will.”
TIME TO FOCUS: He was not specific, but Davie talked on Tuesday about distractions that might have affected his team — and himself — the past couple of weeks.
Certainly, between reports of an ongoing investigation of alleged player mistreatment by Davie and the reaction to five UNM players having knelt during the national anthem at halftime of the Air Force game, the potential has been there.
“I’m not sure I’ve been at my best the past couple of weeks,” he said. “There’s been a lot of distractions, there’s been a lot of issues, there’s been a lot of talk, there’s been a lot of opinion.
“(Now) it’s all about these 12 games and being at your absolute best.”
ABOUT CSU: Colorado State, with its new, on-campus stadium and upgraded football facilities, is making a push for membership in a Power Five conference.
If the Rams want a reference, Davie said, they’ve got one.
“(CSU) is a Power Five (caliber) team,” he said. “They’ve got my vote, and the sooner they get to a Power Five conference the better.”
As of Tuesday evening, Colorado State was a 7½-point favorite.