UNM has lots of work to do
A beautiful autumn Saturday in Albuquerque turned dismal in a hurry for the University of New Mexico football team.
Not only did the Lobos lose to visiting Liberty, 52-43, they lost their Homecoming game. The unheralded Flames marched up and down field in the first half, built a 42-10 cushion, then made just enough plays to thwart a UNM comeback attempt.
In addition to losing the game, New Mexico (2-2) lost its starting quarterback. Tevaka Tuioti suffered a broken clavicle in the first half and will have surgery Monday, Lobo coach Bob Davie said. Tuioti, who earlier missed a game against New Mexico State with a concussion, is likely done for the season.
“Disappointing loss,” Davie said. “We lost our quarterback again and our defense is a major concern. … The reality is that, except for what we did in Las Cruces, we haven’t been able to stop anybody consistently.”
Saturday’s takeaways certainly weren’t encouraging for a 2-2 UNM team that opens Mountain West play with road games at UNLV and Colorado State the next two weeks.
Home attendance also rates as a concern moving forward. Saturday’s crowd was announced at 18,804, but Dreamstyle Stadium’s east stands were largely deserted in the second half. If the Lobos are unable to find some success on the road over the next two weeks, drawing a sizeable crowd for their next home game (Oct. 20 vs. Fresno State) could be problematic.
So where does UNM go from here? “This is a tough loss and it starts with me,” he said. “We’ll get back to work (today), stay positive, dig down and battle.”
In terms of his offense, Davie plans to move forward with third-string QB Sheriron Jones. The junior performed well for the most part Saturday after entering with his team in a big hole. Jones threw four touchdown passes and helped the Lobos cut a 32-point deficit to 49-43 with 5:07 left.
He also threw three of New Mexico’s four interceptions, however, leading some to wonder if the Lobos might go back to a run-heavy attack in MWC play. Second-string quarterback Coltin Gerhart remains out with a foot injury and is “still a ways out,” Davie said.
While Davie conceded his offense is not geared to throw almost exclusively, as it was forced to in Saturday’s second half, a strategy change is not immediately forthcoming.
“That’s our offense,” he said. “That’s what it’s gonna be going forward. You’ve seen what our defense is right now. We can’t afford to be conservative on offense and just think we’re going to shut people down.”
UNM’s offense generated 580 total yards Saturday but it wasn’t enough to overcome four turnovers, a blocked punt that set up a touchdown and 568 yards allowed. Liberty quarterback Stephen Calvert torched UNM’s secondary for 417 yards through the air.
“Quite a performance,” Davie said. “He was on fire.”
The Lobos made some defensive adjustments in the second half, including zone coverages and occasional blitzes, and were able to limit the Flames to 10 points. However, UNM was not able to get the Flames offense off the field after getting to within six points in the fourth quarter.
While Davie accepted the blame for the loss, linebacker Evahelotu Tohi, who had a teambest 13 tackles, was not buying it.
“We’re a unit,” he said, “we’re a team. It’s on all of us. Conference starts next week and we’ve got to get better. That’s all we can focus on now.”