Davie confident in Lobos ahead of Boise State matchup
UNM playing 1st game since Flowers’ death
As the days draw closer to the University of New Mexico’s football game at Boise State on Saturday night and further away from last week’s tragedy, coach Bob Davie gains more confidence in his team.
There’s the belief among the Lobos (2-7, 0-5 in Mountain West Conference) they are capable of pulling off an upset against 28-point favorite Boise State (8-1, 5-0). But there’s also a gratefulness and appreciation for the preparation of a football game, a certain sense of normalcy after an unimaginable incident took place.
UNM rescheduled its game against Air Force, originally set for this past Saturday, to Nov. 23 due to the unexpected death of Nahje Flowers, New Mexico’s 21-year-old defensive lineman who was found dead in his home on the morning of Nov. 5 with no signs of foul play or criminal activity, Albuquerque police said.
“It’s a process,” Davie said during his weekly press conference on Tuesday. “I’ve been involved with several others of these, but not in the middle of the season on a Tuesday right before you’re going to go out there and practice. This one is different. It’s taken all of us every ounce of whatever that is to get this football team ready to play. That being said, I’m confident that this football team will be ready to play on Saturday night.”
The Lobos canceled practice on Friday and Saturday last week. They held a memorial for Flowers inside the Tow Diehm facility on Friday afternoon. On Sunday, they did their best to return to the routine
of preparing for an opponent and attempt to end a six-game losing streak.
“We’re going to respond the only way we know how to, which is to just keep throwing punches, keep coming out and keep fighting,” said Teton Saltes, UNM’s starting right tackle. “There are very few things in life that you can’t control and how you respond to adversity is one of those things. So for us, we’re going to come out and give it our all like we always do.”
Tevaka Tuioti, UNM’s redshirt sophomore quarterback, described Tuesday’s practice as, “very up-tempo.”
“Every guy came out with the mentality of being focused,” Tuioti said. “Just trying to prepare well for the upcoming game on Saturday. I expect us to come out with fire. We’ve always come out with fire. We try to keep the same mentality, same juice. That’s all it is this week.”
Tuioti said Flowers will always be a part of the Lobos.
Davie, 65, who has been involved in college football as a coach or broadcaster for the past 42 years, said he has never experienced a season such as this year. He experienced a health scare following the Lobos’ season-opening win over Sam Houston State on Aug. 31 that put him in the hospital and in recovery for three weeks. Saga Tuitele, UNM’s offensive line coach, was the acting head coach for two games.
Quarterback Sheriron Jones, who has been indefinitely suspended, was accused of indecent exposure last month.
Back in February, former UNM and Cleveland High football player Romell Jordan, 23, was found dead. Jordan’s body had been found during a welfare check at a motel room in Hobbs, where he had been working.
The news of Flowers’ death “buckled” the Lobos, Davie said.
“I told our team after practice: There’s no right or wrong way to feel right now,” Davie said. “It’s how ever you feel is how you feel . ... There’s no exact formula. There’s no clever thing anybody is going to say. You’re dealing with so many people, with so many emotions. But at the end of the day we have a nationally televised football game in Boise, Idaho at 8:20 night on the blue turf, followed by Air Force coming in here and followed by Utah State. The idea now is to move forward, be respectful, show our emotions in a way that’s respectful, but certainly moving forward.”