Lobos lose opener
San Jose State goes to the air to dampen Gonzales’ debut
Late in the second quarter and with his New Mexico football team trailing by two touchdowns at San Jose State, Danny Gonzales didn’t hesitate on the call to go for it on 4th-and-goal from 4 yards out during his first game as coach of his alma mater.
Quarterback Tevaka Tuioti completed a 4-yard touchdown pass to walk-on wide receiver Andrew Erickson, a third-year redshirt freshman from Manzano High.
However, the Lobos couldn’t keep up with the Spartans and quarterback Nick Starkel, who threw for 467 yards and a career-high five touchdowns to lead San Jose State to a 38-21 win on Saturday in San Jose, Calif.
“We’re trying to instill the mentality that we’re going into this game to win — we’re not trying to stay close,” said Gonzales, a former UNM assistant who was last a defensive coordi
nator at Arizona State before becoming the Lobos’ coach last December. “And, we weren’t slowing them down on defense significantly. So let’s stay in the game and go for it to have a chance to win.”
In the third quarter, Tuioti, who threw for 294 yards and two touchdowns on 20-of-25 passing, directed an 8-play, 71-yard drive that ended with his 1-yard TD run and tied the Spartans at 21-21. Tuioti also threw one interception. He rushed for 69 yards on 14 carries.
But San Jose State then scored 17 unanswered points to improve to 2-0 in its second straight home game.
“We have a long way to go,” Gonzales said during a postgame virtual press conference. “I appreciate them never giving up. I appreciate their spirit, their fight. We’re not aggressive enough. We’re not mean enough. Some of that comes from training. Some of that comes from personality.”
The game was relocated to San Jose State as a result of public health orders in New Mexico and due to the rising prevalence of COVID-19 in Bernalillo County.
The Lobos were set to travel back to Albuquerque and go through testing for the coronavirus on Sunday morning. They will then leave for Las Vegas, Nevada on Monday to prepare for a game at Hawaii this coming Saturday. They are training in Las Vegas because they would be required to quarantine for 14 days in Albuquerque after traveling to California.
UNM athletic director Eddie Nuñez said Friday that the Lobos have partnered with UNLV to allow New Mexico players and coaches use of student housing and Sam Boyd Stadium, the former home of the Runnin’ Rebels’
football program. UNLV now plays in Allegiant Stadium, the brand-new 65,000-seat, $1.8 billion home of the NFL’s Las Vegas Raiders.
It’s the latest move UNM has made in trying to circumvent New Mexico’s COVID-19 guidelines.
“We can only control what we can control,” UNM linebacker Kameron Miller said. “The coaches can handle that. As players we do what we’re told and we have to have the right mindset to it. We can’t be lollygagging and not be prepared or not want to go to Vegas. We have to go over there with the mindset to win (in Hawaii).”
Earlier in the week, Gonzales said he was concerned about the lack of depth and experience among the secondary because UNM was without projected starters Donte Martin, Nico Bolden and Michael LoVett. The Lobos gave up big plays. SJSU wide receiver Bailey Gaither set career highs with 10 receptions and 208 yards receiving, including a 69-yard touchdown. Tre Walker had 107 yards receiving and two TDs on nine catches for SJSU. His acrobatic 26-yard touchdown catch made it 21-7 in the second quarter.
The Spartans won their first two games of the season for the first time since 1987 and opened their conference schedule with consecutive wins for the first time since 2011, when they were in the Western Athletic Conference.