Lobos hope momentum gained from road win
Air Force up next for New Mexico
We’re a yard short of true deja vu, perhaps. But let’s go for it.
On Oct. 4, 2014, the New Mexico Lobos, badly in need of a victory, went into a nonconference road game as double-digit underdogs — and won. The 21-9 victory over UTSA at the Alamodome, the Lobos’ second win of the year, shined a more flattering light on a season that, though still in the early stages, already was threatening to get away.
“I think it’s the biggest win from a standpoint of, maybe we can gain some momentum moving forward now in this football program,” then third-year coach Bob Davie said afterward.
The only problem: the 2014 Lobos won only two more games that season, finishing 4-8. So much for momentum.
Flash forward, then, to Sept. 23, 2017. Again a double-digit underdog on the road against a non-conference opponent, the Lobos defeated Tulsa 16-13 to even their record at 2-2 (0-1 in Mountain West Conference play).
It’s a new season, Davie and three of his players said afterward, the outlook far brighter than before.
“I think this win changes the momentum of our team,” said senior kicker Jason Sanders, whose 53-yard field goal at the final gun provided the decisive points. “I think going off this win into Air Force (UNM’s opponent next Saturday at Dreamstyle Stadium) is a big deal.”
Quarterback Coltin Gerhart, who was not present when Sanders was interviewed, said much the same thing.
“It was a huge win. It got us back into the win column, and we’ve just got to carry this momentum on to next week,” said Gerhart, after having started in place of injured QBs Lamar Jordan and Tevaka Tuioti. Gerhart proved more than up to the task, rushing for 156 yards and a touchdown and completing 9-of-14 passes for 108 yards.
In terms of momentum, a victory over Air Force (1-2, 0-1) would indeed be a big deal. No record could be more deceiving than that of the Falcons, whose losses have come against seventh-ranked Michigan (29-13) and 22nd-ranked San Diego State (28-24).
The 2014 Lobos never won two games in a row.
Nor, as yet, has the 2017 team.
STAT CHAT: The Lobos topped the 300-yard rushing mark (338) against Tulsa for the first time this season after having done so seven times last year in leading the nation in that category (350 per game). New Mexico ranks 20th in the nation in rushing after four games with an average of 242.8.
The UNM defense held Tulsa to 155 yards rushing, more than 100 yards below the Golden Hurricane’s average entering the game. Tulsa dropped fourth nationally in rushing yards per game with an average of 311.5.
New Mexico ranks 16th in rush defense with an average yield of 97.3.
“We’re starting to build a defense,” Davie said after UNM held Tulsa to 286 yards total offense — 263 yards below the Golden Hurricane’s average coming in. “We’re getting to where maybe we have a chance to turn the corner in this program where our defense is a legitimate defense, and today was a big step.”
Senior nickel safety Jake Rothschiller and redshirt freshman outside rush linebacker Rhashaun Epting led the defense with seven tackles apiece. THE OTHER SIDE: Tulsa quarterback Chad President echoed UNM free safety Bijon Parker’s analysis of Parker’s gamechanging interception in the fourth quarter. Well, almost. “They rolled to a coverage that we hadn’t seen all game,” President said. “It was a great play call by them and a bad read by me.”
Parker said UNM actually had played that coverage once in the first quarter but did not show it again until the fateful play.
Parker’s interception gave UNM the ball at its 46-yard line with 4:43 left in the game. The Lobos never gave the ball back. With Gerhart at the controls, UNM used nine plays and made two first downs in traveling just 23 yards. The final gun sounded with Sanders’ decisive kick in the air.
MORE AIR FORCE: New Mexico is 3-2 against Air Force during Davie’s tenure. Though one might think an option team’s defense would excel against another option team, that has not been the case for the Falcons against UNM. The Lobos have scored more points (191, a 38.2-point average) against Air Force than against any other Mountain Division rival.