LOBO RECAP

Flashback: The New Mexico Lobos, throttled on offense and immolated on defense, absorb a humbling, not-that-close, 55-14 defeat at the hands of Texas A&M in front of 99,051 fans and a national television audience (ESPU) at Kyle Field in College Station, Texas. What went right: Sophomore cornerback Elijah Lilly returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter. It was the second career TD kickoff return for Lilly. The Lobos have had at least one touchdown kickoff return for eight straight seasons. The UNM rush defense was stout, holding the Aggies to 63 yards and a 2.7 average per carry. The Lobos did finally score on offense in the third quarter, snapping a streak of 56 offensive possessions without a TD in games on the road. What went wrong: A&M quarterback Nick Starkel and his receivers lit up the UNM secondary for 416 yards in the first half — that’s right, the first half. The Lobos could neither run nor pass effectively against the A&M defense, finishing with just 144 yards total offense. The punt unit gave up a 90-yard touchdown return to Aggies senior Christian Kirk, who also caught a 60-yard touchdown pass.

Injury report: Lobos coach Bob Davie said senior running back Daryl Chestnut aggravated a shoulder injury. No other significant injuries were observed or reported.

Quoting Davie: “You come in here and you’re excited about this atmosphere, and all of a sudden you get smacked in the mouth and it’s like, ‘Whoa.’ We’ve had too many of these. We’re rocked right now. We’re back on our heels right now, and we need everything we can muster to go win these last two games, and that’s what we’re gonna fight to do.”

Up next: The Lobos (3-7 overall, 1-5 Mountain West Conference) host the UNLV Rebels (4-6, 3-3) Friday in a game scheduled to be telecast on ESPN2. Though the Rebels aren’t Texas A&M, Davie said they play a similar offensive style. And UNLV owns a victory over Fresno State, a team that routed the Lobos 38-0 on Oct. 14.