Trying to rebound
It’s a short week for the Lobos, who will play at San Jose State on Friday night
So just what is the strength of New Mexico’s offense?
The Lobos didn’t appear to have much firepower against Liberty in Lynchburg, Va. on Saturday.
While mostly everyone was expecting a shootout, UNM (2-2) showed up firing mostly blanks and fell to the Flames 17-10.
A week after going for nearly 600 yards of total offense, quarterback Tevaka Tuioti directed an offense that was out of sync. Tuioti, in his second start of the season, struggled to find any rhythm.
Just one touchdown came. Too little. Too late.
After the game, UNM coach Bob Davie revealed the Lobos entered the game with the plan to establish the run with the hope that it would open up the passing game.
Davie believed the Lobos would be able to move the ball and keep their offensive momentum going against a Liberty team that had its own problems on defense in just its second year in Football Bowl Subdivision play.
UNM did run the ball well, rushing for 223 yards on 43 attempts, averaging 5.2 yards per carry. Senior run
ning back Ahmari Davis led the way with 99 yards on 14 carries, just one yard from recording his third 100yard game of the season.
Davis broke off his longest gain in the fourth quarter, running for 35 yards, but was caught from behind preventing the Lobos from getting a touchdown. That was the drive that ended with Tuioti running for seven yards, just inches short of a first down on 4th-and-8.
It wasn’t the ideal return to Liberty for UNM offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Joe Dailey, who was with the Flames for seven years before joining the Lobos this season.
WHAT WENT RIGHT?: UNM’s defense turned in a solid effort. For the third straight game, the Lobos started strong, grabbing some momentum by stuffing the Flames on a 4th-and-2.
The UNM defense also came up with a big play when defensive lineman Erin Austin jarred the ball loose from Liberty quarterback Buckshot Calvert near the goal line. UNM cornerback De’John Rogers recovered the fumble in the end zone.
UNM kicker Andrew Shelley (Eldorado) continued his impressive season. He nailed a 52-yard field goal in the second quarter. That was his longest field goal of the season. He is 7 for 7 on his field-goal attempts thus far.
WHAT WENT WRONG?: When the UNM defense gave the Lobos’ offense some opportunities with turnovers and great field position, Tuioti struggled to get the ball to his receivers.
Davie pointed out the one time that Tuioti did find a receiver, Jordan Kress, he dropped the ball for what would have been a first-down gain. Kress had a breakout game the previous week in a 55-52 win over rival New Mexico State with 122 yards and two touchdowns on three catches.
The Lobos defense couldn’t frustrate Calvert the whole game. He got hot and fed off his favorite target, star wide receiver Antonio Gandy-Golden, who finished with 144 yards and one touchdown on six catches.
NOTABLE: It’s a short week for the Lobos, who play at San Jose State on Friday at 8 p.m.
The Spartans (2-2) lost at Air Force 41-24 on Friday.
Similar to UNM, San Jose State failed to build off its win from the previous week. The Spartans were coming off a 31-24 win at Arkansas.
HE SAID IT: “There are better schemes and better players. It’s not always going to be so many points. It’s an organic deal. It changes. College football is so much better than it’s ever been.”
— Joe Dailey, before the Liberty game, on whether Lobos could maintain the momentum from the win over the Aggies