Lobos Are Rested, Seeking Turnabout
Saturday, 23 October
If the New Mexico Lobos can just eliminate all those mistakes, they keep saying, they can compete with just about anyone.
And now that they've had that precious, rejuvenating bye week, they say, they're healthy, refreshed and ready to attack the second half of their schedule.
To both those statements, the college football world says, sure - and hippos will dance the cha-cha before this New Mexico team wins a game in 2010.
Tonight at University Stadium, then, it's not just the bedraggled Lobos (0-6 overall, 0-2 in Mountain West Conference play) against the resurgent, bowl-hungry San Diego State Aztecs (4-2, 1-1).
It's the Lobos against themselves - and against a progressively angrier and/or more cynical audience.
Oh, and there's that Doug DeCinces/Brooks Robinson, Phil Bengston/Vince Lombardi comparison between Lobos coach Mike Locksley and Aztecs defensive coordinator Rocky Long, Locksley's predecessor at UNM.
The Aztecs, who lost 70-7 to Long's Lobos the last time they came to University Stadium, are 24-point favorites going into this one. As of Friday afternoon, some 15,400 tickets had been sold. The stadium seats 39,224.
Though tonight's game is a mere blip on the college football radar screen, it's a blip of some interest - partly because of SDSU's rise in the ranks but mostly because of UNM's free fall to the depths.
Cyberspace is alive with shots at the Lobos and speculation about Locksley's job security. The second-year head coach is 1-17 at UNM.
"(Locksley) must have compromising photographs of New Mexico's administration," writes Thayer Evans of foxsports.com, "because there's no other reason to explain why he still has his job."
Locksley and the Lobos, meanwhile, have appeared relaxed, optimistic, even serene, this week while preparing for the Aztecs.
"I still have a lot of faith in this team and this coaching staff," Locksley said, "in that they're gonna find a way to get the ship righted here and come out and have a successful second half (of the season)."
The Lobos are a fresher, more energetic group, says senior wide receiver Chris Hernandez, than the team that trudged off the field Oct. 9 after a devastating 16-14 loss to New Mexico State in Las Cruces.
"We're coming off a bye week, which is basically splitting our season in half," Hernandez said. "It's going to be a new season for us because we've had time to prepare and get ourselves healthy and ready to play."
Locksley has fended off questions about Long's return to University Stadium, other than to say the former UNM coach's blitzing 3-3-5 defense will be a handful.
"It's almost like going up against the wishbone (offense)," Locksley said. "It's a defense you don't see every week. It's chaos, it's attacking, it's all those things, and Rocky's been on the cutting edge with it for quite some time."
Hernandez, one of some 40 current Lobos who entered the program when Long was the coach, said his former mentor's presence on the visitors' sideline is "not a big deal, really."
"He was a great coach over here, I played for him for three years and I have a lot of respect for him," he said. "But other than that, it's just another game that we need to prepare for and win."
To win tonight, or to even have a chance, the Lobos can't afford to approach their nation-worst season's average of 3.33 turnovers per game.
Locksley hopes redshirt sophomore quarterback B.R. Holbrook, who practiced all this week after missing the past four games with a knee injury, can lend some stability to his offense.
"Unless he steps in a hole going to class (on Friday)," Locksley said after Thursday's practice, "it looks like he may be able to play for us."
