The Sports Xchange
NCAAF Team Report – New Mexico – INSIDE SLANT
New Mexico coach Bob Davie knew his team would have to play a perfect game to stay with the likes of nationally ranked Texas on Saturday night.
The Lobos, however, showed more first-game jitters in Austin, Texas than they did in their season opener. Add an injury to starting quarterback B.R. Holbrook, and New Mexico suffered a 45-0 blanking at the hands of the Longhorns. It was the same score UNM turned in the last time it played a nationally ranked team — last season at Boise State.
But while New Mexico (1-1) never gave the appearance that it would challenge the Broncos, it proved to be a much feistier foe against the Longhorns (2-0).
“Offensively, with B.R. in the game, there’s no question we had some things we could do,” Davie said. “We moved the ball well. But again, when you play somebody good, (we) really can’t sustain it because those demons pop up.”
The demons of which Davie speaks refers to the lack of execution the team displayed for three years under former coach Mike Locksley.
The Lobos moved the ball inside the Texas 40-yard line on each of their first three possessions of the game, only to have a penalty or missed blocking assignment move them back. New Mexico held the ball for 12 minutes 25 seconds of the first quarter but trailed 10-0 because of a 49-yard touchdown run by Longhorns QB David Ash and a blocked punt that the home team turned into a field goal.
Holbrook, meanwhile, suffered a rib injury after a helmet-to-helmet collision three minutes into the second quarter, turning New Mexico into a one-dimensional team behind true freshman backup Cole Gautsche.
Texas’ defense, which had allowed 109 yards to that point, surrendered just 132 in the final 42 minutes. The Lobo defense wore down, and the Longhorns extended a 17-0 halftime lead to a blowout before it was all over.
Gautsche did not complete a pass to a Lobo the entire game. He was 0-for-4 with one interception, and third-string QB Quinton McCown delivered just one 3-yard pass during a mop-up role.
Coach Bob Davie, however, stressed that UNM’s woes extended beyond the quarterback play.
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NCAAF Team Report – New Mexico – NOTES, QUOTES
WHAT’S AHEAD: The Lobos don’t get much time to lick their wounds as they head right back out on the Texas road at Texas Tech (2-0). New Mexico suffered a 52-17 defeat at home to the Red Raiders last season, and has to figure out how to get the defense off the field on third down, as well as conjure up a passing game, especially if Holbrook’s injury keeps him out of that game as well.
–Who would’ve thought that the Lobos would miss walk-on QB David Vega? The junior transfer from New Mexico Military was beginning to establish himself as a viable backup twice in fall camp, only to suffer a pair of off-the-field incidents that resulted in an indefinite suspension. Third-string QB Quinton McCown is a better passer than backup Cole Gautsche but doesn’t know the offense well enough to balance Gautsche’s strength as a running quarterback.
–The Lobos discovered their self-inflicted mistakes — absent from the season opener last week — in abundance Saturday against Texas. The Lobos, who committed one penalty and had zero turnovers against Southern, finished with two turnovers, eight penalties — not including four timeouts called to avoid penalties — and one blocked punt that resulted in a Longhorns field goal. The blocked punt was a result of a miscommunication on the protection call.
–The crowd of 100,990 was the largest turnout ever for a Lobo football game, breaking a 26-year-old record. No Texas crowd, however, has ever seen New Mexico score the football. After suffering identical 47-0 losses to the Longhorns in 1948 and 1988, UNM suffered “only” a 45-0 defeat on Saturday night.
KEEP AN EYE ON: Senior QB B.R. Holbrook’s rib cage injury will be a closely monitored situation all week because New Mexico might have to tinker with the offense if he’s unavailable. The Lobos tried to give Gautsche some short routes to get his confidence up, but he misfired on all four of his attempts and was intercepted once. The Lobos have to establish a semblance of a passing attack to prevent defenses from keying on UNM’s run game.
LOOKING GOOD: Junior RB Kasey Carrier played his first game since the 2010 season finale at TCU. He led UNM with 51 yards on 11 carries and started to look like his old self in the second half. The Lobos need Carrier to get acclimated to resume his role as the team’s best running back. Carrier missed 2011 with a knee injury and the first game in 2012 because of a lingering hamstring injury. Carrier gives the offense more veteran leadership as well as a versatile back out of the backfield. The Lobos have to find a way to give him the football in space to take advantage of his big-play capacity.
STILL NEEDS WORK: The Longhorns’ WRs exposed the Lobo secondary, which tried not to give up the home-run ball. That meant however, that the Lobo DBs gave way too much cushion and allowed the Longhorns to move the chains consistently. Texas did not complete any ball over the top of the UNM defense but still managed to find 12 receivers who had catches of 10 or more yards, with a high of 45 and five going for 20 or more.
QUOTE TO NOTE: “We got exposed. But we can coach better than this. We can execute better than this. At times, we actually did go toe to toe with them; I don’t think it was actually anything physically shocking. It’s more that — to be quite honest — we just can’t execute.” — New Mexico coach Bob Davie, on matching up against Texas.
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NCAAF Team Report – New Mexico – STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL
PLAYER NOTES:
–True freshman QB Cole Gautsche continues to look impressive in the running game. His stats against the Longhorns were not overwhelming — 13 carries for 35 yards — but he again showed he can get some tough yards and is adept at running the option portion of New Mexico’s pistol offense. After two games, Gautsche is UNM’s leading rusher, averaging 61.5 yards per game. But he has to learn how to throw the football, completing just 1 of 6 passes for 13 yards with an interception so far this season.
–P Ben Skaer has to work on his consistency. He suffered his fifth career blocked punt in the first quarter and seemed to be affected by the block on his next effort, a 34-yarder that gave the Longhorns favorable field position. In the second half, Skaer drilled a 51-yarder, his 23rd career punt of 50-plus yards, but he hasn’t been able to string a lot of punts together to give the Lobos an edge.
–SS Matt Raymer had his best game as a Lobo on Saturday, He had a team-high and a career-high eight tackles against Texas, and he recorded his first career sack when he chased down Longhorns QB David Ash and forced a fumble that went out of bounds 11 yards behind the line of scrimmage. The former walk-on elevated himself to a starting role after beginning fall camp on the third-team.
ROSTER REPORT
–QB B.R. Holbrook sustained bruised ribs from a nasty-looking helmet-to-helmet collision with Texas CB Quandre Diggs in the second quarter. Holbrook was on the ground for a couple of minutes before walking off to the sidelines under his own power, but he did not return. X-rays were negative.
–WR Lamaar Thomas also left the game after getting hit in the head on a kickoff in the third quarter. Thomas, who finished the game with one carry for 16, yards, also did not return.
–RB Demarcus Rogers did not play because of a bruised knee he suffered in the season opener against Southern. Rogers ran for 103 yards in the opener, marking the first time since November of 2009 that the Lobos had a 100-yard rusher.
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