Oct. 13—Notes, stats, quotes and final thoughts from New Mexico’s 52-37 win over Air Force on Saturday:
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The last time this happened, New Mexico started 0-2. The 1916 varsity team — Lobos wasn’t introduced as a nickname until four years later — opened the season with a trip to Colorado College in early October and were soundly whipped 47-2, scoring only on a safety in the fourth quarter.
There were, however, a few signs things could change.
“The New Mexicans, although outweighed fifteen pounds on the average, gave the Tigers the greatest lesson in the use of the forward pass ever witnessed on Washburn Field,” the Denver Post reported, “with Aydelotte, their star halfback, throwing the ball from twenty to five yards.”
Twenty to five yards or not, UNM was dropped 23-0 by Colorado Mines a week later in Albuquerque; “MINERS UNABLE TO REACH SCORE MADE BY TIGERS” was the headline picked by the Albuquerque Journal. Once again, UNM was “outweighed” and outmatched in a game against a Miners team with a serious vigor for “fighting football.”
“And knowing all these things, they of the gray jerseys went out upon the field and fought a fight that, for sheer, indomitable pluck, would be hard to equal,” the Journal continued.
Nearly a month later, UNM broke through and dismantled a depleted Northern Arizona team 108-0, subbing heavily in the second half before the game was called at the start of the fourth quarter (remember it’s 1916, right?) due to darkness. A “practice game” the following week against Albuquerque Indian School ended 55-0 (and was adjoined to the record), but by that point UNM was already well-focused on a rivalry finale against 2-3-1 New Mexico A&M.
“Word now comes from Mesilla park that the Aggies have regained most of their star players who were with the militia on the border during the earlier part of the season,” the Journal reported, “and the UNM squad is beginning to take Thursday’s game more seriously.”
So, on a day with “ideal Thanksgiving weather” and what the Journal estimated to be one of the largest crowds for a football game in Albuquerque’s history, UNM and New Mexico A&M opened with a scoreless first half. But in the third quarter, “the local eleven began to show its real form,” the Journal reported, as UNM grabbed a 14-0 lead.
In the fourth, “the Aggie defense went to pieces,” per the report. Aydelotte (what’s his first name?) was effective, a player that went by the name of Steed scored twice late and UNM rang up 37 points on its rivals to finish 3-2 with a 55-0 win.
“The college defense seemed like paper,” the report continued, “before the U.N.M. attack.”
108 years later, college defenses still go to pieces in the fourth. Outmatched offenses still pass for a ton on bigger, heavier defenses. Third-quarter swings still win games more often than not. Football has changed in every single possible way. It also hasn’t.
But for all those years, UNM had not scored 50 or more points in back-to-back games since that three-game run by Ralph “Hutch” Hutchinson’s squad in 1916 — until Saturday’s 52-37 win over Air Force.
The final numbers on UNM’s homage to a season in which Georgia Tech beat Cumberland College 222-0: 52 points, 434 total yards (255 rushing, 179 passing), six offensive touchdowns (five rushing, six passing), one field goal and seven straight scoring drives with one special teams score courtesy of wide receiver Luke Wysong. Paired with a 50-40 win over New Mexico State on Sept. 28, UNM has scored 102 points and gained 1,013 yards over its last two games.
“Really dynamic, explosive, creative — had a lot of different players doing different things,” head coach Bronco Mendenhall said in a postgame press conference. ” … The game flow was similar (to the NMSU game) where we got out in front of a fairly commanding lead and then (we’re) learning to play in that space — which is a different space. So even though we addressed it toward the end, not quite as consistent and rhythmic offensively.”
Late rhythm regardless, UNM is now averaging 35.3 points per game — the third-highest mark in the Mountain West behind Boise State (46.8) and UNLV (45.3). The Lobos are also closing in on surpassing a 2016 average of 36.7 points per game, their highest-mark in recent memory.
Now, is back-to-back 50-point games for the first time since 1916 the most important note from UNM’s night? Probably not. That offensive performance paired with some timely defense put UNM in position to snap a five-game losing streak to Air Force and win consecutive games for the first time since the start of the 2021 season.
Only seven players on the current roster were around then to remember what that felt like.
“Tavian Combs came up to me like, ‘that’s the first time we’ve won back-to-back games in a minute,'” safety Christian Ellis said in a postgame press conference. “I was like, ‘Man, that’s crazy.’ But (we’re) gonna make this the new normal for sure.”
But is it at least worth noting? Sure.
108 years is long enough.
What to make of the defense
Perhaps there’s two ways to look at another big mixed bag for UNM’s defense:
The good: UNM’s defense held Air Force to a field goal at the end of a very service-academy opening drive (a grueling 17 plays for 54 yards) and more or less won the game for the Lobos in the third quarter, coming up with two fourth-down stops and a fumble. All with a defense still on shaky ground health-wise, even coming out of the bye.
The bad: 37 points, 474 total yards (325 rushing, 149 passing) and 22 first downs were all season highs for Air Force, the second-straight week an offense appeared to figure things out for the first time against UNM’s defense. And there was another 20-point fourth quarter, a point of frustration for some coaches and players after the same happened at NMSU.
“We were a little thin, as I mentioned coming out of New Mexico State,” Mendenhall said. “And I think there’s a lot to learn for this team, this program and especially these defensive kids, yeah, what’s it like to play ahead by 24 or 21 points in the second half. And you certainly can’t relax — which I don’t think they are.”
To Mendenhall, it’s more of a concentration issue that’s causing these late game “drifts.” Ellis offered a slightly different read on the situation.
“We just need to finish,” Ellis said. “That’s it … (It’s) just not getting complacent at the end of the game, you know, just like finishing perfect and not getting too excited. Like ‘Oh, we’re about to win’ — we need to make sure we win and do our job to stop them.
“And just finishing the game, that’s the biggest part.”
Until that happens, the reality is clear: Even with plenty of health issues, UNM has a defense that’s talented enough to win — so long as the offense is cooking at a high level — and loses focus frequently enough to turn into a get-right game for opposing offenses, at least in the box score. It seems as if the issues can be fixed. Whether they will remains to be seen.
(Less!) flags on the field
No stat corrections this week: Four penalties for 40 yards was UNM’s final number immediately after the game, and it remained that way as other statistics were amended (as usual) in the hours after.
This is, of course, after a three-week span where the Lobos were flagged 47 times for an astonishing 417 yards. But thanks to Saturday’s efforts, conference rival San Diego State is now the most penalized team in the country on a yards per game basis, averaging 92.7 over six outings this season.
How exactly did it get better?
“There wasn’t ranting or raging or up-downing or anything,” Mendenhall said. “There was just explanation, and they basically were coming in three different areas: There’s concentration penalties, which are happening before the play usually, and that’s concentration — fully controllable by each individual.
“Execution, that means during the play. Positioning or fundamentals were not being used correctly, where they’re out of position or they had to reach and grab or hold — something like that. And then, quite frankly, discipline penalties … They took it upon themselves (to fix it).
“So far, it appeared that that message got through, one game into that. We’ll see if it holds.”
UNM’s penalties on a flag-by-flag basis from Saturday: Three offensive penalties for 25 yards (an illegal formation, false start and unsportsmanlike conduct) and just one defensive penalty for 15 yards (another unsportsmanlike).
“Two really frustrated me, which were after the fact, toward the end,” Mendenhall said of both unsportsmanlike penalties. “Critical times, too: One after a touchdown and one after we made a defensive stop. That’s been a unique experience to have that many in three weeks, and have it drop that drastically.”
“We did address it, so that’s gratifying. But I’m still looking (at) that in terms of improvement.”
And as for the two calls that “frustrated” Mendenhall: “Brandishing a weapon” unsportsmanlike penalties aren’t a brand new thing, but it’s pretty close. Per a report from CBS Sports, coaches around the country have been warned about the call after players at Minnesota and South Carolina were notably flagged for it this season.
In essence, it’s a judgment call for the officials that falls under taunting. Simulating firing a weapon is considered an automatic unsportsmanlike — but this isn’t. As it becomes more of an emphasis, however, bank on it be treated as more of an automatic call than not.
“From a broader perspective, we don’t want to condone any kind of gun violence as part of our game,” NCAA coordinator of officials Steve Shaw told CBS Sports. “We can’t write a rule for everything because our players are going to be creative and we don’t know what’s coming next week. But when we see something like this begin to get a foothold, it’s important that we address it as a group.”
Snap counts
UNM’s offensive snap counts from Saturday’s game via PFF: — QB Devon Dampier: 59 — OL Wallace Unamba: 59 — OL McKenzie Agnello: 59 — OL Richard Pearce: 59 — OL LaJuan Owens: 58 — OL Baraka Beckett: 52 — WR Luke Wysong: 48 — TE Trace Bruckler: 39 — WR Nic Trujillo: 38 — WR Caleb Medford: 34 — WR Ryan Davis: 26 — RB Na’Quari Rogers: 19 — RB Javen Jacobs: 17 — RB Eli Sanders: 13 — RB Sol-Jay Maiava-Peters: 13 — OL James Bailey: 7 — TE Vincent Santos: 7 — OL Malik Aliane: 1 — OL Matthew Toilolo: 1
Relatively standard usage for Ryan Davis in his first game this season without a catch and just one target. Na’Quari Rogers logging the highest snap count and lowest rushing total of any running back is probably a good illustration of how hard it’s going to be to predict who ends up producing out of the backfield on a game-by-game basis.
“I’d like for as many players to touch it as possible, until it’s clear that there’s one that is having a better day,” Mendenhall said. “So I reserve the right to suggest that, but the offense is thinking that as well. And let’s face it, sometimes it just is a player’s day.”
And UNM’s defensive snap counts via PFF: — LB Dimitri Johnson: 77 — CB Bryson Taylor: 77 — S Christian Ellis: 77 — S Noah Avinger: 77 — LB Randolph Kpai: 77 — EDGE Moso Tuitele: 76 — DT Kyler Drake: 55 — CB Cam Watts: 51 — EDGE Antoineo Harris Jr: 49 — NICK Nigel Williams: 46 — NT Bryce Santana: 46 — NT Devin Brandt-Epps: 32 — NICK Bobby Arnold IIII: 31 — EDGE Okiki Olorunfunmi: 28 — CB Noa Pola-Gates: 26 — DT Garrison Walker: 22
In a game where UNM played the lowest number of defensive players all season, no defensive snaps for linebacker Jayden Wilson. It’s unclear if that’s due to an injury or not.
Extra points — Another week, another player added to the run game: Running back Sol-Jay Maiava-Peters rushed for 63 yards and one touchdown, primarily out of the wildcat against Air Force, setting new bests in his time at UNM.
“It was just time,” Mendenhall said of the junior BYU transfer. “Sol-Jay, if you go back, he arrived the first day of fall camp. That’s not December with an entire offseason — that’s summer school and late classes and moving his family and all that, and arriving in time for day one.
“(That’s) a huge adjustment. And so, we’re now in week six after fall camp and it’s just taken that much time for him to emerge. We already knew the type of player (he was), but conditioning, acclimation and productivity, that doesn’t just happen when you throw someone out early.” — A little more on the injuries front: Edge rusher Gabe Lopez missed a second straight game on Saturday with an undisclosed injury and defensive tackle Tyler Kiehne did not dress or play. In his return from an injury-related absence, nickel Bobby Arnold III appeared to have suffered another on Air Force tight end Bruin Fleischmann’s 43-yard reception; Mendenhall had no updates on Arnold’s status
Linebacker Mihalis Santorineos was also spotted during pregame warmups on crutches and did not play. Pairing that injury with Wilson’s unexplained absence, UNM’s linebacker depth is a legitimate problem heading into the stretch run. — Per PFF, UNM’s highest-graded offensive player: None other than Dampier, with an overall grade of 85.6 after completing 15 of 20 passes for 179 yards and one touchdown. The sophomore also rushed for 50 yards and two touchdowns.
“The quarterback just, boy, he does a lot of things to beat you — as a ball carrier, as an interior ball carrier, delivering strikes,” Air Force head coach Troy Calhoun said in a postgame press conference. “He’s a really, really good player.”
“We haven’t faced a quarterback like this in a while,” Air Force cornerback Jamari Bellamy added. “Props to him.”
And the Lobos’ highest graded defensive player: Arnold III in his return, earning an overall rating of 75.9 with seven total tackles.
“We were so thrilled to have him back,” Mendenhall said. “He was playing really well in the early series.” — Mendenhall doesn’t give out game balls after big performances and wins. Instead, he lets a player break “the rock” — what appears to be a slab of concrete adorned with opposing teams’ logos. Mendenhall had previously said the tradition was introduced by current SMU strength and conditioning coach Shawn Griswold while he was coaching at Virginia.
After the win over NMSU, Rogers broke the rock following his 122-yard, three touchdown day. Who broke it after Air Force? None other than Wysong, following an evening where he scored on a 79-yard punt return touchdown and hauled in six receptions for 53 yards. — Per PFF, UNM had just seven missed tackles against Air Force, its second-best mark of the season to date. The Lobos missed only five in a 38-21 loss to Fresno State on Sept. 14. — The no-sack streak is over: UNM was logged for its first sack allowed against Air Force after starting the season without one. — UNM is now tied with South Alabama for sixth in the country in rushing yards per carry (6.02). The Lobos trail only Boise State (7.69), Army (6.87), Kansas State (6.43) and Notre Dame (6.13).
