New Mexico’s goal for the week was clear — “don’t let New Mexico State beat us twice.” But the Lobos seemed to repeat many of the same mistakes, which contributed to another loss.
Costly turnovers on offense and allowing big plays on defense have hurt the Lobos the past two games, but a bigger issue may have affected the outcome Saturday.
Head coach Bob Davie said that although it wasn’t the reason the team lost to the Aggies last week, New Mexico needed to stick to its trademark and run the football.
He said with five minutes left in a game, New Mexico doesn’t want to become a pass team. Davie said in that situation the team has to be able to capitalize on its strength and run the ball to win the game.
A 9-point lead evaporated after the team ended drives by throwing three straight incompletions, a late interception and by putting the ball in the air on its final seven plays.
“We shouldn’t have got into a position where we felt like we had a better chance by throwing it late in the game to win,” Davie said. “That’s not us, that’s not our identity. It will never be us.”
But with 5:30 remaining on the clock on Saturday, it became the team’s identity again.
The Lobos took an early 21-0 lead, but gave it all back, and more, just as quickly. The team gave up explosive plays and allowed points off of turnovers, but was still far from panic mode.
With the game in the balance, trailing by 6 and needing a touchdown to win, the team had plenty of time and an opportunity to lean on its rushing attack.
However, instead of relying on a running game that averaged over five yards per carry on the day, the team again reverted to the passing game.
After picking up decent yardage on a first down rush, redshirt senior quarterback Austin Apodaca threw an incomplete pass on second down, and was sacked trying to pass on third.
It forced a Lobo punt, but also resulted in a shoulder injury that knocked the quarterback out of the game.
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He ended the day completing less than 40 percent of his passes, going 5-13 for 85 yards, a touchdown and an interception.
Redshirt junior quarterback Lamar Jordan saw his first significant action of the season. He went 8-11 for 84 yards, and picked up 101 yards rushing to eclipse the century mark on the ground for the fifth time in his career.
The offense has shown big play ability with both quarterbacks behind center. The two split time last season, and the combination of Jordan’s performance and Apodaca’s injury could impact the offense moving forward.
The defense has had some Jekyl and Hyde moments as well. In all three games this season, it has allowed huge plays, especially in the first half.
The second half has been a different story. Through its first two games, the defensive unit has been able to ratchet up the intensity coming out of the locker room and make the necessary stops to give the team chances to win.
Saturday, it was the same story. New Mexico gave up two one-play scoring drives, allowing Rutgers to find paydirt on a 75-yard pass and an 80-yard run.
Despite a focus on Janarion Grant, the Lobos allowed him to make big plays as well. Grant, a wide receiver, threw a scoring pass on a trick play, giving his team a 28-21 lead when he returned a punt 69 yards for another TD.
Davie said the team made a mistake in punting the ball down the middle of the field and giving Grant an opportunity for a return.
The Lobos also missed a field goal late in the final minute, which would’ve cut the deficit to six points and set up an onside kick.
After giving up 28 first-half points, the defense stepped up again in the second half, limiting its opponents to just 93 yards.
Unfortunately, the Scarlet Knights secondary clamped down as well.
Rutgers gained some momentum after a Tyrone Owens fumble early in the third quarter, but the defense kept the damage to just three points.
Later, the Lobos held Rutgers to no points and a pair of field goals, after an unsuccessful onside kick and a pair of poor punts allowed the Scarlet Knights to start drives at its own 49-yard line, and the UNM 35-yard line and 16-yard line, respectively.
New Mexico outgained Rutgers by over 100 yards and possessed the ball for almost two-thirds of the game, but the Lobos’ margin for error was very slim.
With chances to win the last two games on its final drive, one could argue that the Lobos have played well enough to be 3-0. The team is more than capable of stepping up and making plays — it just needs to limit mistakes and use its strengths to close out games.
Davie said the bye week is coming at an opportune time. The team might be able to use it to get healthy and clean up some of the mistakes.
“We’ve used a lot of energy these last two weeks,” he said. “I think it comes at absolutely a good time before we get into conference.”
The Lobos square off against San Jose State back at home on Oct. 1 to begin their conference schedule.
Robert Maler is a sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers cross country, football, tennis and track and field. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @robert_maler.
