The UNM football team looks to get back to .500 mark tomorrow when it takes on the always talented and dangerous San Diego State University Aztecs.
The Lobos have had a bumpy season filled with ups and downs. Two weeks ago UNM extended its bowl chances for another week with a thrilling overtime victory over Utah.
The Lobos are currently 4-5 with an outside shot at their first bowl appearance since 1997. To get there, UNM must win three of its four remaining games on a schedule that includes Colorado State University and Brigham Young University.
SDSU is a team that the Lobos cannot afford to overlook. Although the Aztecs are just 3-6 overall, they hold an impressive 3-1 record in the Mountain West Conference. SDSU is coming off a disappointing 34-10 loss to BYU, snapping its three-game MWC winning streak. In the contest, BYU exposed the Aztecs secondary, passing for 283 yards and three touchdowns. The Cougars also managed to hold SDSU star-receiver J.R. Tolver to just four catches and 30 yards on the game.
Tolver has received attention throughout the MWC this season while piling up a NCAA leading 138.44 yards per game receiving. The Aztecs present a double threat with another outstanding receiver in Kassim Osgood who is averaging 8.56 catches per game with 118 receiving yards per contest. Good enough for third and sixth in NCAA rankings.
"They're both really good and I think they're both (going to be) pros," head coach Rocky Long said at Tuesday's media luncheon. "I think if you have one really good receiver, they're some things you can do on defense to negate his abilities. As soon as you have two really good receivers, it's impossible to take either one of them away. They throw the ball really well and we haven't played good pass defense the past few weeks."
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
If UNM can force SDSU to run the ball and turn the game into a physical contest then they should be in good shape. The Aztecs leading rusher Fred Collins has gained only 212 yards this season.
The Lobos, on the other hand, will need to rely on the run to be successful. Tailback DonTrell Moore has stepped up nicely in his freshman year, steadily improving with each game. In his last two contests Moore has topped the 160-yard rushing mark.
Quarterback Casey Kelly has shown heart and determination this season despite an injury to his non-throwing arm. Against Utah he showed a new element to his game by rushing on several crucial plays late in the game and overtime. Kelly will need his receivers to make plays for the Lobos to be successful.
Wide receiver Dwight Counter also has stepped up, catching an 80-yard touchdown pass in the Lobos' previous game - the longest of the season for UNM. Joe Manning has also rose to the occasion of late gaining an average of 10.5 yards per catch.
Another encouraging sign for the Lobos against Utah was how well the defense played in the second half. They completely shut down the Utes while playing a more conservative zone defense. The combination of UNM playing so well in zone defense and the explosive SDSU offense leads to the assumption that the Lobos could be less aggressive on defense than fans have become accustomed to.
"We're going into the game a lot more conservative than we've ever gone into a game since I've been here," Long said. "We'll blitz some. If we blitz early and we can cover them man-to-man, we'll blitz the whole day. If we blitz early and all of a sudden we get beat in man coverage for an 80-yard touchdown pass, we probably won't play much man-to-man anymore."
