To hear the oddsmakers and pundits tell it, Saturday's football game between UNM and Colorado State University isn't a "David and Goliath" situation -- it's Godzilla vs. Tokyo.
As of today, the Lobos are 16-point underdogs. But odds and point spreads, like football, often rely on tendencies. And UNM's tendency in the last four weeks has gone contrary to the point spread. The Lobos have been the underdog in each of their last three games and turned the betting tables each time for wins over the University of Utah, San Diego State University and Brigham Young University.
As the weeks have progressed, the stakes have gotten high for UNM. This week's game has a possible Mountain West Conference title riding on it.
On paper, the Rams certainly look like a football version of Japan's favorite walking natural disaster. CSU, which is coming off a 49-21 dismantling of SDSU, is ranked 20th in the country. Led by quarterback Bradlee Van Pelt, the Rams racked up 35 first-half points and coasted to the win. Van Pelt had a hand in all five scores, running for two and passing for the other three. He finished the game with nine-of-12 passing for 188 yards and 13 rushes for 93 yards.
As worrisome as Van Pelt is, the Rams' big gun is senior running back Cecil Sapp. At 6-foot-one-inch and 225 pounds, Sapp has proven to be another in a long line of bruising, bulky CSU running backs. He is currently 17th in the nation in rushing with an average of 118.4 yards per game, leading a Rams team that is 19th in the country in total offense, averaging 418.1 yards per game and 13th in the nation in rushing offense, averaging 220.9 yards per game. Sapp has been slowed this week by a turf toe injury he sustained against SDSU. The injury has limited his practice time, but the senior is expected to play.
Van Pelt and Sapp comprise an interesting conundrum for the Lobos, UNM Head coach Rocky Long said.
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"I don't know which one's the most important to contain, which makes them better because they've got several weapons," he said in his weekly press luncheon. "You can fill up the inside gaps and make it hard for Sapp to run, but then you open yourself wide-open for the option play which is Van Pelt's key. So you go into the game trying to slow both of them down and not very many people have been able to do that."
The marquee match-up of Saturday's game appears to be CSU's run-oriented offense versus UNM's run-stuffing defense. During its current three-game winning streak, the Lobo defense has reasserted itself. UNM currently sits at 49th in the nation in total defense, allowing opponents an average of 351.9 yards per game, and 27th in rushing defense, holding opponents to 118.8 yards per game. That stat may be misleading, however, since UNM's last two opponents, SDSU and BYU, are not run-oriented offenses.
"We played decent run defense against two teams that don't want to run it," Long said. "Now we're playing a team that wants to run it and runs it very well in a bunch of different ways."
Lobo linebacker Nick Speegle said adjusting to the Rams' run-first philosophy is a key to the game.
"We've got to switch our mindset to playing run defense first before playing pass defense," he said. "That's good for the defensive line and the linebackers because that's our forte. That's the big difference. We've got to know that Sapp's going to be coming through that hole a lot harder than any running back we've played against."
UNM's offense will not have it much easier. Colorado State's defense is fourth in the MWC, allowing an average of 364.5 yards per game and features a rushing defense that allows almost as little as the Lobo defense -- an average of 143 yards per game.
UNM is last in the MWC in total offense, averaging 317.8 yards per game, but has shown itself to be dependable when needed in the last few weeks.
"We don't get worried," said junior offensive lineman Jason Lenzmeier. "The defense holds them and we go out there. When it gets down to crunch time, we've been making the plays the last few weeks. That's what we have to do. That's our job."
Overall, the Lobos' last three victories have shown that the team is starting to come together not only as separate units, but also as a whole. Lenzmeier said the team is coming together as the season reaches its climax.
"I think we've come together as a team and people are starting to understand what the team concept is," he said. "It's definitely shown the last couple of weeks."
Unity has helped the team focus, as its championship run, so improbable only a few weeks ago, has gained momentum with every game. Lenzmeier said the team isn't getting too wound up about Saturday's game -- despite the fact that it has MWC championship ramifications.
"It's a big game," he said. "The more games we win, the bigger each game gets each week after. You just have to take it in stride."
Saturday's game will be telecast live on KRQE-TV, Ch. 13, at 4 p.m. The game will also be broadcast on KKOB, 770-AM.
