by Colin Crane-Smith
Daily Lobo
An 8-foot Aggie burned Thursday night as cheering Lobo fans crowded Johnson Field to show support for the football team.
The marching band led the UNM Performance Squad and a police escort onto Johnson Field at around 7:45 p.m., starting the festivities. After the "Crazy Lobo Contest" - a best homemade Lobo costume event - and short speeches by football team representatives, a torch was put to the Aggie to chants of "Burn, Aggie, burn."
Many students said they were impressed by the rally.
"They really put an emphasis on school spirit," said Crystal Switch, a junior.
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Provost and Executive Vice President of Academic Affairs Eliseo Torres estimated 600-700 students came out for the rally.
"It's a wonderful tradition," Torres said. "It will certainly help us win this year. This is our year to take the Mountain West Conference."
He also added he was proud of the Associated Students of UNM volunteers for organizing the Red Rally again this year.
Lobo football players urged the crowd to come to Las Cruces to watch the Lobos beat the Aggies.
Kevin Walton, a starting safety on the team, said there was "no question" the Lobos will win on Saturday.
Walton said the team appreciated the support of the fans on the field.
Some students weren't as enthused about the game.
"We need a virgin sacrifice this year," freshman Robert Duran said. "That'll help."
About a minute after the figure started burning, it fell off the pyre to the ground, where flames continued shooting about 40 feet in the air for over 10 minutes. The crowd howled as the fire kept burning.
Students mingled with 10 volunteers from the New Voters Project, a nonpartisan voter registration group, firemen standing at the ready, and various groups handing out free things from footballs to sodas.
"It just gets everybody hyped," sophomore Sam Villarreal said. "We can carry that out to the field."
The Aggie was built in the basement of the Telos Campus House, which is on the corner of Las Lomas Road and Yale Boulevard. The 300-pound figure was built from chicken wire and almost 5,200 napkins over a wood frame.
"Granted, we used a couple for pizza, but most were used on the Aggie," ASUNM President Kevin Stevenson said.
The Lobos face the Aggies Saturday night in Las Cruces at Aggie Memorial Stadium. It will be the 95th time the teams meet.
Because of the success of last year's rally, a new executive branch of ASUNM emerged this year - Lobo Spirit.
The rally was the second Red Rally put together by the team of volunteers. Because the first was such a success, Stevenson said it will a yearly event. Volunteers are always welcome, he added.
