The UNM football team has yet to score an offensive touchdown after their 44-10 loss at the hands of Tulsa on Saturday at University Stadium.
“It’s been a long time since I went two games without scoring a touchdown,” head coach Mike Locksley said. “I think the ineffectiveness of the run game (was a factor) again. I’m used to being able to run the football. We have to find a way to manufacture big plays.”
So far, the Lobos’ only touchdown two games into the season came from the legs of outside linebacker Tray Hardaway, who scooped up a fumble and steamed 92 yards to the end zone about one minute into the fourth quarter.
Only about half of the 30,051 Lobo fans who went to the game remained in the stands to witness the touchdown. By that time, it wasn’t enough to stop the Lobo hemorrhaging, because they trailed 30-10.
If it’s any consolation to Locksley and his Lobos, Tulsa head coach Todd Graham said UNM’s defense play was solid — for at least half the game.
“They did better than I thought they would,” he said.
In one play, the Lobos’ defense nearly matched the 171 yards the offense totaled.
The offense, on the other hand, littered the field with missed opportunities. They were 1-of-15 on third-down conversions, 1-for-3 on fourth down and fumbled six times, losing the ball on three occasions.
“We had opportunities to make big plays, at least in the first half, and we shot ourselves in the foot,” Locksley said.
The Lobos first and only scoring drive came late in the first quarter. Donovan Porterie, who finished the game throwing 12-of-22 for 85 yards and one interception, completed a 29-yard pass to wide receiver Nick Wilhelm, pushing the Lobos to midfield. Then, a 19-yard reverse to Daryl Jones set up a 48-yard field goal by James Aho, making it 7-3.
Aho, the only offensive player to score, is 3-for-3 on field goals this season.
If the bane of UNM’s offense was missed opportunity, then the Golden Hurricane’s success sprang from seized chances.
Lobo turnovers and a failed fourth-down conversion set up Tulsa with the ball inside UNM territory, and three times the Golden Hurricane found the end zone in less than a minute.
The first Lobo fumble came off a Frankie Solomon punt return in the first quarter. The Golden Hurricane recovered on the Lobo 16. Four plays later, Tulsa capped the drive with a touchdown.
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Tulsa got a pair of touchdowns after starting its last two drives from the Lobos’ 25- and 37-yard lines.
The Golden Hurricane proved they could also march the length of the field, utilizing the passing game and throwing for 338 yards.
“We just take whatever they give us,” Graham said. “If they were going to load it up in the box, we were going to throw the football. They gave us a lot of two-deep situations where we thought we could get some good matchups out of it.”
The team put together an 11-play, 56-yard touchdown drive in the second quarter and two 70-plus yard touchdown drives in the third, all led by Tulsa sophomore quarterback G.J. Klinne.
He completed 22-of-35 passes for 310 yards and four touchdowns.
Even Tulsa backup quarterback Jacob Bowler threw a touchdown against the Lobos in the fourth quarter.
