The New Mexico football team had to wait until 1:10 a.m. Sunday to grind out a 35-26 win over Nevada, but the team’s punter had been waiting the entire season to earn an important accolade.
The Mountain West named junior Corey Bojorquez as the conference’s Special Teams Player of the Week, after he averaged 52.8 yards on four punts in Saturday’s game.
Nevada’s return game was essentially eliminated. Three punts weren’t returned, and Bojorquez unleashed a 66-yard bomb to pin the Wolf Pack at their own 4-yard line when the team sold out to block a punt in the waning moments of the fourth quarter.
“It does feel really good,” Bojorquez said. “I was kind of hoping to get it earlier in the season. Definitely had a rocky start, but it feels good to finally get it now.”
Head coach Bob Davie said Bojorquez has continued to show improvement over the course of the season, especially in recent weeks as the punter has consistently found his form.
“Corey has definitely improved over the last several weeks,” Davie said. “We saw it at Hawaii; we saw it the other night. Maybe it’s the rain — maybe we need to go more wind and rain to help him.”
Bojorquez did have a rough start to the season, averaging only 29 yards in the season opener. But after cracking the 40-yard average just twice in the first six games, he has done so easily in each of the last three games.
The punter said feels much more comfortable with the atmosphere now, and isn’t nearly as nervous as he was to begin the season. He credited his teammates for always staying positive, adding that they would try to pick him up and tell him he would get it next time.
Bojorquez said his grandfather always told him to have a short memory, regardless of whether the last kick was good or bad. If something old is brought into the next kick, it can mess things up.
The Lobos have turned in a few good performances throughout the season, garnering special team’s honors three times this season. Bojorquez joined kicker Jason Saunders and returner Elijah Lilly as previous recipients of the award.
Davie said he didn’t believe the team was playing its best special teams as a whole, but from a punting standpoint, there has been marked improvement.
The head coach said it’s time, late in the season, to jump up and make something happen. Bojorquez has the same mission, saying he would like to earn the honor at least one more time before the season ends.
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The punter said offense, defense and special teams has continued to grow together and, if they all do their job, he could see the team winning out. It would be a great time to peak, if the Lobos can put it together in all three phases for the remainder of the season.
Robert Maler is the sports editor for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers football and men’s and women’s tennis. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @robert_maler.
