Sunday, October 9, 2005
New Mexico a Team in Search of Answers
By Greg Archuleta
Journal Staff Writer
 

Where swagger once roamed, only a staggering football team remains. The University of New Mexico football team, whose toughness highlighted a three-year run of bowl appearances from 2002-04, fell apart Saturday night at University Stadium. Brigham Young rallied from a 24-13 fourth-quarter deficit for a 27-24 victory that left the Lobos as deflated as they were unnerved during the final 15 minutes. UNM's three-game winning streak is a distant memory after three consecutive losses— two in the Mountain West Conference— have killed all the early momentum.
   

"This should be a better football team than it is," coach Rocky Long said after the collapse. "And we haven't played well for the last three weeks. Some of the problems are the same problems."
   

The Lobos had the game all but won early in the fourth quarter as they were on the Cougars' 21, looking to pad their lead. Quarterback Kole McKamey fumbled after a 14-yard run to the BYU 7, and UNM unraveled. Its defense gave up a 93-yard touchdown drive over the next five minutes to allow the Cougars to creep up to 24-19.
   

"It's a game of momentum, and we've got to learn to roll with the punches and keep punching back when things aren't going our way," linebacker Mike Mohoric said.
   

The offense, which had collected 152 yards in the third quarter, could produce only 15 yards on its next drive. BYU even tried to help by drawing two interference calls.
   

"I don't know if it's doubting ourselves," said senior wide receiver Hank Baskett. "We're just not playing as well as we were at the start of the year."
   

The defense, however, has struggled most of the year. But it made plays to preserve wins over UNLV and Missouri in Weeks 1 and 2. Saturday, it blinked. Quickly. The Cougars needed just 68 seconds and five plays to march for the go-ahead drive with 1:40 left in the game.
   

"I thought our defensive players panicked," Long said, "because they didn't even come close to being in their places. We're playing our best players. We don't have anybody else. So there's something else wrong, and it's not them. It's the coaches' fault."
   

The Lobos players refused to allow Long to blame himself.
   

"They put us in the right places," safety Aleem Harris said of the coaching staff. "We just didn't make the plays. That's it, we just didn't go out there and get it done."
   

Added Baskett: "Coach Long is just taking blame to save us. We're the ones not executing."
 

The question now becomes how can UNM rebound from this adversity, especially considering that the team has a tradition of rounding into shape this time of the season?
   

"This is going to be one of those times where you've got to dig deep down and find out what kind of character you really have," quarterback Kole McKamey said.
   

At least, he had an answer.
   

"I don't know," Harris said. "We've got a lot of thinking to do."