Boy oh boy — this year’s version of the UNM football team makes the lottery seem predictable.
Throw out little things like logic. Discard sensibility. And statistical trends? Well, those are irrelevant.
It didn’t matter that, heading into Saturday’s game with NMSU, the Lobos had won the last six matchups with the longtime rival. It was irrelevant that since 1998, when possessing a lead at halftime, UNM was 45-18 (now 45-19). Or that a lead heading into the fourth quarter, where they were 50-11, all but insured the Lobos’ victory.
The Lobos played uncharacteristically well, but they quite characteristically lost, dropping a 20-17 decision to the Aggies.
After idling for three games, the Lobos’ offense finally dumped the clutch and compensated for the defense’s lack of execution at the end of the game.
Twice on NMSU’s last drive, the defense failed to stop the Aggies from converting on fourth down, the last one coming on fourth-and-goal.
What’s more, I would’ve wagered the house that UNM’s defense was going to hold up. In the last two home games, the Lobos, with their backs against the wall, fended off opponents in their territory and held them to field goals.
But that’s the Lobos for you.
Instead it was the offense — and of all people, Donovan Porterie — to the rescue.
With just 37 seconds to work with, the Lobos marched to NMSU’s 30-yard line, and Porterie hit wide receiver Ty Kirk twice, sandwiched around a 17-yard reception by Chris Hernandez, to set up a 47-yard, game-tying field goal. The Lobos’ fate rested on the foot of an All-American kicker, James Aho, who made 75 percent of his field goals last year. But the kick went wide right, and the Lobos’ tomb was sealed.
NMSU head coach DeWayne Walker, who is also in his first year at the post, said he feels for Locksley.
“Even your worst enemy, you don’t want them to go through what he’s going through right now,” he said.
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An exasperated Locksley, eyes gleaming, couldn’t even praise Porterie’s poise on the last drive.
“We had some guys make plays,” Locksley said. “We put ourselves in position to tie the ball game and go into overtime. But the bottom line is we didn’t get the job done, so it’s a moot point.”
Other than a regrettably memorable third-quarter drop by tight end Lucas Reed that essentially was the difference in the game, there wasn’t much to fault the Lobos for, nothing to point to in efforts to rationalize this defeat.
UNM netted more offensive yards than the Aggies (356 to 218). The Lobos won the turnover battle. Donovan Porterie outplayed Trevor Walls, throwing his first touchdown pass of the season. Demond Dennis wasn’t a menace to his team, but rather for the Aggies, basically matching NMSU’s tailback Seth Smith yard-for-yard — 98 yards on 16 carries to 113 on 31.
Still, Reed’s miscue was unmistakably painful to watch — even for an objective person. If Dwight Clark had “The Catch,” Reed had “The Drop.”
Locksley called a slip screen. Porterie faked to the flats while Reed ducked behind the coverage undetected. Porterie lofted him the ball, but Reed completely muffed the reception, and the Lobos had to settle for a field goal. But Aho’s 44-yard attempt darted wide right, and instead of having a 4-point lead, the score remained 14-13.
“You can’t dwell on the loss too long,” Porterie said. “Coach Locks has a 48-hour rule — we’ll dwell on it a little bit tonight, tomorrow. But Monday we got to come back to work.”
But they’ve been working on the same kinks for weeks now.
In life, there are certain things that are unavoidable: death, paying taxes, and perhaps a winless season for the Lobos.
Stubbornly, Locksley continues to call this a remodeling project.
But it might be time for him to concede that, like it or not, this isn’t a renovation project: It’s a rebuilding job.
“Sometimes before things get good things get pretty bad,” Porterie said.
