Future opponents of the UNM football team may have found the best way to attack the Lobo defense after its poor performance in a 42-30 loss to Texas Tech University.
The Red Raiders "Air Raid" spread offense left the Lobo defense scrambling and confused as to how to stop the onslaught. The explosive offense had UNM guessing where Tech would attack from next. The defense struggled to keep Red Raiders contained, giving up 426 yards of total offense, including 364 through the air.
"We didn't cover very well," head coach Rocky Long said. "Their receivers beat our DB's and they have a good quarterback and he can get the ball in their hands."
The Lobos swaggered into the game, after punishing the University of Texas El Paso last week for nine sacks and negative 53 yards rushing. However, Texas Tech had a much more experienced offense and a wide-open attack.
The Red Raider offense is designed around quick passes and spreading the field to get one-on-one coverage on the wide receivers.
From the first possession of the game, Tech showed how it was going to attack the Lobo defense. The offense opened in shotgun formation with three receivers and quarterback Kliff Kingsbury completed six-of-nine passes for 81 yards.
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Most of the completions came with the receivers running crossing or fade routes - the most effective routes against man-to-man coverage.
The Lobo defense, predicated on blitzing a lot of players and leaving its cornerbacks alone, was thrust on its heels.
The secondary had trouble staying with the receivers, giving up too much space and often getting beat. The daunted pass rush was kept at bay by a good offensive line and usually an extra running back or receiver blocking. The Lobos were only able to produce two sacks.
"We got to give credit to their offensive line for keeping us out," senior defensive end Brian Johnson said.
With the Red Raider offense protecting the quarterback well, the Lobos started sending more players to blitz. Then Texas Tech started mixing up the passing routes to include screens and shovel passes to use the Lobos aggressiveness' against themselves.
A perfect example was in the fourth quarter with Texas Tech leading 28-17 and the Lobos looking for a stop. On a third-down-and-six at the UNM 32-yard line, the Lobos sent a full-out blitz that looked like it would produce a sack. However, it was a well-designed screen to running back Ricky Williams, who went untouched into the end zone, leaving the Lobo defenders frustrated.
"We didn't execute the way we should have," Johnson said. "We played decently in the first half, but in the second half we fell apart."
The one aspect the defense played well in was the run defense as it held the Red Raider ground game to 62 yards.
While several Mountain West Conference teams might be able to look at the Texas Tech team for hints, the only school that runs a similar spread offense to the Red Raiders is Brigham Young University.
