Players look to end streak

by Phil Parker

Daily Lobo

Rival New Mexico State comes to Albuquerque this weekend to take on the Lobos at University Stadium.

UNM is 1-3 with losses in three straight games. The team will look to end its slide against a 1-2 Aggie team that is coming off a loss to Oregon State on Sept. 13. NMSU was off last week.

The Lobos want to jump-start their running game after the Washington State Cougars stuffed both DonTrell Moore and D.D. Cox last weekend. Injuries to the offensive line, and to the rushers themselves, have hindered two of UNM's most important weapons.

"We weren't blocking very well against WSU," head coach Rocky Long said at the media luncheon Tuesday. "I don't know if we weren't blocking very well because they're good on defense or if it's because we weren't blocking as well as we have in the past."

Starting offensive linemen Calvin McDonald and Jason Lenzmeier are both hurt, and Lenzmeier, last year's second-team all-conference tackle, isn't expected back until Oct. 18 when the Lobos will play at San Diego State.

Cox and Moore are both nursing sore ankles, but will play and try to give UNM the boost it needs from the running game.

Defensively, the Lobos are preparing for NMSU's two-quarterback system. The Aggies use both Buck Pierce and Paul Dombrowski at quarterback, sometimes at the same time.

"They run a bunch of trick plays with the two quarterbacks in the games," Long said. "But they aren't all trick plays. They motion off one of them, they run a quarterback power play, they run a bubble screen to the quarterback and they run the option. They run the same offense with either quarterback in the game."

The Aggie quarterbacks pose the biggest threat for the Lobos this weekend.

"Both are tremendous athletes," senior linebacker Shannon Kincaid said. "We have to make sure we keep them contained and watch their trick plays."

But beyond the Xs and Os, this is a rivalry game for state bragging rights.

Last year, in Las Cruces, the Lobos fell to the Aggies 24-13. UNM looks to get back to its winning ways against NMSU - the Lobos have a 60-28-5 lead in the series that stretches back more than 100 years. UNM has met the Aggies 93 times since 1894.

Players said the history between the two teams makes a loss especially hard to take.

Defensive end D.J. Renteria said the players always take heat from the Albuquerque public after losing to their rivals.

"Oh, I hear it all the time," Renteria said. "Especially with a lot of the older fans. They take it to heart."

Long said that part of the reason the rivalry is so terrific is that the teams are so comparable.

"Both teams have the same philosophy on offense - they want to run the ball and use play action pass just like us. Our defensive philosophies are a little bit different, but the talent is very similar. It's been a great rivalry."

But beating an arch-rival may not be as important to the team right now as getting out of the slump the players find themselves in.

"I think to everyone it's more than a game because we're on a losing streak," safety Josh Bazinet said. "We need this win just to get our team back together."