The Lobos were outplayed in the Utah shellacking Friday night. They were outrushed, outpassed, outdefended and even outpossessed. Do you realize the Utes held the ball for a good 11 minutes longer than the Lobos?
They were also outfoxed.
"Football should be both teams running at each other and playing solid defense," head coach Rocky Long said two weeks ago. "The tougher team wins."
For a football purist like Long, trick plays would seem to come far and few between. But there the Lobos were - on a first-down play five minutes into the second quarter - with their best wide receiver throwing a long pass down the field to their quarterback.
It was a play they'd worked all week with great success in practice, Long said, but Hank Baskett, a former high school quarterback, couldn't hit the outstretched hands of Kole McKamey.
McKamey, to his credit, made a serious attempt to catch the ball, diving straight forward and going parallel to the ground before watching the football bounce just in front of him.
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Maybe that trick play inspired Utah head coach Urban Meyer to pull a little razzle dazzle of his own.
On Utah's next possession, the Lobo defense forced a long 3rd-and-14 play after Fola Fashola sacked Utah quarterback Alex Smith for a 7-yard loss. Utah punter Matt Kovacevich came out, presumably to do what any punter would on a long fourth down.
There was a slight shift in the offensive line before the snap, and when the ball was finally in his hands, Kovacevich didn't kick it high and deep. Instead, he took off running down the right sideline.
Twenty-one yards later, Utah had a fresh set of downs and UNM had been out-tricked, 1-0.
Long said the play had nothing to do with a lack of coverage.
"We had lots of guys out there," he said. "They just didn't get to him."
Just four plays later, those crafty Utes were at it again. With their end zone in sight, Smith threw what looked like a screen pass to receiver Paris Warren. Warren - surprise - didn't start running, but let the defense shift his way just slightly and threw the ball back to Smith, who ran 21 yards closer to the end zone and set up another Utah touchdown that made the game 21-7.
The 2-0 lead on trick plays would prove to be the final margin, despite an attempt by the Lobos to complete another long pass to their quarterback. Late in the third quarter, with the game still very much in reach and the offense unable to get anything going, they tried the same trick play again.
It was the same result, as Baskett overthrew a streaking McKamey.
That drive ended two plays later, and the game was essentially over.
