by David J. Chavez
Daily Lobo
The UNM football team's up-and-down season continued Saturday.
Unfortunately for the Lobos, there was more negative than positive in a 27-17 loss to Missouri.
UNM started the fourth quarter trailing by three but went flat defensively and allowed the Tigers to score two touchdowns to seal the game.
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The Lobo defense limited the damage for the first three quarters. Missouri put up 396 total offensive yards but failed to put the ball in the end zone several times.
The UNM offense struggled most of the game, failing to get in the end zone until the game was decided.
Junior wide receiver Marcus Smith said the offense didn't play well enough for the Lobos to win.
"The defense gave us a chance to win the game," he said. "We may have messed up a couple of times on offense - that put them back on the field. The defense was on the field for too long, with the offense going three and out too many times."
Quarterback Chris Nelson struggled in his first start after replacing injured starter Kole McKamey. Nelson went 16-for-31, passing for 168 yards with one interception and a touchdown late in the fourth quarter.
Nelson said he's partly to blame for being sacked eight times.
"When the offensive line turns around and sees me on the ground, they need to take that incentive and realize they got to protect me," Nelson said. "But like I said earlier, I attribute it to what I was doing. I needed to get rid of the ball."
The Lobo defense kept the team in the game after giving up 10 points on Missouri's first two possessions.
In the second quarter, defensive end Michael Tuohy put the Lobos back in the game with an 11-yard interception return for a touchdown, cutting the Tigers' lead to 10-7.
The defense then went on to hold Missouri to a field goal before halftime to keep the Lobos down six at 13-7.
With 31 seconds left in the third quarter, Kenny Byrd stepped on the field and nailed a career-best 52-yard field goal to slash Missouri's lead to three at 13-10.
Missouri then put together its finest drive of the game with Chase Daniel parading the Tigers down the field on an 11-play, 80-yard drive that led to an eight-yard TD run with 10:52 left in the game.
Lobo Tyson Ditmore said the team performed poorly in the fourth quarter.
"That's the big positive. We played for 45 minutes, but we didn't finish in the fourth quarter," Ditmore said. "We got lazy and just didn't play very well. Our second-half play and the lack of determination we came out with led to a loss."
UNM cornerback DeAndre Wright gave the Lobos good field position with a 44-yard kickoff return after the Missouri touchdown.
However, the Lobos failed to capitalize on the drive when Lorenzo Williams blocked Byrd's 45-yard field-goal attempt.
The Tigers then went 76 yards down the field for another touchdown to finish the Lobos off.
Despite the loss, the team is steadily improving, said head coach Rocky Long.
"We're probably a lot better now than we were two weeks ago," Long said. "But are we good yet? No way. We have a long way to go to become a good football team, but as long as we keep making improvements weekly, we'll get there."
