by David J. Chavez
Daily Lobo
The UNM football team will face perhaps its toughest competition of the season when it travels to Provo, Utah, to take on No. 23 Brigham Young.
Quarterback Chris Nelson will be starting for the Lobos, who would become bowl eligible for the sixth straight year with a win.
Freshman Donovan Porterie, who took over as starting quarterback midway through the season, injured his ankle in last week's loss to Texas Christian at University Stadium.
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Nelson took over in the third quarter and almost led the Lobos back from a 24-0 deficit against TCU in a 27-21 loss.
Porterie is not well enough to play this weekend, but head coach Rocky Long expects him to be at full strength by Monday.
Tailback Rodney Ferguson said the team has to play a solid game for all four quarters if it is going to stand a chance against BYU.
"We have to play like we played in the second half against TCU," Ferguson said. "If we play that way the whole game, we can beat BYU this weekend."
The Lobos, who are 5-5 overall and 3-3 in the Mountain West Conference, are looking to get back in the win column after having a three-game win streak snapped against TCU.
It will be a tough task against BYU, which is 8-2 overall and 6-0 in the MWC.
Long said the Cougars are a better team than the rankings show.
"I think BYU is a top-10 team," he said. "They missed a couple of field goals early in the year, or I think they'd be undefeated. So, we're going to have to play a very good game and cause some turnovers and make some special plays to not give them momentum."
BYU crushed Wyoming 55-7 last week to clinch a share of the MWC title.
The Lobos have some history on their side this weekend. UNM has won 15 of its last 20 away games.
The Lobos have not lost back-to-back road games since 2000.
But that could change this weekend, as the Cougars lead the MWC in virtually every stat.
Offensively, BYU is among the nation's top nine in passing at 299.2 yards per game, total offense at 442.1 yards a contest and scoring at 36.5 points per game.
Cornerback DeAndre Wright said the Lobos have to force BYU out of its game plan.
"They're just fundamentally sound, but they don't do anything that we can't stop," he said. "I've seen them on film, and they're just consistent with everything they do."
Defensively, BYU is just as solid.
The Cougars are first in the MWC in scoring defense at 13.5 points allowed per game and third in total defense at 299.7 yards allowed per game. The Cougars are No. 1 nationally in turnover margin at plus-13.
The Cougars are coached by former UNM defensive coordinator Bronco Mendenhall.
Long said that off the field, he's friendly with Mendenhall, but once the game starts, it's strictly business.
"They've changed their defense, so our defenses aren't even close to the same," he said. "We're friends, but when the game starts, he'll worry about his team, and I'll worry about mine."
The team is focusing on the game at hand, but a bowl game is in the back of the players' minds, Wright said.
"Right now, we're just thinking about BYU," he said. "We win that game, and we get to a bowl game, and that would be good. I wouldn't mind playing a 13th game."
