by Matthew Kappus
Daily Lobo
The Lobos were down by seven points in the final minutes of Saturday's game, facing fourth down and four yards.
Head coach Rocky Long bet the Lobo defense could hold BYU to three plays and get the ball back for one more shot.
He bet wrong.
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"Our defense had stopped them all the time up until then," Long said. "It was fourth and 4 1/2 - the percentages of getting that aren't very good."
With three time-outs and a few minutes remaining, the Lobos had to stop BYU from getting a first down.
But BYU quarterback Max Hall got that first down on a 17-yard scramble. The play came on third and 10, after two defensive stops by the Lobos.
As time expired, UNM dropped a 31-24 decision to the Cougars.
Defensive end Tyler Donaldson - who had a sack on Hall - said words could not explain his frustration.
"You wish you could get that play back," he said. "It's just hard."
Donaldson helped hold Hall - ranked fourth in the nation in passing - to 251 passing yards. He averaged more than 377 per game going into Saturday.
Despite his frustration with the final drive, Donaldson said he was happy with the defense.
"As a unit, I thought we played good," Donaldson said. "We hit the quarterback a lot."
The defense caused two BYU turnovers - a fumble and an interception. The problem was the Lobo offense.
"Whoever turns the ball over most loses the game, and that's what happened tonight," Donaldson said.
The Lobos - which had three turnovers in their first four games - had five against BYU.
Donovan Porterie, who threw two interceptions along with one touchdown, said lack of focus led to Lobo turnovers.
Against a team like BYU, Porterie said the Lobos had to "be more disciplined as a team and execute on every drive."
He said the defense gave him plenty of opportunities to win the game.
"Our defense played their butts off today," he said. "They competed against a pretty good offense and gave us a chance to rally back today."
Long said the defense played well, but breakdowns in man-to-man coverage in the Lobo secondary led to Cougar touchdowns.
In the second half, BYU had two big passing plays for touchdowns - 58 yards and 32 yards - to put the Lobos away.
Cornerback DeAndre Wright intercepted the ball for the Lobos in the first half. DeAndre said BYU's strategy was to keep the ball away from his side of the field in the second half.
"I kind of saw it - after a while, they stopped throwing it to my side," Wright said. "I guess they were avoiding me."
Wright said UNM is confident about the rest of the season, despite the loss.
"We're going to be a pretty hard team to stop as we go through the conference," Wright said.
