by Adrian Doerfler
Daily Lobo
The UNM football team kept losing control of the ball, leading to another home loss to BYU.
BYU scored 24 points off of five turnovers, and the Cougars beat a mistake-prone Lobo team 31-24 on Saturday.
"We just didn't play very well," head coach Rocky Long said. "We didn't execute very well on offense, and we obviously laid the ball on the ground too much."
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The difference in the game might have come on the fifth play when quarterback Donovan Porterie's pass bounced off wide receiver Travis Brown's hands and was intercepted by BYU linebacker Brian Kehl.
Kehl then sprinted to the end zone for a 36-yard return.
Both defenses battled for the rest of the quarter until BYU running back Manase Tonga scored on an eight-yard run and raised the Cougar lead to 14-0.
On the ensuing drive, Porterie threw another interception on a flea-flicker.
But the UNM defense found ways to stop BYU, and they kept the Lobos in the game until the offense put a drive together. Running back Rodney Ferguson - who carried the ball 22 times for 87 yards in the game - scored a one-yard touchdown just before halftime, bringing the score to 14-6 after John Sullivan missed the extra point.
Porterie said UNM's mistakes crippled the team before halftime.
"In the first half, turnovers is what killed us," Porterie said. "All I can say is that there was a lack of focus."
UNM continued making errors in the second half.
On the Lobos' first drive of the half, Porterie fumbled on a fourth-and-one. BYU quarterback Max Hall took advantage of the turnover and completed a 59-yard pass on the next possession to make the score 21-6.
UNM turned around when Hall fumbled a handoff, and defensive end Michael Tuohy recovered the ball on the Cougars' 19-yard line. Ferguson scored from the five-yard line and cut the lead to 21-13.
After the Lobos forced a BYU punt, Porterie and Ferguson hooked up on a screen pass, and Ferguson raced 71 yards into the end zone.
Porterie then tied the game with a successful two-point conversion.
UNM's opportunity to take the lead came after the defense got the ball back. However, a Matt Quillen fumble quickly gave momentum to BYU.
Hall threw his second touchdown pass to tight end Dennis Pitta.
Sullivan kicked a 43-yard field goal on the following possession, and UNM's defense stopped the BYU offense. Unfortunately, punt returner Frankie Solomon lost control of the ball after running into a blocker, and the Lobos couldn't make another scoring threat.
The loss to BYU proves the Lobos need to become more disciplined, Ferguson said.
"This just shows that we have a lot more work to do," he said. "We need to work on ourselves and get better this week. That's where champions are made, in the bye week."
Football at Wyoming
Oct. 13, Noon
Laramie, Wyo.
