UNM football fans' pigskin parade was spoiled by TCU last week.
Saturday, UNM and fans will look for a different outcome. And boy, are they in for a dandy.
Although the nickname and colors - Aggies and crimson - are the same as rival NMSU, there is barely a scrap of tradition behind Saturday's marquee match with Texas A&M.
And that's what makes it interesting.
A little history: Saturday's contest is only the second time UNM has played A&M. The last was in 1926, and the Lobos were thrashed 63-0.
Still, Lobo cornerback DeAndre Wright said that unless A&M was throwing down a Texas-sized bluff and not showing its offensive packages against Arkansas State, the Lobo defense should prepare itself for what the Aggies' offense will unleash.
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"They like to run the ball a lot," Wright said. "They have two talented running backs. (Jorvorskie Lane) used to play running back last year, but they moved him to fullback. So, I guess they have a little duo back there."
On paper, the Aggies and Lobos appear to match up well, sharing many elements.
Like the Lobos, the Aggies lost nearly all of their starting linemen - the lone returner is tackle Travis Schneider.
The Aggies lost all three of their wide receivers and will likely rely heavily on their running game.
Mike Goodson stands to carry much of the load.
Goodson opened the season with 154 all-purpose yards against Arkansas State (124 of those coming on the ground). But A&M will supplant Goodson with 6-feet, 285-pound Lane, who mirrors Lobo tailback Rodney Ferguson: Neither is afraid to lower his shoulder.
Ferguson said he looks to go tit-for-tat with Goodson, but he'd much rather come out with the W.
"I want to be the best running back in the nation," he said. "But I'd rather win the game than be No. 1 in the nation and have lost the game."
Left to chance
Everybody deserves second chances. And usually the Lobos have put good use to those chances, going 4-0 in week two when they dropped their season opener. The Lobo offense is much improved in week two, as well, averaging 36 points per game. The last time the Lobos started the season 0-2 was in 2000.
But to win Saturday, the Lobos will need to pump a pulse into an offense that had a DNR against TCU.
The special teams unit will also need to pick up the slack. A failure to execute on both units benefited TCU's offense, as its average starting field position was the 50-yard line.
"A 26-yard punt, a 7-yard punt - that doesn't help the whole scheme of things," head coach Rocky Long said.
D-Fence
Although the defense gave up 171 rushing yards to TCU, Long said the Lobos won't necessarily blitz more to stop the run.
"I don't think we'll go into this game with any different mind-set," he said. "Very little of their running yardage is what you would consider normal running plays. (TCU's) quarterback, on quarterback leads, quarterback powers, read-option plays, gained 70 or 80 of those yards."
Long said the defensive line filled the gaps whenever TCU ran more traditional running plays.
"When TCU ran normal running plays, where they handed it to the tailback, go see what their average was per carry," he said. "It was less than two yards per carry."
With Glover Quin and Wright on the corners, however, Long has the option to send extra pressure.
Call Wright and Quin "Skipper" and "Gilligan," because Wright said he and Quin are island-dwellers at heart - they like being left in man-to-man coverage.
"We love it," he said. "There's no pressure at all. We look forward to being the target out there. Hopefully, they'll throw some balls our way so we can make plays. And when they do, we just got to take advantage of the opportunity."
Wright said those opportunities were hard to come by against the Horned Frogs.
Still, Wright looks to keep his receivers out of the end zone
"Nothing's changed," he said. "I don't want no receiver scoring on me."
