A quacking and howling symphony

The 2009 record says it all: 1-11.

And how can you forget about the off-the-field incidents? Well fans, students and faculty haven’t forgotten, but for UNM head football coach Mike Locksley and the UNM football team, the past is the past.

Except the present is even more daunting. The Lobos will travel to Eugene, Ore., to face No. 11 Oregon, the reigning Pac-10 champions.
“We realize that we have a tough challenge ahead,” Locksley said. “I love a challenge, and my team loves a challenge. Oregon is a proven winner.”

At his disposal, Oregon head football coach Chip Kelly said at a teleconference he has a swarming yellow-and-green defense, and he said his team is ready to get pads popping. The Ducks have been idle since losing to Big Ten Champion Ohio State in the Rose Bowl 26-17 on Jan. 1.
“Our players are chomping at the bit, and they are getting sick of hitting at each other,” Kelly said.

The Oregon offense was eighth overall in scoring points in the nation last year and sixth overall in total rushing yards, averaging 231.7 yards per game.

On the defensive side of things for UNM in 2009, not good.

UNM was ranked No. 100 in total defense last year giving up an average of 418.7 yards per game.
In an enduring theme, the Lobos’ schedule is peppered with proven winners: After Oregon, UNM has Texas Tech and then Mountain West Conference foe Utah Utes, who is No. 24 USA Today’s poll.

The middle of the schedule seems to be slightly easier for UNM after the first three games, with games against UNLV, UTEP and New Mexico State (Oct. 9).

Before the brutal three game stretch at the end of the season, Rocky Long will return to his old stomping grounds in Albuquerque, but this time as San Diego State’s defensive coordinator Oct. 23.

Offensive lineman Byron Bell said the Lobos plan to succeed this year, but part of that starts with the fundamentals.

“We are going to take what the defense gives us,” he said. “We were in a new system, and we had to come out running the football more, and this year we are going to open it wide. But it starts up front on the offensive line and the defensive line, but if we perform up front we will win a lot of football games.”

Hopefully, Locksley said, everything the Lobos have worked on through spring and fall camps will transfer to the field Saturday.
“Coach Kelly has done a tremendous job, and we have a tremendous amount of respect for there talent there,” he said. “We look forward to the game.”