Hope quickly disappeared into the Albuquerque night at University Stadium on Saturday.
The UNM football team dropped its home opener to Texas Tech, 52-17, in large part due to a plethora of turnovers, dropped passes, penalties and quick scores by the opposition.
The Red Raiders opened with a 21-point assault in the first quarter — each touchdown scored under one minute of overall possession. Tech’s first three drives, on average, were 27.7 yards and took about 27 seconds each.
UNM head coach Mike Locksley said the Lobos’ 35-point loss is unacceptable, and it shouldn’t sit well with his players.
“I hope they feel sick,” he said. “I hope that they are sick to their stomachs.”
Aside from the ailing special teams’ performance, the Lobos allowed Texas Tech to score only 45 seconds into the contest. Quarterback Taylor Potts hit Austin Zouzalic for a 55-yard touchdown pass for a quick 7-0 lead.
The Lobos allowed two blocked punts. On the Lobos’ first offensive possession, Aaron Crawford busted through UNM’s punt protection and blocked a Ben Skaer kick.
The ball bounced to the UNM three-yard line and Jonathan Brydon recovered. One play later, Texas Tech tailback Eric Stephens ran it in from three yards out.
“It’s just a matter of guys taking care of their assignments and doing their job,” Locksley said, referring to the punt block. “I mean, when it’s a one-man rush and he splits the wedge, then we have got to get somebody else in there to take care of their responsibility.”
The punt-blocking blunders weren’t the Lobos’ only missed duties. The kickoff team gave up 175 total yards on kickoff returns, including a 93-yard kickoff return. The Raiders scored two plays later for a 21-3 advantage.
“You want your special teams to make big plays,” Texas Tech head coach Tommy Tuberville said. “I mean, we blocked two punts and (had) very good kickoff return. I thought the field position was just unbelievable for the offense.”
In the second quarter, UNM quarterback B.R. Holbrook had the offense clicking on almost all cylinders.
UNM cut the Red Raiders’ lead to 31-17 with 55 seconds left in the first half, when Holbrook scampered for an 11-yard run. Holbrook was drilled and lost the ball, but wide receiver Chris Hernandez scooped up the football and ran 45 yards for a touchdown.
Holbrook finished with his first career 300-yard passing game (323), but threw two game-altering interceptions in the second half.
The Lobos committed 16 penalties for 145 yards, including two that eliminated a Lucas Reed 15-yard touchdown reception before the end of the first half.
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Holbrook said the Lobos had too many mental mistakes, despite mentality being an area they emphasized heading into Saturday’s matchup.
“We had way too many penalties,” he said. “It seems like we would take two steps forward and one step back.”
Not masking his frustration, Locksley said the Lobos were prepared for Saturday’s game and he doesn’t understand why areas they worked on in practice don’t transfer over to the game.
“I am very disappointed in the showing that we’ve had the last couple of weeks, and we’re going to find a way to get it right,” he said.
*Football vs. Utah
Saturday
University Stadium
6 p.m.
*
