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For the first few games of the season, the UNM football team held its own, but coming off its third loss in a row, it seems the team is falling apart.
The Rebels shellacked the Lobos 35-7 at UNLV on Saturday. The Rebels had only one victory coming into the contest and are now 2-8, 2-3 MWC.
UNM allowed three plays of 58 yards or more and scored once out of six drives that reached UNLV’s side of the field.
The chances of a bowl bid have all but evaporated, as the Lobos must win their next three games to earn one.
Head coach Bob Davie said the Rebels clearly outplayed the Lobos.
“We got whipped,” he said. “We can look at the stats all we want, but they whipped us.”
UNM’s defense was torched for 530 total yards, giving up 241 on the ground and 289 through the air.
“We’re pretty thin in the secondary,” Davie said. “There are some things that happened and you just say, ‘That didn’t just happen, did it?’”
UNM went down at halftime 21-0, but cut the deficit to 14 early in the third quarter when freshman running back Carlos Wiggins hit pay dirt from 5 yards out.
After the teams exchanged punts, UNLV redshirt freshman quarterback Nick Sherry hit sophomore wide receiver Devonte Davis for a 75-yard touchdown to give the Rebels a 28-7 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Davie said the defense couldn’t get a stop when the team needed it.
“They outcoached us,” he said. “They had some plays for some giant chunks of yardage.”
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On the Lobos’ next possession, they marched down the field to the Rebels’ 2-yard line for a first-and-goal situation. But freshman quarterback Cole Gautsche was hit for a 4-yard loss on second down, and the Lobos were hit by a delay-of-game penalty that set them back 5 more yards. On fourth down, Gautsche threw an interception to freshman defensive back Kenny Keys to end any attempt of a comeback.
UNLV running back Bradley Randle scored the final touchdown of the game from 58 yards out to give the Rebels a 35-7 lead with 3:18 left in the game.
The Lobos rushed for 307 yards on the day, but Davie said UNLV’s rush defense was able to contain runs up the gut.
“We had a lot of opportunities on offense, we just didn’t execute. We didn’t sustain our blocks,” Davie said. “The biggest disappointment is we felt coming in we had a chance running the ball up in the middle. They took the dive away and I give them credit.”
UNM running back Kasey Carrier, the second leading rusher in the nation coming into the game, managed only 52 yards on 18 carries.
Sophomore running back Chase Clayton led the Lobos in rushing with 75 yards, while Gautsche ran for 45 yards on 11 carries.
The Lobos came in with the worst passing attack in the nation, ranking last among the 120 Football Subdivision schools. They mustered 43 yards passing, 38 of which came off one play.
UNLV scored the first touchdown of the game when junior tailback Tim Cornett hit the end zone from 17 yards out to cap a 9-play, 80-yard 2:37 drive.
The Rebels reached the house twice in the second quarter with drives of 78 and 97 yards to give them a 21-0 lead.
The UNLV running back tandem of Cornett and Randle rushed for a combined 223 yards.
Davie said the Lobos (4-6, 1-4) haven’t been the same team since they lost a 24-14 halftime lead against Fresno State.
“They hit us everywhere, and I didn’t think we responded today,” he said.
