Until Saturday, UNM had been one of the most disciplined teams in the country.
However, New Mexico committed 14 penalties that cost them a total of 154 yards in a 40-21 loss to Tulsa at University Stadium.
“When you have that many penalties, it’s on the head coach,” said UNM head coach Bob Davie. “When you do some of the things we did, it’s on the head coach, and there is no other way to say it. We thought we could outwork, outhit and outdiscipline, and we didn’t do it. They came in here and, honestly, out disciplined us.”
The Lobo defense didn’t do itself any favors by giving up several big passes down the field. Tulsa (2-0) scored on passes that were 69 and 41 yards in length.
The Golden Hurricane’s passing attack did hurt the Lobos on several occasions, but its run offense wore UNM down. Tulsa managed 279 rushing yards and had 600 yards of offense overall.
“We competed on defense, and again, it was really hard to stop them,” Davie said. “They ran the ball on us, probably more than even they anticipated they would run the ball.”
Even with all the mistakes, the Lobos found themselves down by just 12 points in the fourth quarter.
Quarterback Lamar Jordan hit a sprinting Carlos Wiggins for a 29-yard score that was called back because of an illegal motion penalty. On the ensuing play, Jordan was picked off by Tulsa’s Kerwin Thomas. That was the last time UNM (1-1) threatened to score.
“We’ve got to get better as a team,” wide receiver Dameon Gamblin said. “Discipline is a big part of football, and we’ve got to get it if we want to be successful this year.”
The offense sputtered most of the night for UNM. The Lobos did gain 390 total yards of offense, but most of that came in their first couple of drives, which produced 179 yards.
UNM’s vaunted running game had trouble for most of the night, despite gaining 224 yards on 47 attempts. Tulsa had no trouble stuffing the Lobos' attempts up the middle, which forced UNM to run to the outside.
“We have to improve,” Davie said. “It’s not time to by philosophical; it’s not time to talk big-picture. It’s time to talk about how we get that dive going up in there. There, at the end of the game, we can’t make a yard up in there. They just stuffed us.”
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Quarterback Dane Evans had a steady night for the Golden Hurricane. He went 16 of 30 for 321 yards with two touchdowns. Wide receivers Keyarris Garrett and Josh Atkinson combined for 221 yards.
Tulsa running backs Zack Langer and D’Angelo Brewer ran for 139 yards and 133 yards, respectively. Both also scored touchdowns.
UNM’s leading rusher was tailback Teriyon Gipson, who returned from a knee injury. He ran for 71 yards and two scores. Gamblin (131 yards) and Carlos Wiggins (31 yards) were the only Lobo wideouts to have positive receiving yards.
“It’s the second game of the year. Obviously, it was an opportunity that we didn’t take advantage of, because Tulsa beat us,” Davie said. “They came in here and beat us. I give them credit, I really do.”
Thomas Romero-Salas is the sports editor for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @ThomasRomeroS.
