After weeks of internal debate, head coach Bob Davie finally decided to start quarterback Austin Apodaca.
The move worked out early as New Mexico took a 14-7 lead midway through the first quarter against San Jose State after a 4-yard score by tailback Diquon Woodhouse. However, UNM’s lead didn’t last long, as SJSU outscored the Lobos 24-7 for the rest of the game, resulting in a 31-21 loss in San Jose, California on Saturday.
Davie said he started Apodaca over regular starter Lamar Jordan because of the competition that the Lobos will face in the coming weeks.
“We did it early in the week. I don’t know if it was a comprehensive, total evaluation from A to Z as much as it was a gut feeling,” Davie said. “We’re playing some talented teams. It was more of a gut feeling of what we needed to do to come out here and win this football game.”
Apodaca was hit-and-miss in his first career start for UNM. He completed 8 of 20 passes for 130 yards and an interception. He also ran for 59 yards on 12 attempts.
The Lobos’ triple-option scheme didn’t change at all with Apodaca in at quarterback. Still, UNM’s offense did have trouble staying on the field.
“We did some good things and we did some bad things,” Apodaca said. “I take the blame for not finishing drives on offense. That starts with me and ends with me. We didn’t have the ball a lot, but when we did we didn’t do a good enough job of sustaining drives.”
An untimely interception in the third quarter virtually ruined UNM’s chances. On third-and-9 from SJSU’s 45, Apodaca threw a slant to wide receiver Matt Quarells, who wasn’t ready for the ball and tipped it up for an interception.
The Spartans (4-4, 3-2 Mountain West) responded with a 51-yard, seven-play drive that ended with a highlight-reel 12-yard touchdown scramble from quarterback Kenny Potter for a 28-14 lead.
“Quarells seemed like he didn’t get his head around,” Apodaca said. “It seemed like it was the story of our night. It was kind of unfortunate right there.”
UNM’s defense had a hard time containing SJSU running back Tyler Ervin, who rushed for 263 yards on 36 attempts, including a 71-yard score in the first quarter.
Potter had little trouble most of the day with the Lobos. He finished the game 16 of 20 for 181 yards and two touchdowns.
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“I hadn’t seen him like that. He’s got some underrated speed out there, too,” linebacker Dakota Cox said. “That’s definitely something that we didn’t see, but it came down to tackling and taking good angles.”
Lobo running back Teriyon Gipson had 99 rushing yards on just nine carries, but most of those came on a career-long 79-yard touchdown run that tied the score at 7-all in the first quarter.
Jhurell Pressley had another rough day for UNM (4-4, 2-2 MW). The tailback finished with just 19 yards on five attempts with a touchdown.
UNM had a chance to take a lead earlier in the game, but kicker Zack Rogers’ 28-yard field goal attempt was blocked with the score tied at 7.
Thomas Romero-Salas is the sports editor for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @ThomasRomeroS.
