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Sports

In home opener, key is defensive discipline

Ryan Tomari | September 10

Guns up! But for a moment, forget the Red Raiders. While the UNM football team hosts Texas Tech Saturday at University Stadium in its 2010 home opener, the real question lingers: How will the Lobos respond to that 72-0 pounding in Oregon, in which the Ducks racked up 720 yards? Simply put, head coach Mike Locksley said the missing an ingredient is discipline.? “For us right now, it’s playing with the discipline that we need to play with as a team,” Locksley said.

Sports

Are we forever doomed?

Ryan Tomari | September 7

It was supposed to be different. It was a fresh start, a new season and a second chance for a bewildered leader. But 29 minutes and 45 seconds into the 2010 UNM football season, the Lobos found themselves down 59-0 to No.

Sports

Tails between legs after opener

Lucas Clark/The (Oregon) Daily Emerald | September 7

Hopefully the alarm clock was as loud as it could be immediately following the fifth-worst loss in UNM football history. The Lobos fell at the hands of the No.

Sports

A quacking and howling symphony

Ryan Tomari | September 2

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.

Sports

He knows if you've been bad or good

Isaac Avilucea | December 14

Disclaimer: This column is satire. Dear UNM Administrators, Mike Locksley and message board bloggers: Season’s greetings from your sports editor at the Daily Lobo.It’s been a tumultuous year filled with embarrassment, angst and disappointment. Understandably, at this point, it’s safe to assume that I’m not your favorite person to interact with.

Sports

Transfer request reluctantly granted

Isaac Avilucea | December 6

All Adam Watson wanted for Christmas was his transfer release from the Lobo football team. Until Sunday, Watson’s wish was in jeopardy of not being granted. The former UNM freshman wide receiver, who redshirted this year, was earlier reported to be transferring to play football at another school.

Sports

Last game ends in crushing defeat

Ryan Tomari | November 30

Opposites might attract, but it was fatal attraction for the UNM football team and head coach Mike Locksley when the Lobos faced TCU on Saturday. The Horned Frogs (12-0 overall, 8-0 in the MWC), at the other end of the spectrum record-wise, trounced the Lobos (1-11 overall, 1-7 in the MWC), 51-10, in Fort Worth, Texas, capturing the Mountain West Conference championship outright and getting a bid for a Bowl Championship Series game.

James Aho boots a field goal during Saturday’s win over Colorado State. Aho kicked the game-winning field goal, propelling the Lobos to a 29-27 win at University Stadium, which is UNM’s first of the season.

Sports

Winning field goal redeems kicker

Mario Trujillo | November 22

Boom. Boom. Boom. Let me hear you say Aho! A name scorned last week is now celebrated. A 27-yard field goal in the waning seconds of the Colorado State game may overshadow any sour memory fans had about kicker James Aho.

Sports

Tides finally turn after season-long losing streak

Isaac Avilucea | November 22

Curse ye, Colorado State. Curse ye, for ruining the UNM football team’s quest for imperfection. The Rams, entering Saturday’s contest riding a seven-game losing streak — outdone only by the Lobos, who had lost 14 consecutive games dating back to last year — looked like they had swapped uniforms with UNM at University Stadium. (Note to Athletics Director Paul Krebs: This slim 29-27 win for the Lobos doesn’t merit a contract extension for Locksley.

Demond Dennis, middle, celebrates alongside fellow running back James Wright, left, and cornerback Anthony Hooks, right. UNM won its first game of the season, a narrow 29-27 win over Colorado State.

Sports

Won and ten

Ryan Tomari | November 22

Certain things weren’t meant to be set in stone. For example, an 0-12 season for the UNM football team.

Sports

Football program urges fans to ‘Think Pink’

Ryan Tomari | November 19

Mike Locksley has battled on the football field for 20-plus years, but nothing could prepare him for the news that his mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. Locksley’s mother, Venita Locksley, a fighter, survived breast cancer.

Sports

Locksley still making empty promises

Isaac Avilucea | November 19

Week in, week out, the media continues to put a quarter in that old Locks’ jukebox. And why not, when it plays such lyrical prose, such melodic, sweet-sounding music? If the head coaching gig doesn’t work out, Mike Locksley should consider becoming a motivational speaker. To his credit, if there’s one thing Locksley and his players have learned how to do over the course of this season, it’s to linguistically sweeten the tart. So much so, in fact, that should the Lobos go 0-12, Locksley, please mull over giving the eulogy at UNM’s season-ending memorial service. Figuratively, Locksley was planning on winning a game this year.

News

GPSA: Krebs a poor leader

Pat Lohmann | November 16

The Graduate and Professional Students Association will meet next week to discuss a no-confidence vote in Vice President of Athletics Paul Krebs. All graduate students are invited to attend the meeting in the SUB on Monday.

Sports

BYU won't hold back for 0-9 team

Isaac Avilucea | November 12

Mike Locksley may just have an undiagnosed case of dissociative amnesia. The same could be said of the UNM football team. Neither Locksley nor defensive end Jaymar Latchison can recall the Lobos’ series record against BYU: 43-14-1. Curiously, Locksley rapidly rattled off a barrage of statistics during Tuesday’s weekly media luncheon. But when it came to the Lobos’ record against ranked BYU squads, Locksley conveniently skipped over it, until a reporter brought it to his attention. “I like to have selective memory when it comes to negative things, for the most part,” he said. He kind of has to, since UNM, when facing the Cougars while ranked, has managed just an anemic 1-15 record.

News

Locksley incident brings policy shift

Pat Lohmann | November 9

UNM President David Schmidly is recommending changes in Human Resources and University Counsel policies in light of the media outcry after head football coach Mike Locksley’s Sept. 20 physical altercation and the investigation that followed. Schmidly sent a letter to Athletics Director Paul Krebs recommending that the HR representative in the Athletics Department report to the University’s Division of Human Resources.

Sports

Players still winless after Utah game

Ryan Tomari | November 9

Fact: The UNM football team is 0-9, and it’s not fine. Solution: Well, other than consider scheduling YAFL teams, there might not be one. Unfortunately for the Lobos, their final three games don’t get any easier.

Athletics Director Paul Krebs, right, answers a reporter’s question during a press conference in the SUB on Wednesday. Krebs, Vice President for Human Resources Helen Gonzales and UNM President David Schmidly sought to clarify the incident involving a physical altercation between head football coach Mike Locksley and assistant coach J.B. Gerald. “We’re embarrassed by the whole situation,” Schmidly said in his opening remarks.

News

'We bungled,' administrators say

Isaac Avilucea | November 4

Straight from UNM President David Schmidly: The University of New Mexico “bungled” its investigation into the Sept. 20 physical altercation between first-year head coach Mike Locksley and former wide receivers coach J.B. Gerald. Flanked on the right by Athletics Director Paul Krebs and on the left by Vice President of Human Resources Helen Gonzales, Schmidly repeatedly denied that the University concealed any findings of its investigation.

News

Gerald to University: Expect lawsuit

Isaac Avilucea | November 2

J.B. Gerald, the Lobos’ former wide receivers’ coach, said he had faith that the University would expose the truth at the conclusion of its investigation into a Sept. 20 physical altercation between him and head coach Mike Locksley. But during a 50-minute interview with the Daily Lobo on Saturday, Gerald said it became increasingly apparent throughout the process that the University wasn’t concerned with determining exactly what happened that day.

Sports

Inches from a win, but still a miss vs. SDSU

Mario Trujillo | November 2

The UNM football team put up 20 points against San Diego State, the second highest output for the Lobos this season. And to think, it was on former head coach Rocky Long, now San Diego State defensive coordinator.

Lobo center Erik Cook blocks one of his UNM teammates during the Cherry Silver scrimmage in this file photo. Cook said playing against former head coach Rocky Long, who is now San Diego State’s defensive coordinator, will be peculiar.

Sports

Locksley and team face former head coach Long

Ryan Tomari | October 30

No, it’s not the “Return of the Mack,” the hit 90s song by Mark Morrison — it’s just the return of UNM’s head football coach, Mike Locksley, to a 0-7 team. After a 10-day suspension for being involved in a physical altercation with assistant coach J.B.