Is facing the No. 9 team in the nation a blessing or a curse? That depends on the UNM football team's perspective. One thing is for sure: The Lobos have a chance to realign the football cosmos and throw a monkey wrench into the BCS picture Saturday when they take on BYU.
After two wins last week, the UNM softball team dropped both games of Saturday's doubleheader against Eastern New Mexico University, 9-8 and 16-8. Head coach Ty Singleton said the Lobos needed to come out like they did last week in wins against West Texas A&M.
After one of its biggest wins of the season, the UNM volleyball team ran into a roadblock Saturday. Displaying little of the energy they showed in Thursday's sweep of No. 21 BYU, the Lobos were defeated 3-1 by Utah on Saturday. The loss puts the Lobos at 13-3 overall and 3-2 in the Mountain West Conference.
When it rains, it pours. The UNM football team - 3-3 overall and 1-1 in the Mountain West Conference - shut out the Wyoming Cowboys 24-0 on Saturday. Wyoming never gained traction on a soaked, soggy University Stadium field and was pummeled by a tough Lobo defense.
After the flu plagued last week's meet in Minneapolis, Minn., the UNM men's and women's cross country teams took eighth and ninth place in the Notre Dame Invitational on only six days' rest. Florida State University swept the field in South Bend, Ind., winning the men's and women's tournaments.
James Aho, by all definitions, fits the quaint, stereotypical mold of a kicker. He is reserved and reluctant to talk - to the point that one of Aho's teammates playfully volunteered to speak on his behalf. "I told you guys to block me off," Aho said, jaw-jabbing at his lockermates for pointing him out.
As much as Lobo fans hate the Aggies, they might just owe them a Hallmark thank-you card at the end of the season. After a 35-24 win over NMSU pulled the Lobos to 2-3 overall and 0-1 in the Mountain West Conference, UNM cornerback Glover Quin said this week's Homecoming game against Wyoming might be the defining point in the Lobos' season.
While Donovan Porterie was studying film on the Tulsa Golden Hurricane, his family was busy preparing for Hurricane Ike. Porterie, a Port Arthur, Texas, native, said his family was affected by the storm that whipped across the Texas coastline. "They had a mandatory evacuation two or three days before the Tulsa game," Porterie said.
UNM made its homecoming in style Thursday with a 3-0 win over BYU in Mountain West Conference volleyball action. After being away from Johnson Gym for more than a month, the Lobos swept the 21st-ranked Cougars 25-22, 25-19, 25-17. "We executed our game plan and moved the ball around well," head coach Jeff Nelson said.
Since 2000, the AFC has been the superior conference in the NFL, with the 2002 Tampa Bay Buccaneers and 2007 New York Giants being the only NFC teams to win Super Bowls this decade. But after New York's monumental upset of then 18-0 New England in the Super Bowl - coupled with Tom Brady's season-ending injury - it seems the balance of power has shifted to the NFC.
It's Homecoming Week and UNM redshirt freshman quarterback Brad Gruner's first home start. Gruner will make his second career start Saturday and will look for his second career win. In his first collegiate start last week against NMSU, Gruner trudged through a dismal first half of offense, helping the Lobos storm back to beat the Aggies with 25 second-half points.
After coming out smokin' and leading its nearest competitor by five strokes, the UNM men's golf team let its lead slip away to UNLV in the last 18 holes Saturday. The Lobos, who hosted the William H. Tucker Intercollegiate Tournament, took second place with a combined score of 1-under par - 11 strokes behind UNLV.
LAS CRUCES - UNM cornerback Glover Quin capped Saturday night with a message for Aggie fans. "Tell them to get in their little bitty cars and drive home," he said. Of course, NMSU was already home. It was the sweetest possible way for the Lobos to win - and the most unsavory way for the Aggies to lose.
LAS CRUCES - Paul Baker didn't get the memo that the UNM football team belonged to Rodney Ferguson. The 5-feet-7-inch, 198 pound Baker, who is known for his nimble running style, rammed out 146 yards on 37 rushes Saturday against the New Mexico State Aggies.
The UNM softball team wasted no time in its first two games of the fall season. The Lobos run-ruled West Texas A&M twice Saturday, beating them 8-0 in both games. Senior pitcher Analise Rubalcava threw a one-hitter in the first game but credited the entire team.
Break out the banners. Pack the celebratory cigars. It's Lobos and Aggies - an interstate battle between the University's football program and its brotherly counterpart in the heart of the south. It's safe to say, as ESPN columnist Bill Simmons once pointed out, there is a difference between a rivalry and a feud.
Even in a rivalry between two schools that has brewed for 114 years, new traditions between UNM and NMSU continue to surface. In its second year, the Rio Grande Rivalry Football Run is getting more attention. This year, the UNM and NMSU ROTC cadets are running Saturday's game ball from UNM's practice field to Aggie Memorial Stadium in Las Cruces.
It has never been en vogue to be left-handed. Some say the life of a left-hander is rougher. But senior Mackenzie White, the first left-handed Lobo women's tennis player since 1990, doesn't see it that way. "I like being left-handed," White said. "It is different; it is a change for everyone else.
Staff Report It was golf's equivalent to a photo finish. The No. 19 UNM women's golf team battled No. 8 Pepperdine to the end. Ultimately, it was the lower-seeded Lobos that prevailed. UNM shot a team total of 872 to Pepperdine's 876. Coming into Sunday's third round, UNM and Pepperdine were tied, but UNM shot a 5-under 287 in the final round to claim the McGuire Invitational.
The aroma of Wilson tennis balls filled the air as the UNM women's tennis team hosted its first tournament of the year at the UNM Tennis Complex. The team was led by senior Ola Abou-Zekry. Abou-Zekry and Anya Villanueva Forte represented the Lobos in two finals.
Solutions by The State News
