Three words sum up the Lobos' season opener against TCU: elation, separation and deflation. After much hype, the Lobos came out flat-footed and were steamrolled 26-3 by Mountain West Conference rival TCU. "They came out with a little bit more intensity," wide receiver Chris Hernandez said.
Defense was the only thing fans donning "Cherry Crush" T-shirts could cheer about Saturday at University Stadium. While the Lobos met an unsavory 26-3 loss to rival TCU, the defense held its own, especially the secondary, which limited the Horned Frogs to 120 yards passing.
The UNM volleyball team spikes into action this weekend as it hosts the Lobo Classic at Johnson Gym. After weeks of grueling practices and scrimmages, the Lobos will make their 2008 season debut against Central Arkansas today. "As a team, we look really good," said Jeanne Fairchild, one of 10 players returning for UNM this season.
Get your popcorn ready. Saturday awaits. No more talk - time for UNM to lace up the Nikes, buckle up the chinstraps and try to do something it has accomplished only three times since 1991: beat TCU. Easier said than done. Since '91, TCU is 6-3 all-time against the Lobos, including last year's swift 37-0 dispatching, where the Horned Frogs led 20-0 by halftime.
UNM senior and cornerback Glover Quin has solved the injury riddle. After overcoming a serious groin injury in his junior year, Quin still managed to receive Honorable Mention All-Mountain West Conference last year. Before coming to UNM, Quin played his first two years at Southwest Mississippi Community College before he transferred to UNM in 2006.
Just weeks into the National Football League's preseason, three Pro Bowl defenders are badly injured, and one is out for the season. The NFL preseason is just too long - and kind of unnecessary. Newly acquired Washington Redskins defensive end Jason Taylor, San Diego Chargers linebacker Shawn Merriman and the New York Giants' Osi Umenyiora are already injured before the season has started.
Coming off an 8-5-4 record last year, the UNM women's soccer team solidified its third straight winning season. The team also made history in the process - it was the first time UNM had three consecutive winning seasons. Head coach Kit Vela said it's an accomplishment, given the youth and inexperience her team had last season.
Dreams do come true. Or should I say, dreams will come true. America will finally - after waiting nearly 14 years - witness America's Team win its first Super Bowl since 1995. Honestly, check out the roster. I get goose bumps just looking at it. It reminds me of the Dream Team we put together in '95, with Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin, Emmitt Smith, "Neon" Deion Sanders, Daryl Johnston, Jay Novacek, Charles Haley - need I go on? This year's roster boasts a similar collection of star-studded players: Tony Romo, T.
Signed, sealed and delivered. Although head coach Rocky Long said that he and Athletics Director Paul Krebs agreed on a contract extension as early as July, the University finally made it official, announcing Long's five-year extension Tuesday. Long's annual salary jumped from $439,000 to $750,000.
In a game punctuated by thundering African drums and the cheers of 2,451 people, the 19th ranked UNM men's soccer team gutted out a 104 minute bout with third-ranked Notre Dame but came up short, losing 2-1 in double overtime. It was UNM's lone exhibition game of the fall and its first game since advancing to the NCAA tournament where the Lobos lost to UCLA 1-0 in the opening round.
In its home-opener, the UNM women's soccer team couldn't notch a win against the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks on Sunday at the UNM Soccer Complex. But the Lobos didn't lose, either. In a physically contested battle with as many spills and slide tackles as a football game, the Lobos and Lumberjacks finished the afternoon tied 1-1.
Staff Report Since being drafted by the Boston Celtics, former Lobo basketball player JR Giddens has been ping-ponging across the United States - Texas, California, Oklahoma, Boston, and, most recently, New Mexico. His life, he said, revolves around basketball.
Chris Hernandez lines up split out to the left in a two-wide-receiver bunch formation. His teammate, cornerback DeAndre Wright, jogs out opposite of him, tip-toeing the line of scrimmage. As the ball is snapped, Wright gives Hernandez a friendly jam, upsetting the timing of Hernadez's slant route and forcing Donovan Porterie to check-down to his running back.
Of all the issues being debated by presidential hopefuls Barack Obama and John McCain, each have yet to discuss a divisive issue among the ranks of the NCAA - amateurism in the NCAA. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the concept, amateurism is where a player doesn't accept endorsement or earnings of any kind for engaging in sports.
UNM wide receiver Roland Bruno has lived the life of a walk-on. "I already knew when I first got here, being a walk-on, even players who come in on scholarship have to spend at least their first year on scout team," he said. He persevered - rode the proverbial rollercoaster of emotion.
Rewind to 2004. Team USA wasn't going to win gold. I predicted it back then. I told my friends, guys whose lives revolved around basketball. I told them. They didn't believe. With Allen "The Answer" Iverson showing up late for team practice, he provided more head-scratching questions than answers.
Recruiters said he was too small to be a linebacker. Coaches said his athletic future was in baseball. Zach Arnett played college football anyway. Three years later, the senior is leading the University of New Mexico into its 2008 season as the starting middle linebacker and team captain.
UNM tailback Rodney Ferguson has been a big, bruising force throughout his football career. While some running backs are noted for their quickness or finesse and shy away from contact, Ferguson squares his shoulders and braces for impact. "It's my nature," Ferguson said.
University Stadium is dead, dormant, hibernating. It has been since Dec. 22, 2007, the last time the Lobos took to the field in a 23-0 trouncing of Nevada in the New Mexico Bowl. Since then, 31 Saturdays have come and gone, all without the click-clack of cleats, without the boisterous whoops and hollers of the "Red Sea," as quarterback Donovan "Moses" Porterie calls it.
Paul Pierce should be thanking his lucky four-leafed clovers he's a basketball player. After being fined $25,000 by the NBA for making "menacing gestures" at Atlanta Hawks' power forward Al Horford during last season's NBA playoffs, Pierce's explanation was it was a sign for "blood, sweat and tears.
Solutions by The State News
