Utes stay unbeaten, edge UNM 

By Eric Maddy
The SCORE

If it was 1960s television, you could call it “Bowling for Dollars.” But in 2008, it likely means no bowl game for the New Mexico Lobos this year.

Tenth-ranked Utah kept its hopes alive for an undefeated season and big money bid in the Bowl Championship Series, holding off New Mexico 13-10 in a college football game Saturday night at University Stadium.

New Mexico, 4-6, was looking to even its record in hopes of gaining a bowl bid as well. A team must be at .500 or above to be eligible for postseason play. To accomplish that, UNM will now have to win road games at Nevada-Las Vegas and Colorado State to earn an extra game.

“I was proud of our team’s effort,” UNM coach Rocky Long said. “For a team that has everything in the world to play for – a Top 10 ranking, BCS bowl berth, (going) undefeated – all those motivational things that everybody tells me matters – what really matters is a competitor’s heart.

“Our players wanted to win. There players wanted to win, too. But all that outside motivation thing that makes a difference. That doesn’t make a difference. Our players have a competitor’s heart. They wanted to win just as bad as Utah, and they don’t have near as much to play for.”

The game wasn’t decided until the final play, when Utah stopped the Lobos for the second time in the final four minutes at midfield. Most of the credit goes to Utah all-around All American kicker Louie Sakoda, who pinned the Lobos inside their own 10 to start each of those series. He also kicked two field goals and an extra point for the Utes.

“He’s a great player,” Long said of Sakoda. “It’s time for him to graduate. I think he’s been there six years already.”

Said Utah coach Kyle Whittingham: “You almost take him for granted, he’s so good. That was probably the most pivotal play of the game, when he pinned them down at the one yard line with a minute-something left.”

As for his opponent, Whittingham said, “They play hard. They’re talented. They’ve got a lot of athletes in the secondary. They’re just like their coach – hard-nosed, tough and physical. And they present problems for you with their offense.

“We’re very resilient. We handled adversity well, like we’ve done two or three times this year. It’s a gutsy group.”

Trailing by three points in the final period, UNM took possession with 6:52 left in the game at its own nine. A 20-yard Gruner to Ferguson pass play helped UNM get out of the hole, and the Lobos gained another first down at its own 45. Eight more yards put the Lobos on the Utah side of the field, but two incomplete passes ended the drive and gave the Utes possession with 3:46 left in the game.

“The game was won or lost (there),” Long said. “That was my call. Right or wrong, it was time to decide who was going to win the game. We didn’t think about trying to use (a combination of) two plays. We were trying to get the first down on third down with the play that we called.”

Said Whittingham: “That was a good call. I’d agree with his thinking there. They had done a good job with the QB running game all night. That was the things that gave us fits.”

UNM got the ball back for a final chance, but had to go 99 yards after Sakoda’s brilliant punt trapped the Lobos at their own one. A 30-yard Gruner to Bryant Williams got UNM out of a hole again, but the Utes surrendered three short completions to allow the clock to run out with the Lobos 52 yards short of a winning touchdown.

Those two series capped a tight defensive game.

Utah got on the board on its second drive, going 44 yards in 12 plays before settling for a 43-yard field goal by Sakoda. The Utes gained three first downs on the drive and their longest play was 13 yards, a pass from quarterback Brian Johnson to wide receiver Jerome Brooks.

The UNM offense, meanwhile, resembled a Rockettes chorus line – one, two, three, kick – on each of its first three possessions. A possible first down on a third-and-four, made good on a pass from Brad Gruner to Roland Bruno -- was wiped out by a penalty for ineligible man downfield. With two plays losing yardage on its third drive – including a sack by Brice McCain on the final play of the quarter – the Lobos finished the period with -1 yards in total offense compared to 94 for Utah.

Utah drove to the New Mexico 38 on its third possession, but a fake punt attempt failed when Sakoda’s pass to Elijah Wesson came up short. New Mexico failed to get a first down on the ensuing possession, but caught a break when David Reed fumbled and Carmen Messina recovered at the Utah 42. New Mexico got one first down to the Utah 29, but stalled there and had a 41-yard field goal attempt blocked by Utah’s Aiona Kay.

“They pushed our front line back a little bit, and they got up in the air high,” Long said. “But I couldn’t tell from the sidelines if it was a low kick or not. It seemed like a low kick, but I couldn’t tell if it was a low kick or they got that much penetration. They got some penetration, but it didn’t look like enough to block a field goal. I’m not sure.”

Whittingham said, “We have a kid who’s a 7-foot-1 high jumper. He’s our guy who goes up to try to get those. He got up and timed it just right. It was a low-trajectory kick because it was a long kick, and he just happened to time it just right.

After a three-and-out series by the Utes, New Mexico started its longest drive of the half of its own 19. The Lobos gained four first downs in moving to the Utah 21, and this time Aho’s kick cleared the Utah line and the uprights to tie the game.

Utah responded on the final drive of the half to take the lead. Taking over at its own 23, the Utes overcame a holding penalty to set up a 38-yard Sakoda kick on the last play of the half.

Utah again used the second drive of the half to score, this time getting the first touchdown of the game on a nine-play, 69 yard series. The culminating trick play was from seven yards out, a shortened version of the hook-and-ladder play. Utah quarterback Brian Johnson completed a short out pattern to Brooks, who lateraled to the trailing Brent Casteel.

Casteel took the pitch went into the end zone untouched, and  Sakoda’s kick gave Utah a 13-3 lead.

New Mexico responded quickly, moving to the Utah 16 before misfortune nearly struck. UNM running back Rodney Ferguson was struggling for extra yardage on a third-and-one play when he fumbled and Utah recovered. After a lengthy replay review, UNM was given the ball back and the senior capitalized, racing in from 10 yards out on the last play of the third quarter to narrow the margin to 13-10.

Utah appeared poised to score again on its next drive, but DeAndre Wright thwarted the drive with an end zone interception to turn away Utah.

Though Long said his team was “very upset” and “very disappointed,” he said they still have hopes of making a bowl game for the sixth time in seven years.

“We haven’t lost all faith,” Long said. “The way things look if you’re 6-6 you’re going to have a pick of a couple of bowls this year. Right now, the bowl people are worried they might not have enough people qualify.

“If we can play well enough to win two more games, we’d be more than happy to go to a bowl game. UNLV is 3-6 and they think they can win the last three to go to a bowl. Colorado State is 3-5 and they think they can win three to go to a bowl. The three of us are all fighting it out for one more bowl spot. For you guys who like to watch the top runners, there’s a pretty good battle going on with us middle-runner guys.”

Asked if a narrow win could impact his team’s BCS ranking, Whittingham said, “I could not care one bit. We just go about our business – winning games.

“We enjoyed this for about a minute and a half in the locker room. Now we’re on to TCU (on Thursday night).”