Aug. 27, 2007
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The 109th season of New Mexico football gets underway Saturday when the Lobos visit UTEP in the first of four non-conference games to open the year. The game can be heard worldwide on 770 KKOB-AM (www.770kkob.com) and be seen nationally on CSTV from the Sun Bowl in El Paso. Kickoff is 8:06 p.m. Mountain Time.
CSTV is Channel 274 on Comcast Cable in Albuquerque, Ch. 610 on DirecTV and Ch. 152 on Dish Network. The game can also be seen online at www.golobos.com as part of the CSTV All-Access platform.
Entering his 10th season, New Mexico head coach Rocky Long welcomes a veteran team that returns 42 lettermen, including 18 offensive and defensive starters and two specialists. The Lobos were picked to finish 4th in the Mountain West Conference by the league’s media. After finishing 6-7 in 2006, the Lobos look to avoid consecutive losing seasons for the first time since 1999-2000.
UTEP, picked to finish 5th in the West Division of Conference USA, was 5-7 last year, including a 3-5 finish in the league. The Miners started 4-2 before dropping five of the their last six contests. Head coach Mike Price lists 12 starters returning, eight on offense and just four on defense.
UNM HISTORY
The University of New Mexico begins its 109th season of football in 2007. The Lobos have an all-time record of 436-499-31. The school was founded in 1889. Three years later, the first football game was played on Oct. 7, 1892, when a team representing UNM played a squad from Albuquerque High School in a vacant lot north of the town’s ice factory. The preps prevailed 5-0. The territory of New Mexico was not granted statehood until 1912.
LOBO HIGHLIGHTS UNDER Rocky Long
New Mexico is the only school in the Mountain West Conference that has produced at least six wins in each of the past six seasons (2001-06)…that’s also a first in Lobo history
UNM is the only school in the Mountain West Conference that has been bowl eligible each of the past six seasons (2001-06)
The Lobos have 40 wins since 2001, the second-most by UNM in any six-year period…UNM had 41 from 1959-64
New Mexico has a 23-14 conference record since 2002 (27-17 since 2001), the second-most wins in the league over that span
The program’s top-14 semester grade-point-averages have been attained under Rocky Long, all in the past 15 terms, since the 2000 spring semester
2007 PERSONNEL; MOST STARTERS BACK UNDER Rocky Long
The Lobos return 42 lettermen in 2007, including 18 position starters, eight on offense and 10 on defense. It’s the most returning starters for a Rocky Long-coached Lobo team in the 10 seasons at his alma mater. The previous high had been 17 in 2003.
UNM returns 17 lettermen on offense, 23 on defense and two specialists. A total of 25 Lobos (10 on offense and 15 on defense) bring a cumulative 284 games of starting experience into the 2007 season. That nearly doubles last year’s total of 152 starts among 17 players.
LOBOS VS. MINERS
New Mexico and UTEP first met in 1919 and square off for the 75th time, making it UNM’s second-oldest series next to New Mexico State (97 games). UNM and NMSU meet next week in Albuquerque.
The Lobos and Miners played every year between 1955-99. This is the third game of a four-game set between 2005-10. UTEP returns to University Stadium Oct. 2, 2010.
Rodney Ferguson posted his first career 100-yard rushing effort in last year’s 26-13 UNM victory at University Stadium. Ferguson churned for 162 yards and Chris Nelson threw a pair of TD passes as the Lobos built a 19-0 lead less than 3 minutes into the second quarter. The New Mexico defense did its part by holding UTEP to 30 net rushing yards on 23 carries, and 241 yards total. The Lobos recorded 5 sacks of QB Jordan Palmer and limited standout WR Johnnie Lee Higgins to 3 catches for 18 yards.
The Miners took a 21-13 victory two years ago at the Sun Bowl despite gaining just 248 yards of total offense. They turned the tide in the third quarter by scoring on an interception and a blocked punt in less than 4 minutes. Both teams came into the game undefeated – UNM 3-0, UTEP 2-0 – for the first time since 1957.
The Lobos and Miners previously shared membership in two leagues: the Border Conference from 1935-1950 and the Western Athletic Conference from 1968-1998. New Mexico departed the WAC for the Mountain West Conference in 1999. UTEP is in its third season in Conference USA after 36 years (1968-2004) in the WAC.
UNM IN SEASON OPENERS
The Lobos have a 63-42-3 (.597) mark in 108 previous season openers, but they are just 3-5 in their last 8, including a stunning 17-6 loss to NCAA Div. I-AA member Portland State last year in Albuquerque.
New Mexico has opened the season of the road 36 times and it has a 11-24-1 record. The last season opener away from home was 2002, a 34-14 setback at North Carolina State. UNM has lost three straight road openers: at NC State, 24-3 at Texas Tech in 2000 and 13-10 at UTEP in 1999. The last win was 28-7 at New Mexico State in 1996.
UNM is 71-33-4 (.676) in home openers, including 8-4 in its past 12. New Mexico is 27-20 in lid-lifters at University Stadium. The first game on Sept. 17, 1960, resulted in a 77-6 pasting of the University of Mexico, the Lobos’ largest margin of victory at the stadium.
Head coach Rocky Long is 5-4 in both season and home openers in his career at UNM.
New Mexico’s second-largest home crowd came in the 2001 season opener as 41,771 fans shoehorned into the stadium to witness the 26-6 triumph over UTEP. That was the first game after the seating addition in the north end zone.
UNM-UTEP IN SEASON OPENERS
UTEP has served as New Mexico’s season-opening game 6 times. Both teams have 3 wins, going 2-1 on their home turf:
Sept. 28, 1963 UNM 23-7 Albuquerque
Sept. 25, 1965 UTEP 35-14 Albuquerque
Sept. 18, 1976 UNM 25-7 El Paso
Aug. 31, 1991 UTEP 35-19 El Paso
Sept. 4, 1999 UTEP 13-10 El Paso
Sept. 1, 2001 UNM 26-6 Albuquerque
LOBO-MINER TIES
UNM’s Paul Baker and UTEP’s Tufick Shadrawy both graduated from Sam Houston HS in Arlington, Texas: Baker in 2004, Shadrawy in `05.
New Mexico junior QB Donovan Porterie threw passes to the Miners’ Eric Reynolds during the 2004 season at Memorial HS in Port Arthur, Texas. Porterie, a 2005 grad, is a year older than Reynolds. Reynolds is now a UTEP linebacker.
UTEP does not have any New Mexico players on its roster.
UNM cornerbacks coach Troy Reffett came to Albuquerque following the 2003 season after spending 14 seasons at UTEP, including 2002 and `03 as the Miners’ defensive coordinator under former head coach Gary Nord. Reffett also tutored UTEP’s cornerbacks and free safeties.
Reffett joined the UTEP coaching staff in 1990 as a graduate assistant. He directed the outside linebackers from 1993-96, and the defensive backs from 1997-01. The native of Cynthiana, Ky., also served as the Miners’ recruiting coordinator from 1996-01.
Reffett came to UTEP in 1985 as a walk-on out of Eastwood High School in El Paso. He helped the Miners to a 10-2 record his junior year, including an Independence Bowl berth. Reffett’s career was highlighted by academic and athletic superlatives. As a junior and senior he was named a WAC Scholar Athlete and to the WAC All-Academic team, and was recognized as the team’s defensive back of the year. In 1988, Reffett etched his name into the school record book with a 97-yard interception return for a touchdown versus San Diego State, the fourth-longest in school history. Reffett tallied 145 tackles, five interceptions, 10 pass break-ups and six tackles for losses in his UTEP career. His best season was 1989 when he had 104 tackles, three interceptions and seven pass deflections as a senior.
Lobos head trainer Dave Binder spent 13 years in the same ole at UTEP before coming to UNM in March of 1995. A native of Big Springs, Texas, Binder received his bachelor’s (1973) and master’s (1975) degrees from UTEP. During his tenure in El Paso, Binder was recognized with the school’s highest honor, the Distinguished Service Award. He is a member of the UTEP Sports Hall of Fame and was elected to the El Paso Sports Hall of Fame in 1994.
LOBOS REPLACING SOME KEY PLAYERS
The University of New Mexico didn’t lose a lot of players from 2006, but a couple of departees were significant.
Kicker Kenny Byrd shared the inaugural MWC Special Teams Player of the Year award with Utah punter/kicker Louie Sakoda in 2006. Byrd, who signed a free agent contract with the Detroit Lions, finished his career as the most accurate FG kicker in MWC history at 80.5% (33-41).
Offensive guard Robert Turner started all 49 games in his Lobo career and was a two-time all-league pick. He is in camp with the New York Jets. The lone defensive starter gone is lobo (safety) Quincy Black, who was first team all-MWC last season and taken by Tampa Bay in the 3rd round of the 2007 NFL Draft.
SEASON TICKET UPDATE
Through Friday, Aug. 24, Lobo fans had purchased 13,806 season tickets. A total of 15,525 were sold last year. The school record is 17,404 in 2005.
SECOND YEAR FOR NEW MEXICO BOWL
The second New Mexico Bowl will be played Dec. 22, 2007, at University Stadium in Albuquerque. ESPN will televise the game live. The bowl game matches teams from the Mountain West Conference and Western Athletic Conference. San Jose State defeated the Lobos 20-12 in last year’s inaugural bowl in front of 34,111 fans.
ESPN Regional Television (ERT) is responsible for the bowl’s organization, operation, sponsorship, marketing efforts and more. Under the direction of ERT, the University of New Mexico provides marketing, management and game day operations support for the bowl. Jeff Siembieda is the Executive Director. Former UNM athletics director Rudy Davalos is Chairman of the Executive Board.
INDOOR PRACTICE FACILITY NOW IN USE
Funded by New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson and members of the state legislature, the Lobos’ $7 million indoor practice facility became operational in mid-August after just five months of construction.
The new facility was designed by the Albuquerque architectural firm of Molzen-Corbin & Associates. The general contractor was The Jaynes Corporation of Albuquerque.
The facility measures 70 yards wide by 136.7 yards in length for a total of 86,100 square feet. This size encompasses a full football field with a 7-yard run-out on both ends and sides. The building is approximately 76 feet tall with 70 feet clear height along the ridgeline. It’s constructed of a steel truss supporting members with a polyclad fabric in tension stretched over the steel superstructure and also lining the inside of the structure.
The bottom 12 feet of the outside is clad with steel siding panels. The building has steel doors for entries and exits as well as overhead coiling doors for convenience and ventilation during fair weather. The facility contains two filming towers, one at mid-field and one at the north end zone. The entire interior floor surface is FieldTurf.
Although the building fabric cladding has translucent properties, the building is designed to attain approximately 80 foot-candles indoors after dark.
WAKE UP THE ROOSTERS
Feeling that the past few teams have not been as mentally tough as some in the past, head coach Rocky Long took aim at changing that back in the spring.
The shakeup came in the form of early practices, as in before the sun comes up. That meant on the field at 5:45 a.m. with practice from 6-7:30 a.m. The schedule continued during summer workouts with weightlifting from 6-7:30 a.m. Six sunrise practices ocurred during two-a-days and now all Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday sessions during the regular season run from 6-8 a.m.
UNM strength and conditioning coordinator Mark Paulsen noted during the summer that players would return in the afternoon to work on individual skills after lifting as a group in the morning. Long also says the early practices help the team from an academic standpoint as the players can go right from practice to class.
2007 CAPTAINS
The team voted senior receivers Travis Brown and Marcus Smith as offensive captains, while LB Cody Kase and safety OJ Swift got the nod on defense. Kase is a captain for the second straight season.
2007 SCHEDULE NOTES; FOUR GAMES ON NATIONAL TV
Four games on national television – the most appearances ever for the New Mexico Lobos in one season – highlight the 2007 football schedule. UNM will play three games on College Sports Television (CSTV): Sept. 1 at UTEP, Sept. 29 at home against BYU and Oct. 20 at San Diego State. Additionally, the Lobos will make their first appearance on the VERSUS network when they host Air Force on Thursday, Oct. 25.
“Four games on national television is great for our fans and for the program,” Lobos head coach Rocky Long said. “It’s a very demanding schedule, but fair and balanced.”
UNM opens the season against it’s three-oldest rivals: UTEP (74 games), New Mexico State (97 games) and Arizona (64 games).
It’s the 98th meeting between New Mexico and New Mexico State Sept. 8 at University Stadium. UNM has a 64-28-5 lead in a series that began Jan. 1, 1894. The Lobos have won four straight over the Aggies and six of the past seven, including a 34-28 victory last year in Las Cruces.
New Mexico and Arizona renew a rivalry that started in 1908. Playing for the first time since the 1997 Insight.com Bowl in Tucson, the 65th game between the Lobos and Wildcats will be Sept. 15 at Arizona Stadium. It’s the first regular-season match-up since 1990 in Albuquerque. UA has won four straight in the series since 1977.
The non-conference schedule concludes Sept. 22 when UNM hosts Sacramento State. It’s the first meeting between the Lobos and Hornets.
The Mountain West Conference schedule begins on Saturday, Sept. 29 when defending MWC champion BYU comes to University Stadium for Homecoming. Kickoff is 6:30 p.m. for the national telecast on CSTV.
The Lobos have an open week on Oct. 6 before playing a pair of road games at Wyoming Oct. 13 and at San Diego State Oct. 20. UNM returns home on Thursday, Oct. 25 to entertain Air Force. The remaining home games are Nov. 10 against Colorado State and Nov. 24 versus UNLV. The Lobos visit TCU on Nov. 3 and Utah on Nov. 17.
RIO GRANDE RIVALRY DEBUTS IN 2007-08
The University of New Mexico and New Mexico State University announced July 13 the formation of the Rio Grande Rivalry presented by Route 66 Casino. The Rio Grande Rivalry is not only for current student-athletes, but also to help build school spirit and pride in the alumni and fans that cheer for the Lobos or the Aggies.
The Rio Grande Rivalry begins in the 2007-08 academic year. UNM and NMSU are scheduled to conduct competitions in 12 sports: baseball, men’s and women’s basketball, football, men’s and women’s golf, softball, women’s swimming, men’s and women’s tennis, women’s track and field and women’s volleyball. Points will be awarded to the winner of each competition with a total of 25.5 points possible. The school with the most points will be the winner.
The first competition of 2007-08 is Sept. 4 when the women’s volleyball teams meet in Las Cruces. The 98th football game between the Lobos and Aggies is Sept. 8 in Albuquerque.
The winner of the Rio Grande Rivalry will receive a trophy that is currently being designed with input from both institutions. The traveling trophy will remain in possession of the winning school for one academic year.
A news conference will be held at the end of each season to present the trophy to the winning institution. The winner will also be officially recognized at the first home football or basketball game of the upcoming season.
An updated tally of who’s leading the competition will be available on each school’s website: golobos.com and nmstatesports.com.
“I have been part of big rivalries and there is nothing more exciting,” said University of New Mexico president David Schmidly. “The Bedlam Series between Oklahoma State and the University of Oklahoma is a great example, and there is no reason why New Mexico-New Mexico State can’t be as big and exciting.”
The athletics rivalry between the Lobos and Aggies dates back more than 110 years. The first competition between the two institutions was a football game in Albuquerque on Jan. 1, 1894. That was 18 years before the territory of New Mexico was granted statehood in 1912. The first men’s basketball game was played Dec. 22, 1904, in Las Cruces.
“New Mexico-New Mexico State already is a great college rivalry,” said UNM director of athletics Paul Krebs. “This effort will bring added exposure to both universities and will be a great point of pride for alumni from both schools.”
COACHING CHANGES
Rocky Long has five new assistant coaches on his staff. Dave Baldwin is the Lobos’ third offensive coordinator in as many seasons after the departure of Bob Toledo to become head coach at Tulane. Baldwin served the past four seasons as the offensive coordinator at Michigan State.
Coaching the Lobo wide receivers is Matt Wells, who spent the past five seasons as tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator at Tulsa. Wells replaces long-time assistant Dan Dodd joined Toledo at Tulane.
The new running backs coach is veteran assistant Buzz Preston, who spent last season at Stanford and from 2002-04 at Notre Dame. Preston takes over for Cornell Jackson, who accepted a position at Baylor.
The Lobos’ new offensive line coach is definitely not a new name. Former UNM all-conference performer Jason Lenzmeier begins his first season as a full-time staff member after seving as a graduate assistant in 2006. Lenzmeier, 26, is New Mexico’s youngest full-time assistant coach since 1984 when Greg Azar, then 24, coached the Lobo defensive line. Lenzmeier was a four-year starter for UNM on the offensive line from 2000-03, earning first team all-Mountain West Conference honors at offensive tackle as a senior.
Everett Todd returns to coaching after a one-year hiatus as an administrator for the Lobos. Todd is coaching the defensive line after the departure of Lenny Rodriguez.