FAYETTEVILLE — The Mountain West Conference already is 1-0 against the SEC this season, thanks to No. 4 Boise State’s 35-21 victory over Georgia on Saturday in Atlanta.
New Mexico will try and make it two in a row for the Mountain West over the SEC, but oddsmakers don’t like the Lobos’ chances.
Arkansas (1-0) is a 36 1/2-point favorite for its game against New Mexico (0-1) at 6 p.m. Saturday at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.
While Boise State is a national title contender, New Mexico was picked to finish last in the Mountain West in a preseason media poll as Coach Mike Locksley struggles to turn around the program in his third season on the job.
It’s been tough on and off the field for Locksley, a former assistant at Maryland, Florida and Illinois.
The Lobos are 2-23 under Locksley, including a 14-10 loss at home to Colorado State to open this season. But he may be best known for a 10-day suspension without pay in 2009 because of a physical altercation with one of his assistants.
“Playing an SEC team, for us, is obviously a great challenge,” Locksley said Monday. “The good thing about it is that no one really gives us a chance. So it gives us the opportunity to come down there, play the game loose, try to play smart football, play with great effort and give yourself a chance.
“With games like this, it’s been my experience that you go and fire all your weapons, you pull out all the stops, and if you can find a way to keep it close in the fourth quarter, that’s when everything kind of becomes equal, and then it’s a matter of executing.”
The Lobos had a chance to beat Colorado State in the final seconds after driving to the Rams’ 5-yard line. But a holding penalty pushed the Lobos back 10 yards, then sophomore quarterback Tarean Austin was sacked and fumbled, and defensive end Nordly Capri recovered the ball to clinch the victory for the Rams.
“No doubt, we’re hurting, but we’ve got to move on and go to next week,” Austin told the Albuquerque Journal after the game.
No quarterback in the country may be hurting more than Austin. Colorado State sacked him nine times — the most sacks allowed by any Football Bowl Subdivision team in the season’s opening weekend — for 47 yards in losses.
Locksley said while the Lobos have to do a better job of blocking on the edge, the nine sacks weren’t all the fault of offensive linemen. There were plays where receivers ran the wrong routes, he said, forcing Austin to hold onto the ball too long, as well as missed blocks by running backs.
“We can get those things corrected,” Locksley said.
It also didn’t help that the Lobos faced seven third downs with 11 or more yards needed for a first down.
“Those are opportunities where the defense has the chance to pin their ears back and go,” Locksley said. “So that means we’ve got to do a better job on first down and keeping it into manageable third-and-medium situations.”
Austin, making his third career start, also had some positive numbers. He completed 20 of 31 passes for 179 yards and 1 touchdown, and even with all the sacks he was credited with 57 rushing yards on 25 carries, including a 15-yard gain.
“He gave us a chance to win the game,” Locksley said. “Obviously, he’s got to take care of the football, especially playing that position, where you’re touching that ball every single play.
“But I thought he kept his composure, even after being sacked a few times. He hung in there and didn’t just let the rush take his eyes from down the field. He made some plays for us down the stretch.”
Locksley said he’s not into moral victories, but he stressed the Lobos have improved their athleticism and effort over the previous two seasons.
New Mexico outgained Colorado State 329 yards to 270 but was done in by 9 penalties for 65 yards and 3 lost fumbles, all in Rams territory.
“I thought our defense played well enough for us to win, and I thought our kicking game played well enough for us to win,” Locksley said. “Now we’ve got to get the offensive side of the ball going in that same direction.”
Locksley said depth usually is the biggest difference when a Mountain West team plays an SEC team, and the Lobos have started to close that gap.
“We’ve finally gotten to a point where we’ve created some depth at certain positions,” he said. “We’re obviously still not there yet with having the across-the-board depth that you’d like to have. ... But I’d venture to say that our starting 22 players, having coached in that league, would have the opportunity to be players at places like Arkansas.”
Sports, Pages 19 on 09/07/2011