UNM came into Tempe last night to face ASU as longshots to win, but also with the knowledge that ASU was not unbeatable and that a win would bring an excitement about the program that hasn’t been seen for the better part of a decade. They came out hard, showing the ability to move the ball and the ability to stop the Sun Devils. Unfortunately, the talent difference ended up being just too much for the Lobos to make up, as they lost 34-10 to drop to 1-2 on the season. However, their effort left me feeling a lot more confident about the season than I was before last night.
As I mentioned in our preview, Arizona State is a good team with some talented players and high expectations for this season. Because of that, it seemed fairly clear to me that their team, their fans (especially given that their stadium was only two-thirds of the way filled), and the broadcasters believed that they were going to have an easy victory. Maybe it’s because of that belief that they came out looking a little flat. Over the first couple of possessions for each team, the Lobos were grinding out chunks of yards against the ASU defense and ASU was forced into two straight three-and-outs. The Lobos defense finally buckled in ASU’s third drive, when ASU was able to string together a few big plays to get down to the UNM 1 yard line. The defense then had another really good goal line stand, which seems to be one of their strengths so far, and held the Sun Devils to a field goal, making the score 3-0 partway through the 2nd quarter.
In their first possession of the 2nd quarter, the Lobos had their best sustained drive of the night. They were able to string together 62 yards over 16 plays and almost 9 minutes with a combination of Jhurell Pressley runs, Austin Apodaca passes, and a 15 yard facemask penalty on ASU. Unfortunately, instead of getting points after all of that, Jason Sanders missed a 35 yard field goal, leaving the score at 3-0. ASU’s offense sprung to life immediately after. Their quarterback, Mike Bercovici, went 7 for 7 on his passes that drive, gaining 80 yards and a touchdown right before halftime. Still, with the halftime score sitting at 10-0, the Lobos had to have felt good about their effort. I certainly did.
ASU got the ball back to start the 3rd quarter and picked up where they had left off on their last drive. In just five plays and two minutes, they went 66 yards for another touchdown, when Bercovici found RB Demario Richards on short pass that Richards ended up taking for 33 yards. Thankfully, the Lobos were able to answer in their next possession, when Tyrone Owens ran the ball up the middle, untouched, and was able to break away for 65 yard touchdown. With the score sitting at 17-7, the Lobos were then able to force another three-and-out, getting the ball with the chance to put ASU on their heels. However, ASU’s defense held and forced the Lobos to punt the ball right back.
Bercovici then proceeded to carve up the defense once again, resulting in another quick Sun Devil touchdown to make the score 24-7. After another three-and-out by the Lobos, they were finally able to catch a break, when ASU’s punt returner muffed Zach Rodger’s punt and the Lobos recovered, giving them the ball at ASU’s 22 yard line. The Lobos were able to get a first down, but then saw their drive stall with a false start penalty, forcing Sanders to kick a 32 yard field goal that made the score 24-10.
The two teams then traded three-and-outs, which led us into the 4th quarter and ASU starting with the ball on their own 7 yard line. After an incomplete pass on first down, the Lobos were able to get good pressure on Bercovici in the end zone on second down, forcing him to throw the ball away for what looked like an intentional grounding penalty, which would have resulted in a safety. The referee helpfully explained to all of us watching that it was not intentional grounding as Bercovici was out of the pocket (true) and that the ball had crossed the line of scrimmage (true, if the line of scrimmage had been the 2 yard line and not the 7 yard line). How that’s not a reviewable play is a little strange and how the line judge didn’t notice that the ball bounced before it got to him was a little strange too. Anyway, I digress. The next play, Bercovici hit Richards on a wheel route for a 93 yard touchdown. Rather than the score being 24-12 with the ASU punting the ball to the Lobos, it was 31-10 and the game was effectively over.
After a few straight three-and-outs and an ASU field goal, the Lobos started showing more signs of life, when Apodaca hit Dameon Gamblin for a 36 yard pass that was a shoestring tackle away from being a touchdown. Unfortunately, on 2nd and 20 after a holding penalty, Apodaca made his worst throw of the night, throwing into the end zone across his body off of his back foot. The ball was intercepted, and all that remained was a couple more punts and a kneel-out.
This game certainly had its share of “what-ifs”. What if that first field goal attempt had been good, what if the intentional grounding had been called, what if Gamblin had been able to get away on his reception, etc. And all of that is a little frustrating, for sure. However, the fact that I can look back on this game and think about these what-ifs allows me to realize that they did play pretty well and that they did keep up with a very good team. I feel pretty confident that if they had played this well against Tulsa, they would have won. Now, the trick is going to be to keep playing well against the teams that are coming up and to keep improving as the season goes along (they also still need to figure out what’s going on at quarterback, which is worth talking about later).
Wyoming’s up next and they present a very good chance for the Lobos to get their season back on track.