Friday night, the unthinkable happened: Boise State lost their second consecutive home game and were eliminated from winning the Mountain Division. Just like that, everything seemed to be set up for the Lobos to face Air Force next weekend in what would have been essentially a division championship here in Albuquerque. All that the Lobos need to do was to get past the CSU Rams. Now, on Sunday when I am writing this, we now know that this just wasn’t meant to be. The Lobos lost a close game to the Rams, Air Force clinched the division, and next weekend’s game has a whole lot less riding on it.
In sports, it’s easy to want to attach a narrative to what happens during a season, even changing it drastically as events happen. For the Lobos this year, the narrative shifted from “Team that isn’t ready to make the leap” to “Team of Destiny” once they pulled off victories against Utah State and, particularly, against Boise State. After years of being beaten down and suffering through losing season, this team was finally starting to see its hard work pay off. With manageable games remaining, at least compared to the two previous, the Lobos all of the sudden looked poised to win the division and play in the conference championship. Most likely against their old coach, even! I know I bought into this idea some and I also know that I wasn’t alone.
I still held onto at least a shred of this idea until CSU gained their final first down, which allowed them to kneel out the clock ahead 28-21. This team had shown a lot of fight in them over the past few weeks, starting with the Hawaii game, so part of me felt like if they got the ball back, even with just a minute to go, they might be able to have another amazing finish.
The game itself was tight, start to finish, with neither team gaining a two-possession lead. The Lobos fell behind early when CSU took advantage of the short field provided by a Lamar Jordan interception, but the Lobos were able to even the game up with a sustained drive capped off by a Jhurell Pressley 1 yard TD run. The teams traded touchdowns on their next possessions, and then the Rams took a 17-14 lead by kicking a field goal at the end of the half. After another CSU field goal opened the second half, the Lobos took the lead on another Pressley TD run, this one for 36 yards, which had Lamar celebrating as soon as Pressley broke through the line. Halfway through the fourth quarter, the Rams were able to drive 87 yards to score a touchdown and a two-point conversion to put them up 28-21. The Lobos had a couple more opportunities, but both possessions ended in turnovers, sealing the CSU victory.
When the game finally ended, I found myself disappointed that the Lobos no longer had a chance to win the conference, but then I had the realization of how crazy it was that I was disappointed. This was a team picked last in the conference, one that at the start of the season we thought might be able to make a bowl game if a few things went their way, and one that seemed dead in the water just a month ago. Being eliminated from conference contention at this point was essentially the expectation. That it became a disappointment instead is amazing.
The narrative of this season has changed once again, and this time I think that it is closer to the truth. They’re now a team that made a leap this season, reviving the program and building for the future. This team has been – scratch that – is fun to watch and to follow. They support each other, play hard, and have gotten noticeably better as the season has gone on. I’m proud of what they’ve done this year and I don’t think that they’re done. Next week, they have an opportunity to take down the top team in the division and wind up in second place, solidifying themselves as a player in the conference. Following that, they’ll play in a bowl game, potentially (maybe even likely) at home, bringing the program more money, attention, and maybe another win. I don’t see any reason why they couldn’t go 2-0 for the rest of the year and I doubt that they do either.
Go Lobos.