Nov. 15, 1999

The University of New Mexico wasn't supposed to be in the Mountain West Conference football race, and the University of Utah proved it on Saturday in Salt Lake, dousing the Lobos with an embarrassing 52-7 loss.

Now that the Lobos are back where everybody thought they belonged before the season, at the bottom of the conference, UNM coach Rocky Long says it's time for the players to simply concentrate on the essence of football in the final two games.

"Real, true football players live for the competition and the aggressive attitude of the game," Long said. "The added benefit of winning a championship and all that, people get excited about that.

"But the No. 1 goal is to compete. Sometimes, I think the players forget that because of all the extra hype put on other things."

Against Utah, the Lobos ran up against a team on a two-game losing streak. This Saturday, the Lobos (3-6, 2-3) will play the Wyoming Cowboys, a team riding a two-game winning streak, including Saturday's 31-17 upset over No. 15 BYU. The Cowboys (6-3, 3-2) will be trying to stay alive for a piece of the Mountain West crown.

The Lobos, surprisingly, began the Mountain West season 2-1 and entered Saturday's contest with a chance to move into a second-place tie with Colorado State.

But Long has been saying all along his team isn't part of a "program that can look into the future." Translated: the Lobos can't afford to think about anything except the upcoming game.

Apparently, the Lobos were thinking about something besides the game on Saturday, when they found themselves buried under a 35-7 halftime deficit.

Back-to-back punt returns by Utah's Steve Smith for touchdowns in the first half, which turned a 14-7 lead into a 28-7 lead, created a wave of momentum the Lobos could never calm.

"(The two punt returns) turned all of the emotional edge to them," Long said. "It gave them confidence and I think their whole team played much, much better after that. And it put us in a hole we couldn't get out of."

Although the beating continued, Long said after watching game film on Sunday, the team didn't reel in its effort.

Against Utah last season, a 41-7 loss in the second-to-last game of the season, the Lobos admitted a lack of effort.

"I was expecting to see that on film and I didn't see that toward the end of the game," he said. "If you watch everything on defense, we don't make the tackle at the line of scrimmage, but there's four or five guys on every tackle. And our offensive line was still opening holes on the running game."

WHAT WENT RIGHT

The Lobos' first drive: Sophomore running back Holmon Wiggins had runs of 31 and 24 yards on the 80-yard drive, which resulted in a 5-yard TD run by sophomore fullback Jarrod Baxter. The drive answered Utah's opening score, tying the game at 7-7.

Ground game came through: UNM continued its recent productivity in the running game, posting 197 yards. Wiggins rushed for 131 yards while Baxter added 35.

WHAT WENT WRONG

The kicking game: After cornerback Walter Bernard intercepted a Utah pass in Utah territory, the Lobos settled for a 44-yard field-goal attempt that would have given them a 10-7 lead. Sophomore kicker David McKinney missed it. On the season, he's 5-of-14, including 4-of-12 on kicks between 30 and 49 yards. His counterpart, freshman punter Cort Moffitt, fared worse. Two low, short punts by Moffitt resulted in touchdown returns of 70 and 52 yards by Steve Smith. Moffitt's outside cover men outran the short punts, leaving Smith in prime position for big returns. On the season, Moffitt's averaging 36 yards a punt, worst in the conference.

Beaten up: The Lobos were physically dominated on both sides of the line of scrimmage. Utes running back Mike Anderson sliced through the Lobo defense with ease, racking up 204 yards, a career best. The Lobos were outgained by Utah, 469-283.