Beginner Dynasty

[nredfoot]

Quote:

This looks great man, hope you can take down Air Force to get some momentum for the rest of the season.

Thanks man! Ya I've kinda finally adjusted to the team now so I feel good about this one

[nredfoot]

Around the NCAA
- #2 Virginia Tech's BCS title hopes end with a thumping by #16 North Carolina in Chapel Hill 42-18
- #4 TCU locks up MWC title with whipping of San Diego State
- Still no love for undefeated #13 Nevada
- #8 Yellow Jackets suffers second consecutive loss this time to previously unranked Miami
- #17 Texas Tech loses on late FG to #10 Oklahoma
- West Virginia moves to #2 ranking and is now slotted to play for the title
- Big shake up in Heisman Race as Christian Ponder jumps to 1st followed by Greg Childs then Iowa QB Ricky Stanzi

**Recruiting Update**
The last three players left on Coach Redfoot's board all announced this past weekend that they will be Lobos next season.

HB (#128) Brian Roach *** 5'11'' 205 lbs Power Bridge City, TX
ATH (#73) Tony Frazier *** 6'3" 174 lbs Watuaga, TX
MLB (#88) Larry Gray ** 6'1" 222 lbs Coverage Longmont, CO

Glancing at Frazier's scouted ratings it appears he will either end up as a DB or WR depending on where he fits best. He's got great size at for either position and could sneak in on special teams next year. Brian Roach will more than likely receive a redshirt with the amount of talent already at RB. However down the road look for Roach to be a grinder. He has an A- spin move along with B stiff arm and B speed will have a chance to really play some meaningful snaps down the road. Larry Gray provides depth at a position that loses some next year. Because of depth alone he might not redshirt although he could use it. Very raw but maybe with some development can turn into a MWC linebacker.

That's 16 commits on board with the Lobos with none left on the board. Coach Redfoot was 16/20 on the players he pursued not a bad stat at all. The Lobos will lose 14 seniors this offseason along with the fact they are already 1 scholly under (if 70 is the number which I believe it is in this game) so barring any transfer outs or any surprise nfl draftees the Lobos will have to cut someone from next years squad. Will give more in depth breakdown of the recruiting class in offseason. Right now the class is ranked 35th overall relatively high for a school like New Mexico. BYU and TCU are the only MWC ranked higher at the moment with the Cougars sitting at #13 and TCU at #20.

**Injury News**
Demond Dennis is officially 100% as is Ty Kirk. Kirk will return to the field after missing last week's game with broken ribs. Maurice Mears who was knocked out early of the New Mexico State game will also be returning to the starting lineup. The Lobos are once again fully healthy first time since start of the season

[nredfoot]

Lobos Make it 4 in a Row After Pounding Falcons

Colorado Springs, CO -- Air Force entered the afternoon contest on a 4 game losing streak. New Mexico was hoping to extend their win streak to 4 and become bowl eligible. It turned out to be a no contest as the Lobos rolled.

New Mexico struggled finding the endzone all day kicking 3 FGs to go along with one safety by Anthony Hooks. They did breakthrough however late in the 1st quarter when Austin found Thomas for a 44 yd TD pass to put the score at that time 12-0. New Mexico would score 25 unanswered to start the game before the Falcons found paydirt halfway through the 4th. In the 3rd quarter Air Force lossed Tim Jefferson which ended all hopes for the Falcons. The Lobo defense was so solid the first half they only allowed 21 yds of total offense for the Falcons. The New Mexico defensive line was in the backfield all day disrupting Troy Calhoun's triple option attack. When the clock finally hit 0:00 in the 4th the Lobos left Colorado with a 32-7 win and a 4 game win streak to boot. Only bad news of the day was another injury as back up safety Jamar Lyles went down with a 4 week PCL sprain late in the 2nd quarter. He is expected to be out at least 4 weeks.

After the game Coach Redfoot spoke on being bowl eligible in his 1st year, "This is big for the kids. When the season started we set out sights on reaching this goal and now that we're here it feels very rewarding. We seem to have really have found our groove these past few weeks and we'll see if next week we can guarantee ourselves a winning season."

New Mexico moves to 6-4 on the year and 4-2 in the Mountain West. The Falcons meanwhile fall to 4-7 and 3-4 in the MWC with no bowl hopes. Next week the Lobos complete their 3 game road trip with a visit to the struggling Cougars of BYU.

New Mexico (6-4) at Air Force (4-7)
Dec 13, 2010 1 2 3 4 F New Mexico 12 13 0 7 32 Air Force 0 0 0 7 7 Top Performers New Mexico #8 Tarean Austin 14-28 184 yds TD Int 6 carries 37 yds TD #58 Carmen Messina 10 tackles 4 TFL sack 2 PD Air Force #11 Connor Dietz 4-6 51 yds TD #41 Brady Amack 6 tackles	Team Stats Comparison NM AF First Downs 17 6 3rd Down Efficiency 6-14 (42%) 3-12 (25%) 4th Down Efficiency 0-1 (0%) 0-1 (0%) Total Yards 396 211 Passing Yards 184 86 Rushing Yards 147 45 Penalties-Penalty Yards 0-0 0-0 Turnovers 1 0 Time of Possession 19:38 12:22
Scoring Summary FIRST QUARTER SCORING NM AF 4:54 (NM) Safety AF: Anthony Hooks tackles Jefferson in endzone 2 0 2:40 (NM) James Aho, 42 yd FG 5 0 0:06 (NM) Lamaar Thomas, 44 yd pass form Tarean Austin (Aho kick) 12 0 SECOND QUARTER SCORING NM AF 6:10 (NM) James Aho, 31 yd FG 15 0 2:46 (NM) James Aho, 36 yd FG 18 0 0:06 (NM) Tarean Austin, 7 yd run 25 0 FOURTH QUARTER SCORING NM AF 4:50 (AF) Mikel Hunter, 12 yd pass from Connor Dietz (Soderberg kick) 25 7 1:43 (NM) James Wright, 9 yd run 32 7
New Mexico PASSING C/ATT YDS TD INT Tarean Austin 14/28 184 1 1 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD James Wright 17 42 2.4 1 Demond Dennis 11 68 6.1 0 Tarean Austin 6 37 6.1 1 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Lamaar Thomas 6 87 14.5 1 James Wright 2 28 14 0 Ty Kirk 2 28 14 0 Chris Hernandez 1 20 20 0 Lucas Reed 1 19 19 0 Demond Dennis 1 2 2 0 DEFENSIVE TACK SACK INT TD Carmen Messina 10 1 0 0 Johnathan Rainey 8 0 0 0 Ugo Uzodinma 3 1 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LG James Aho 3/3 3/3 43 PUNTING TOT YDS AVG -20 Ben Skaer 3 155 51.6 2 Air Force PASSING C/ATT YDS TD INT Connor Dietz 4/6 51 1 0 Tim Jefferson 4/9 35 0 0 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD Darius Jones 11 27 2.4 0 Tim Jefferson 9 2 0.2 0 Jared Tew 4 9 2.2 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Jonathan Warzeka 2 38 19 0 Mikel Hunter 2 19 9.5 1 Darius Jones 2 7 3.5 0 Zach Kauth 1 15 15 0 Nathan Walker 1 7 7 0 DEFENSIVE TACK SACK INT TD Brady Amack 6 0 0 0 Jon Davis 6 0 0 0 Reggie Rembert 2 0 1 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LG Erik Soderberg 0 1/1 0 PUNTING TOT YDS AVG -20 Keil Bartholomew 8 333 41.6 0

UP NEXT: BYU 2-8 (1-5)

[nredfoot]

Around the NCAA

NCAA Football Rankings - BCS Rankings - Updated: Dec 13, 2010
RK	LW	TEAM (VOTES)	W	L	POINTS
1	2	West Virginia	10	0	1.000
2	3	TCU	11	0	0.994
3	4	Alabama	10	1	0.989
4	6	Wisconsin	9	1	0.981
5	5	Boise State	9	1	0.978
6	8	Oregon	9	1	0.967
7	7	Virginia Tech	10	1	0.967
8	10	Oklahoma	10	1	0.958
9	9	North Carolina	9	2	0.953
10	11	Nebraska	9	2	0.940
11	12	Ohio State	10	1	0.936
12	13	Nevada	10	0	0.933
13	1	Arkansas	10	1	0.932
14	14	USC	8	2	0.915
15	16	Georgia Tech	9	2	0.904
16	17	Washington	8	2	0.893
17	18	Florida State	9	2	0.889
18	19	Missouri	9	2	0.888
19	21	Auburn	9	2	0.866
20	22	South Carolina	8	3	0.858
21	15	Iowa	8	3	0.857
22	23	Texas Tech	8	3	0.852
23	24	Stanford	8	3	0.844
24	--	Oklahoma State	8	3	0.833
25	--	Georgia	8	3	0.823

- #1 Arkansas pounded by Ballard and Mississippi State
- Now #1 West Virginia travels to 7-3 Pitt to try and keep national championship dreams alive
- #2 TCU closer than they have ever been to the crystal trophy
- #12 Buckeyes knock off then #15 Iowa to put them one win away from another Big 10 title
- Nevada continues its winning ways
- Ponder still on top in heisman rankings, Jones back up to 2nd

BCS Bowl Projections
Rose Bowl
#11 Ohio State vs #6 Oregon

Fiesta Bowl
#8 Oklahoma vs #5 Boise State

Orange Bowl
#17 Florida State vs #3 Alabama

Sugar Bowl
#13 Arkansas vs #4 Wisconsin

National Championship
#2 TCU vs #1 West Virginia (this would be weird)

New Mexico Bowl Projection
Independence Bowl vs Connecticut 5-5 (3-2)

[Knickerbocker91]

Quote: Originally Posted by nredfoot

Around the NCAA - #2 Virginia Tech's BCS title hopes end with a thumping by #16 North Carolina in Chapel Hill 42-18

[nredfoot]

Wild One in Provo

Provo, UT -- The Lobos were riding high entering Lavell Edwards Stadium Saturday evening. They had just become bowl eligible and were on a 4 game winning streak. BYU was however having a nightmare year. Picked to finished 3rd in MWC in the preseason they were at a humbling 2-8 and 1-5 in conference. However the Cougar team Coach Redfoot saw in Provo looked like what the experts thought they would look like all year as the game turned out to be one of the more entertaining contests of the year.

New Mexico opened the game with an impressive 14 play 72 yd drive that ate up the first 4:04 of the game. However as has been a problem all year they couldn't finish and settled with a 24 yd FG. Making it 3-0 Lobos. Then BYU responded. The Cougars were led on the field by their own true freshman QB Jake Heaps who was considered one of the top QB prospects last year. The real fireworks however would come from RB J.J. Di Luigi as he ran through and around the Lobo defense all game long. Their opening drive was a great mixture of draws and screens that had the New Mexico defense on its heels. It ended with a 17 yd run to paydirt by Luigi putting the game at 7-3 Cougars. The quarter would end with the Lobos driving thanks to a big opening pass play to backup TE and kicker James Aho's brother Andrew Aho for 30 yards.

Two plays into the 2nd quarter Wright would find the endzone for the 10th time this season giving the Lobos a 10-7 lead. Then also two plays into their own drive Luigi would make the run of the game. Pausing in the backfield to allow his runners to set up the junior tailback would squirt through a small hole shrug off a Freddy Young tackle and race 71 yds for the score. The Cougars had the lead again 14-10. After exchanging punts the Lobos would find their groove again. Using both TEs Reed and Aho to work the sidelinDynastyes the Lobos would put themselves in great field position once again. Wright would cap off the nice drive from 3 yds out for his second score of the day and put the game at 17-14 Lobos. But BYU came right back. Eating up most of what was left in the 2nd, Heaps would lead the Cougars down the field ending with 7 yd TD pass to young wideout Cody Huffman. 21-17 Cougars. With 55 seconds left Austin would move the ball quickly into FG position. However James Aho would hook the 33 yd FG attempt with time expiring wide left and send the game into halftime at 21-17.

The Cougars received the opening kickoff and attempt to go to work when disaster strikes. Heaps looking for a 3rd down completion would throw a perfect strike to Lobos senior linebacker Todd Neely for the pick. Unfortunately for the Lobos they couldn't capitalize on the great field position. After being stopped on the first 3 plays Coach Redfoot would decide to go for it. Austin would hook up in the flat with Lucas Reed but he would be tackled one yard short and the Cougars would take over on downs. Then on 3rd and 14 Heaps would hook up for a huge gain to back up running back Bryan Kariya. The Lobo defense then step up and force the 37 yd FG putting the game at 24-17 Cougars. After another short drive for Lobos ending in a punt BYU would get to moving again. Again on 3rd and long Heaps would make a big play through the air this time to McKay Jacobson. Then Luigi would end the drive cruising in from 8 yds out to put the Cougars up 31-17. It looked like BYU was about to pull away but Demond Dennis would step up. Sporting heavy black tape on his right foot Dennis would get the Lobos right back in the game with a 73 yd TD sprint. Now the Lobos only trailed by a TD with the score at 31-24. BYU would almost immediately respond with a huge run of their own but Deshawn Mills would run Luigi down before he could go the final 25 yds. The quarter would end with the Cougars in striking distance.

The Lobos defense would rise up in the 4th. With BYU in the redzone Mike Slaten's D would finally find a backbone forcing the Cougars into 3rd and inches. Then Ugo Uzodinma would rip through the line and maul Luigi in the backfield. Payne would bounce the kick off the left upright but it would bounce through giving the Cougars a 34-24 lead. Austin would lead a great scoring drive next. A big 3rd and 11 completion to Lamaar Thomas, who had a solid game, followed by a 35 yd pass to Hernandez would put the Lobo offense in the redzone. After an incomplete pass Austin would scramble to the 4 for a first down. Then Demond Dennis would find the endzone for the 2nd time of the game drawing the Lobos within 3. 34-31 BYU. Heaps would lead the Cougars back on the field looking to put the game away. It appeared they would do just that as once again a mixture of short passes and gashing runs would put BYU in Lobos territory. However back to back sacks by Johnathan Rainey would force a Cougars punt. Then it was time to see if Austin could lead the comeback drive. With 2:02 left and on their own 32 yd line things were looking promising for the Lobos. However their first 3 plays would be a no gain pass and 2 incompletions. Coach Redfoot would have to go for it and Austin would come through finding Williams on the drag route over the middle for a first down. But the next play would be a 15 yd sack as Austin would try to escape pressure and ran backwards. But the Lobos would get back into manageable position after a 14 yd pass to Thomas. On 3rd and 11 Austin would have to throw the ball away to avoid the sack. So it came down to 4th and 11. Austin's hard count would cause the Cougars senior right end Vic So Oto to jump offsides putting them at 4th and 6. However the senior would respond in a big way as he would get his hands up to knock down an Austin pass at the line. If he hadn't got his big paws on it Williams would've been wide open and might've even scored. So with just under 1:15 left the Lobos defense had 2 timeouts and were able to force a 3 and out. However their offense would only have 10 seconds to try and go 63 yards. The first Austin pass would fall incomplete and the last play of the game would be an interception putting the final score at 34-31 BYU.

After the game Coach Redfoot spoke about the dissapointing loss, "This one hurts. We were on a roll and no the kids confidence was high. This is a talented Cougars team that put it together today and flat out beat us. When you give up 200 yds rushing to a back gonna be hard to win." The biggest storyline all day was BYU's dominant front lines. Both the Cougars offensive and defensive lines dominated the Lobos front. Peter Gardner was held in check all day as was Ugo Uzodinma. With no inside push the Cougars had their way up the middle on draws. The freshman Heaps also put together a very solid performance only throwing 4 incomplete passes.

New Mexico falls to 6-5 overall and 4-3 in the Mountain West. BYU however bumps up to 3-8 and 2-5 in conference. Next week is senior day and it's against the #1 TCU Horned Frogs. A big chance for Coach Redfoot to get a big statement win and end TCU's title hopes. All 14 seniors will be honored before the game.

New Mexico (6-5) at BYU (3-8)
Dec 20, 2010 1 2 3 4 F New Mexico 3 14 7 7 31 BYU 7 14 10 3 34 Top Performers New Mexico #1 Demond Dennis 8 rushes 80 yds 2 TD #88 Johnathan Rainey 8 tackles 3 TFL 2 sacks BYU #10 J.J. Di Luigi 21 rushes 218 yards 3 TD 4 rec 19 yds #9 Jake Heaps 18-22 241 yds TD Int	Team Stats Comparison NM BYU First Downs 31 34 3rd Down Efficiency 6-13 (46%) 2-7 (28%) 4th Down Efficiency 1-3 (33%) 0-0 (0%) Total Yards 625 603 Passing Yards 336 241 Rushing Yards 132 245 Penalties-Penalty Yards 1-15 2-20 Turnovers 1 1 Time of Possession 21:04 16:02
Scoring Summary FIRST QUARTER SCORING NM BYU 3:52 (NM) James Aho, 23 yd FG 3 0 2:10 (BYU) J.J. Di Luigi, 19 yd run (Payne kick) 3 7 SECOND QUARTER SCORING NM BYU 7:44 (NM) James Wright, 1 yd run (Aho kick) 10 7 7:04 (BYU) J.J. Di Luigi, 71 yd run (Payne kick) 10 14 2:55 (NM) James Wright, 3 yd run (Aho kick) 17 14 0:55 (BYU) C. Hoffman, 7 yd pass from Jake Heaps (Payne kick) 17 21 THIRD QUARTER SCORING NM BYU 3:40 (BYU) M. Payne, 36 yd FG 17 24 1:16 (BYU) J.J. Di Luigi, 8 yd run (Payne kick) 17 31 1:02 (NM) Demond Dennis, 73 yd run (Aho kick) 24 31 FOURTH QUARTER SCORING NM BYU 6:33 (BYU) M. Payne, 34 yd FG 24 34 4:31 (NM) Demond Dennis 4 yd run (Aho kick) 31 34
New Mexico PASSING C/ATT YDS TD INT Tarean Austin 20/40 336 0 1 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD James Wright 14 53 3.7 2 Demond Dennis 8 80 10.0 2 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD Lamaar Thomas 5 72 14.4 0 Ty Kirk 3 61 20.3 0 Bryant Williams 3 51 17.0 0 Andrew Aho 3 63 21.0 0 Lucas Reed 3 53 17.6 0 Chris Hernandez 1 35 35 0 DEFENSIVE TACK SACK INT TD Johnathan Rainey 8 2 0 0 Carmen Messina 8 0 0 0 Bubba Forrest 7 1 0 0 Deshawn Mills 7 0 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LG James Aho 1/2 4/4 24 PUNTING TOT YDS AVG -20 Ben Skaer 2 89 44.5 2 BYU PASSING C/ATT YDS TD INT Jake Heaps 18/22 241 1 1 RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD J.J. Di Luigi 21 218 10.3 3 Bryan Kariya 3 18 6 0 RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD McKay Jacobson 4 70 17.5 0 J.J. Di Luigi 4 19 4.7 0 Bryan Kariya 3 26 8.6 0 ONeill Chambers 2 58 29.0 0 Mike Muehlmann 2 32 16.0 0 Cody Hoffman 2 11 5.5 1 Zed Mendenhall 1 25 25 0 DEFENSIVE TACK SACK INT TD Jay Galea i 8 0 0 0 Brian Logan 5 0 0 0 Shane Hunter 5 0 0 0 Jordan Pendleton 5 0 0 0 KICKING FG XP PTS LG Mitch Payne 2/2 4/4 37 PUNTING TOT YDS AVG -20 Riley Stephenson 3 110 36.6 1

UP NEXT: #1 TCU 11-0 (7-0)

[nredfoot]

Around the NCAA
- #1 West Virginia falls on the road against Pitt 34-24
- #3 Alabama holds off #19 Auburn (Ingram and Richardson were both out as was Newton and Fairley all due to injuries)
- Boise State slides up to #3
- #24 Oklahoma State knocks off hated rival #8 Sooners
- The choke fest continues for #13 Arkansas this time losing big to LSU, Bama will now play for SEC title instead of the hogs
- Speaking of choke fest #15 Georgia Tech finished season losing 3 of their last 4 this time to instate rival #25 Georgia
- Taylor Potts unseats Ponder for top spot in heisman race after 559 yd and 7 TD game
- Florida State set to take on #6 Virginia Tech for ACC title
- #9 Nebraska will play #13 Oklahoma in Big XI title game
- If Pitt beats Cincy next week will be the Big East champs even after Mountaineers impressive run
- #8 Ohio State wraps up Big 10 title with destruction of Michigan
- #5 Oregon a Civil War win away from another Rose Bowl appearance
- #21 Georgia will play #2 Alabama for SEC title
- New Mexico now projected to play Mississippi State in Independence Bowl

[nredfoot]

Goodbye to Seniors
Here's a list of the seniors who will be recognized on senior day along with their stats and analysis

HB #23 Terence Brown 65 OVR
2010 Stats: N/A
Analysis: Brown has yet to see the field this season. With such young RB talent it is doubtful the fifth year senior will. He did however provide excellent senior guidance to the young Lobos runningback core.

FB #32 Josh Fussell 64 OVR
2010 Stats: 7 rushes 22 yds 4 rec 6 yds
Analysis: Josh has been instumental in the Lobos running game. He has also been called on numerous time to convert short yardage and has come through more than not.

WR #7 Bryant Williams 73 OVR
2010 Stats: 30 rec 516 yds 2 TD
Analysis: Williams was a force in the slot position. Coming through many times on 3rd down to help keep drives alive. Was a favorite for young QB Austin when in trouble.

WR #18 Chris Hernandez 71 OVR
2010 Stats: 16 rec 405 yds 4 TD
Analysis: Chris was a big play waiting to happen. Averaging 25 yards per catch he ate up yards in the passing game. Sometimes his hands were questionable but was an integral part of the Lobo offense.

WR #82 Nick Wilhelm 69 OVR
2010 Stats: N/A
Analysis: The fifth year senior was at the bottom of depth chart and never saw the field.

LG #73 Karlin Givens 67 OVR
2010 Stats: N/A
Analysis: Did not see the field besides for FGs and extra points. He was beat out in preseason by Bin Bilal.

RG #56 Mike Cannon 72 OVR
2010 Stats: 11 starts 1 sack given up
Analysis: Cannon started every game up front for the Lobos. A very good pass blocker but not a mauler in the running game. Was very athletic and could pull real well.

RG #76 Zayn Bin Bilal 71 OVR
2010 Stats: 11 starts pancake 3 sacks given up
Analysis: Was moved to start the year to starting LG and has remained there all year. A very good run blocker but sometimes struggled in passing game.

RT #77 Maurice Mears 72 OVR
2010 Stats: 11 starts sack given up
Analysis: A lot like his wingman Cannon, Mears was a solid pass blocker and efficient run blocker. Suffered bruised ribs that kept him out of one game but was back the next week.

RE #59 Seth Johannemann 66 OVR
2010 Stats: N/A
Analysis: Played very little this year only when Latchinson was too tired and needed a breather or two. Got some good pressure when in there but never could record a tackle.

DT #93 Peter Gardner 74 OVR
2010 Stats: 55 tackles (45 solo) 16 TFL 8 sacks
Analysis: Became the anchor of the defensive line. For the 1st half of the year was a sack machine recording 7 in the first 5 games putting him a tie with the most in the country. Since then has only recorded one but has become more of a force against the run. Will be tough to replace his production next season.

MLB #45 Terel Anyaibe 76 OVR
2010 Stats: 9 tackles
Analysis: Didn't see much action behind Messina this season but did play well on ST. Was also a great mentor to Messina and provided great depth.

MLB #51 Cody Neely 73 OVR
2010 Stats: 24 tackles 3 TFL sack INT
Analysis: Was moved before the season to starting left outside linebacker. Only sees the field in 3 linebacker sets but has been a sure tackler all year. Very consistent performer for Slaten's D.

FS #24 Brian Hill 67 OVR
2010 Stats: tackle
Analysis: Only seen the field on a few ST plays. Never saw the field because of low awareness. Was a good leader for the young secondary from the bench.

These 14 seniors saw some of the toughest times but were fortunate enough to be apart of this bowl season. They can really leave their mark if they can lead their team over #1 TCU this Saturday at University Stadium. It should be interesting to see if guys like Gardner, Williams, and Hernandez play more motivated and make any big plays.

Enjoy your last home game seniors!