Abysmal offense continues to hobble Lobos

Will Webber and James Barron, The Santa Fe New Mexican
·5 min read

Oct. 18—Hello, rock bottom.

After a fifth straight abysmal offensive performance in a 36-7 loss to Colorado State on homecoming Saturday, the University of New Mexico's football team has taken over the bottom rung (No. 130) of college football's statistical category for total offense.

Amassing just 79 total yards against the Rams — a figure that was 10 yards more than the summary released immediately after Saturday's game — the Lobos are now averaging 255 yards through seven games. That's a drop of nearly 30 yards from the game before when they ranked 124th of 130 major-college teams across the country.

They've now dropped below teams like UConn, Navy and Louisiana-Monroe. Until Saturday, UConn was winless but picked up 318 yards in a win over Yale. UNM remains the only team in the country with a single-digit number of offensive touchdowns: nine.

Despite averaging 58.7 yards rushing the past three weeks in losses to Air Force, San Diego State and CSU, the Lobos are 117th out of 130 teams in that category. They're 120th in passing offense.

For context, the nation's top offense is Ohio State at 563.2 yards. If the Buckeyes didn't gain a single yard for the final six games of the regular season and the Big Ten championship game, they'd still be averaging more yards than UNM is right now.

Saturday's offensive output is the lowest in the history of the Mountain West Conference. The Lobos now own the bottom two spots on that list; the previous low was their 83-yard effort against Wyoming three years ago. Saturday's total was the lowest for the Lobos since they had 66 in a loss to Texas in 1988.

If you're looking for a ray of hope, take a gander at the schedule. Looming just a couple weeks away is a visit from winless UNLV. The Rebels lost to Utah State on Saturday to fall to 0-6, mustering 330 yards in one of their best offensive games of the season.

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The final week of the soccer season brings a unique flavor: the soccer doubleheader. It begins Wednesday, when Capital and Santa Fe High play back-to-back matches starting at 3:30 p.m. at Santa Fe High. The two teams were supposed to play at Capital on Oct. 2, but the match was canceled because only four Lady Jaguars showed up for warmups.

A sweep will guarantee the Demons at least a tie for the District 5-5A title — the program's first.

On Saturday, Monte del Sol and Academy for Technology and the Classics will have a second straight Doubleheader Saturday but with a twist. The teams will alternate playing Hatch Valley and Socorro at Socorro starting at 11 a.m. to complete District 3/4/5 1A-3A play.

The four teams did the same thing Saturday, as ATC lost to the district-leading Lady Warriors, 5-0, then beat the Lady Bears 1-0. Monte del Sol, though, fell 4-2 to Hatch Valley and 8-0 to Socorro.

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The worldwide leader has made its way to the FM airbands here in Santa Fe.

As of late last week, Hutton Broadcasting began airing ESPN Radio on its 93.7 FM frequency. That's in addition to the existing station on 1400 AM.

Legendary local sports announcer Carl Twibell has worked in radio for 46 years, all but three of them in Santa Fe. If you've listened to prep sports in your car or on the old clock radio in your parents' bedroom since Ronald Reagan's first term, you're familiar with Twibell's work.

"This gives us another opportunity to increase our listening audience and promote high school sports in Santa Fe and Northern New Mexico," Twibell said.

According to a press release issued by Hutton Broadcasting last week, the company acquired 93.7 FM through the AM Revitalization Act. It allows AM station owners to receive an FM translator on available frequencies.

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While the Santa Fe High football team's postseason hopes ended with a 48-7 loss to Albuquerque La Cueva on Saturday, the Demons still have something to play for this week.

With a win over Albuquerque High in the season finale Friday, Santa Fe High will secure its first winning season in the 21st century and the third in the last 35 years.

The 1998 team went 8-3 but missed out on the playoffs that season on a tiebreaker. In 1995, the Demons were 6-5, while the 1986 team went 9-3 before losing in the Class 4A semifinals to Roswell.

Unfortunately, a loss and the Demons' season will look eerily similar to the 2002 team. That squad started off 4-1, then blew a 13-0 lead to Albuquerque Sandia and lost four of its last five games to finish 5-5. Santa Fe High's current edition could cloud a 4-0 start with a 1-5 finish if the Bulldogs win.

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Santa Fe High's first golf tournament fundraiser for its boys basketball program — called "Swing 4 The Team" — was a success Saturday at Marty Sanchez Links de Santa Fe. Demons head coach Zack Cole estimated the program raised about $20,000 after expenses, as it had a full field and dozens of sponsors for the event.