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Wednesday, September 08, 2010
UNM at Oregon: What Were They Thinking?
By Greg Archuleta
Copyright © 2010 Albuquerque Journal
Journal Staff Writer
It seemed like a pretty good idea at the time.
Saturday's football mismatch between now seventh-ranked Oregon and the University of New Mexico has drawn questions as to why the Lobos would agree to such a game.
The Ducks humiliated UNM 72-0, handing the Lobos the fifth worst loss in school history.
UNM senior associate athletic director Tim Cass says the schools originally agreed to a home-and-home series back in 2007 when the two teams were more evenly matched.
"The football schedule is done quite a bit in advance," Cass says. "We'd come off a number of years being bowl eligible. There was a feeling that we could be in a position to play teams that would be considered top-25, especially in a home-and-home situation."
As last year's debacle of a season unfolded, there were no discussions about canceling this year's opener. But both schools were having second thoughts about the return game to Albuquerque in 2012.
Cass says Oregon made the initial call about canceling the second game, and the Lobos received an extra $100,000 — $400,000 total — to play Saturday's game.
The original plan to play the Ducks came as Rocky Long was entering his 10th year as Lobo coach.
"I think there's sort of a feeling that the administration does the scheduling and the coach kind of gets forced to sign off. We wouldn't have scheduled it if Rocky didn't want it," Cass said.
Long did not return a call to the Journal seeking comment. But why wouldn't he have wanted it? The Ducks had finished the 2006 season with a 7-6 record, losing four straight to end the year.
UNM had finished 6-7 but went to a bowl game for the fourth time in five years.
Both teams went 9-4 in 2007.
"In all sports, the goal is to become a Top 25 program, and to do that at some point, you have to beat a Top 25 team," Cass says.
But while the Ducks continued to grow — going 10-3 in 2008 and '09, the Lobos took dramatic steps backward.
Cass says he still is bothered by the Mountain West Conference's decision to force UNM to open the 2008 season against TCU. The Lobos thought they were going to open against Texas A&M in a sold-out University Stadium.
Instead, the Horned Frogs, who would win 11 games that year and finish ranked No. 7, beat UNM 26-3 and injured quarterback Donovan Porterie. He would never be the same player again.
The Lobos finished the year 4-8, and Long resigned after the season.
Coach Mike Locksley came aboard and dramatically altered UNM's schemes on offense and defense. The team limped to a 1-11 record last season.
Long noted in 2007 — when the Oregon games were announced — that tougher schedules were a gamble.
He said they can have an adverse effect on the program if losses hurt the team's confidence or players get hurt going against the bigger schools. But he thought them worth the risk to help the Lobos — and the MWC — gain national stature.
How bad was Saturday's day from UNM's standpoint? Radio announcers after the game chose linebacker Carmen Messina's high ankle sprain as the play of the game.
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