Final thoughts and more from New Mexico's 41-25 loss to Boise State

BOISE, Idaho — Final thoughts and more from New Mexico’s 41-25 loss to Boise State:

1. The snap went low. Then everything went off the rails. As Boise State punter Oscar Doyle picked the ball up on a busted field goal attempt with a little over seven-and-half minutes left, there was a half-stunned, half-panicked murmur Saturday at Albertsons Stadium, a special reaction reserved for routine plays gone sideways in the blink of an eye.

What was supposed to happen: Like everybody else out there, UNM defensive end Keyshawn James-Newby had to stay with his man. If Boise State muffed the snap, no problem — he only had to keep his guy in front of him and ride the play out.

“We’re supposed to stay on no matter the circumstances,” James-Newby said Saturday night.

What did happen: James-Newby’s eyes drifted to the backfield, then he briefly moved to make a play on Doyle. Tight end Troy Grizzle — James-Newby’s man — snuck out and broke towards the end zone, with defensive end Brett Karhu rushing to get in on the play.

He didn’t get there in time. Doyle drifted to the sideline and threw. Grizzle caught Doyle’s pass and fell into the end zone — touchdown, Broncos. That half-stunned, half-panicked murmur turned into surging cheers as Boise State improbably went up 34-17, a rare play upending the possibility of an even rarer win for UNM in Boise.

“That’s just a pride hurter right there,” Lobo running back Damon Bankston said Saturday night.

“That was kind of a back-breaker,” head coach Jason Eck said.

It was and it wasn’t.

In a 41-25 loss to Boise State, UNM probably didn’t play a complete enough game to capitalize if James-Newby had stayed on Grizzle, if Karhu had batted the pass away, if Doyle had simply thrown a bad ball. There was no guarantee the Lobos’ offense would’ve driven down and scored immediately after, cutting UNM’s deficit to three or seven. Nor could it be counted on that a productive, but steadily tiring, defense would’ve held up if UNM didn’t put points on the board.

On the flip side? That Boise State needed a bust on an already-busted play to finally get a safe fourth-quarter lead over a first-year program ought to be heartening.

Even if it shows how far UNM has to go.

“We gotta get a lot better,” Eck said, “to be an upper-echelon Mountain West team.”

2. Eck confirmed it Saturday night: there is no quarterback controversy. Barring an injury or something unforeseen, this is Jack Layne’s offense to run until further notice.

“Jack’s the guy,” Eck said. “We can keep using (backup quarterback James Laubstein) – we had some stuff today that we didn’t really get to that had him (in) … And I thought James did a good job on his drive, but Jack’s our guy.”

Layne’s final line from Saturday: 7-for-17 (41%) passing, 115 yards, one touchdown, two interceptions and a fumble, his third game with three turnovers this season. His lone touchdown was effectively a handoff to tight end Dorian Thomas. The fumble came on the second play of the game, and his second pick led to the Broncos’ final touchdown.

He also saw 19 pressures, per PFF, and was sacked twice in a game where UNM largely struggled to run the ball effectively. After Layne threw three interceptions in losses to Michigan and San Jose State — two games in which the run game didn’t quite pop, either – there was a sense that if he didn’t play great, he didn’t truly play badly. After all, he had to make things work in less than ideal situations.

Saturday?

“I thought some of the interceptions, he might’ve forced it a little bit,” Eck said. “I think it’s tough when you’re struggling offensively — sometimes you have the inclination to make something happen. Certainly I don’t think it was one of his best performances, but I think we gotta help him (out) as well.

“There’s some times where we had one-on-ones (and) he’s making the right decisions, but we can’t come down with the play.”

Wide receiver Keagan Johnson echoed that general point after the SJSU game — the offense as a whole needed to be better for Layne to be better. That didn’t change Saturday. UNM needs to run the ball effectively, block better, win more one-on-ones … you name it. And yes, the Lobos went up against a very good defense, but this offense has plenty to work through before it takes the field next.

“I was talking to one offensive lineman,” Bankston said, “and we said we got to start meeting together because we don’t even meet together. Probably have to start doing joint meetings or something, just to get on the same page and to see, like, where specific calls of where they’re going and how they’re blocking it, so we can hit it better. Or just to get a better understanding between the both of us.”

There simply has to be fewer turnovers, though. This team (like most programs) clearly isn’t in a spot where it can consistently lose drives and overcome that.

3. 41 points is a season high in points allowed, but UNM’s defense deserves some credit for what it did Saturday. That UNM had an opportunity to put pressure on Boise State late was a testament to a group that bounced back from what felt like a season-worst performance, answering the call time and time again before effectively running out of gas over 86 total plays.

“(Boise State) ran for about three yards a carry, which is pretty good by us,” Eck said. “I thought our defense took a step forward.”

“We’re gonna take it play-by-play, don’t matter if it’s 50 or if it’s 90,” James-Newby said. “Me and my guys got a motor, man. We’re gonna keep doing our thing and just keep stacking days and keep stacking plays.”

But if there’s one thing that keeps nagging this group, it’s late-down defense. After Saturday, teams are converting 44.19% of third downs against UNM, the second-worst mark in the conference; only Air Force (53.52%) has struggled to get off the field more.

Notes and quotes

GETTING PHYSICAL: Eck said before the game that he wanted to see more physicality against Boise State than he did against SJSU. What did he see Saturday?

“I really liked some of the physicality I saw from the defense,” he said. “I gotta study the offense before I make a real generalization, but my inclination is, yeah, we need to play more physical on offense in the run game. But I do want to watch the tape to be made certain of that.”

BIG RETURN: How did Bankston notch UNM’s first kickoff return touchdown of the season?

“On the first kickoffs, we had him a little bit up closer to the goal line,” Eck said. “And (special teams coordinator Daniel Da Prato) said we were blocking it pretty well, so he asked, ‘What do you think about moving him back a little bit?’ And I said, yeah, let’s go for it – we needed a spark.’”

Boise State head coach Spencer Danielson said Saturday some of the players on the coverage team assumed the kickoff would be a touchback.

PRAISE BE: Danielson on Doyle and Grizzle’s busted field-goal touchdown: “I would love to say that was a play call – it was not,” he said. “It was our players adapting to fire drill, which we work every Thursday if we do muff a snap. And thank you Jesus for the touchdown.”

AGGRESSIVE: Why did Boise State go for it so much on fourth down, converting six of seven? “It was just the situations we were in tonight … We needed every bit of those tonight,” Danielson said.