Three takeaways from New Mexico's loss at Boise State

BOISE, Idaho — New Mexico overcame a slow start but couldn’t muster a strong finish, falling 41-25 to Boise State on Saturday at Albertsons Stadium.

UNM (3-3, 0-2) trailed 17-14 at the half before the Broncos (4-2, 2-0) outscored the Lobos 24-11 in the second half.

Three takeaways from the Lobos’ last game (for now) on The Blue (field):

1. The slow starts are an issue, full stop

Watch enough games, listen to enough coaches, you’ll hear it at some point: It’s not how you start, but how you finish. To be fair, UNM has had a couple of particularly strong finishes this season, the type that brings out the truth in one of the biggest clichés in sports.

But for the Lobos, it’s getting to a point where it might be a little more about the starts.

Consider: The Lobos opened Saturday with back-to-back turnovers, a fumble from quarterback Jack Layne on their first drive and a pass intended for wide receiver Keagan Johnson that was picked off by cornerback A’Marion McCoy on their second drive. This was after coach Jason Eck said UNM switched up its practice format this week, starting sessions with team periods to address the issue of starting slow.

The Lobos’ defense was good enough to hold the Broncos to a field goal after that fumble and to force a turnover on downs after the pick. But after UNM authored a three-and-out on its third drive of the night, Boise State drove 74 yards to take a 10-0 lead — the fourth time this year the Lobos have trailed by double digits in the first half.

Against Idaho State and New Mexico State, this team was good enough to overcome those deficits. For myriad reasons, it just isn’t right now.

2. The run game is in a concerning spot

Any game where there’s a 86-54 disparity in plays run will provide some wonky numbers, and UNM had to effectively abandon the run in the fourth quarter. But for the third straight game, the Lobos rushing attack was an abject disappointment, yielding 49 total yards and two yards per carry.

Why?

“We struggled to move (defensive end Jayden Virgin-Morgan),” Eck said of UNM’s issues running the ball Saturday. “We gotta keep looking at, are we attacking the right guys? I thought we ran a lot at (Virgin-Morgan) and I thought he was their best defensive end. I think we had some calls on the call sheet that could have attacked the other guy, we got to get those more.”

That Scottre Humphrey — UNM’s supposed lead back entering the season — walked off the field Saturday with only three carries for eight yards makes it even more concerning. The appeal of this running backs room was that it had a player who could probably start for a Power Four program and the depth to complement him; that’s far from the case right now.

To be clear, that’s not a slight on running back Damon Bankston (188 all-purpose yards, one kickoff return touchdown) and his performance Saturday. Because Eck is right when he says Bankston is the most productive back, and that’s warranted further carries, more opportunities to get the ball in his hands.

This wasn’t the run game that was expected, though. Fifty yards against Michigan was probably to be expected. But back-to-back games under 100 yards rushing?

That’s an issue. How, when and if it gets fixed will be one of the more notable storylines entering the second half of the season.

3. Another injury on top of insult

Last week at San Jose State, the Lobos lost a pair of starters in cornerback Abraham Williams and wide receiver Michael Buckley to undisclosed injuries.

Against Boise State, starting right guard and team captain Richard Pearce left the game in the second quarter unable to put any weight on his right leg; he did not return in the second half.

“Hopefully it’s not too serious,” Eck said. “We’ll find out once we get the X-rays or MRIs.”

UNM football at Boise State: Photos