Texas Tech vs. UNM - Albuquerque Journal

D2
ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL
●●
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2003
No Hurt Feelings
UNM’s Casey Kelly had his arm broken by the Red Raiders in 2002, but that has been forgotten
BY GREG ARCHULETA
Journal Staff Writer
h, that Casey Kelly
can be so levelheaded — sometimes.
The senior quarterback on the University of
New Mexico football team
insists he’s not looking for any
payback against Texas Tech
for breaking his arm last season.
“I haven’t placed any more
emphasis because of the injury
I had or anything like that,”
Kelly says of the Red Raiders’
49-0 disposal of UNM on
national television last season.
“I think that’s reading too
much into it. The bottom line is
this is a game our program
needs to win if we want to get
where we want to go.”
The Lobos (1-0) want to go to
the head of the Mountain West
Conference class and go back
to a bowl game.
However, they’d also like to
get some national recognition
along the way. What better
opportunity than to go into
Lubbock, Texas, today and
knock off a Big 12 school that
features one of the most highpowered offenses in college
football?
The Red Raiders (1-0) averaged 38.5 points a game in
2002 and started the ’03 season
with a 58-10 thrashing of SMU,
a game that Tech coach Mike
Leach compared to last year’s
victory over UNM in a report
this week in the Lubbock
Avalanche-Journal.
Not ironically, the Lobos also
are finding it easy to recall last
year’s disaster at University
Stadium.
“A lot of us look at it as a big
game because of what happened (in 2002),” junior safety
Josh Bazinet says. “To go
down there and win would be
the best feeling ever.”
UNM hasn’t beaten Tech
since 1984 and hasn’t defeated
the Raiders in Lubbock since
’83.
“Coach (Rocky) Long
reminded us of how long it’s
been since we’ve beat them,”
Lobos senior safety Sidney
Wiley says. “So, we want to go
O
TEXAS
TECH
HEAD
COACH
DEAN HANSON/JOURNAL
University of New Mexico quarterback Casey Kelly was 6 of 14 for 53 yards against Texas Tech last season before being injured in a 49-0 loss to the Red Raiders.
The scene now shifts to Lubbock, where the Lobos hope to atone for their worst loss of 2002.
down there and shock the
world, especially because of
how they (beat) us last year,
trying to run up the score.”
Wiley was referring to
Tech’s decision to keep passing in the fourth quarter when
the Raiders already had a 42-0
lead.
Then-junior B.J. Symons of
the Raiders completed 6 of 9
passes for 62 yards and engineered one touchdown drive in
relief of four-year starter Kliff
Kingsbury.
Kingsbury is gone, and now
Symons is in charge of Leach’s
powerful offense.
Symons, a 6-foot, 1-inch, 220pound senior, completed 23 of
38 passes for 297 yards with
three touchdowns and one
interception in his starting
debut last week against SMU.
“I was hoping there’d be a
FAST
FACT
The Red
Raiders have
scored at
least 42
points in five
of their past
six games
(only Oklahoma shut
them down in
that span
last season)
Those five positions belong
to the Raiders’ four wide
receivers — seniors Wes Welker, Mickey Peters and Carlos
Francis and junior Nehemiah
Glover — and sophomore running back Taurean Henderson.
“Henderson’s really become
a well-rounded player,” Leach
says. “I think he’s one of the
better backs in the (Big 12)
conference.
Leach says the 5-9, 190pound Welker “maybe has the
ability to focus longer than
most other people.”
Welker tied an NCAA record
for career punt returns for
touchdowns last week when he
scored on SMU for his seventh
career TD.
Says Long, “I hope he doesn’t
break the record against us.”
Long says he was equally
dismayed at how well Texas
Tech played on defense, especially with a new scheme
under coordinator Lyle Setencich and 13 sophomores or
freshmen on the two-deep roster.
UNM’s offense, however,
played about as well as could
be expected in scoring 72
points in its season opener
against Texas State-San Marcos.
“We scored 72 points, but we
didn’t play our best game, by
far,” says Lobos sophomore
tailback DonTrell Moore, who
had 109 yards and four rushing
TDs in the opener. “Every
game, every day is a chance to
get better. We have confidence
going into the Tech game from
the standpoint that we know
we can get better.”
Last season, even with Kelly
for the first half, the Lobos did
nothing offensively against
Tech. He was 6 of 14 for 53
yards.
Moore, making the second
start of his college career, finished with 33 rushing yards.
“It’s comforting now with
the mindset that there are so
many more weapons going into
the game,” Moore says,
“instead of one or none.”
UNM senior wide receiver
Dwight Counter says he thinks
a win Saturday could help Kelly finally erase the stigma that
he’s only a caretaker and not a
quarterback who can win a
game for the Lobos.
“I feel he’s better than what
people give him respect for,”
Counter says. “He definitely
has a chance to change some
opinions about him.”
UNM
HEAD
COACH
Texas Tech vs. UNM
TODAY, 5:05 P.M. (MDT). Jones SBC Stadium (53,702). TV: KRQE-TV (delay, 8 p.m.). Radio: KKOB-AM (770). Online: www.broadcastamerica.com, www.kkob.com
KEY STRATEGIES
Mike Leach
fourth overall
(24-16)
big downturn with the new
quarterback in there, but
there’s not,” Long says. “He
doesn’t have the experience
that Kingsbury had, obviously.
But he seems to have just as
good an arm, and he’s faster
than Kingsbury running with
(the ball).”
Leach says he’s not surprised the change at quarterback was a seamless transition.
“The ball comes off his hand
really fast,” Leach says of
Symons. “He does a good job
of putting the ball on the
receivers, so he’s accurate. He
makes good decisions.
“I think he has a good grasp
of not only what we’re trying
to do offensively but also the
weapons around him and the
necessity to get to all five positions.”
■ Tech’s offense must put the pedal to the
metal early and score. A quick outburst could
discourage the Lobos, who desperately want
to atone for last season’s 49-0 thrashing.
The longer UNM stays in the game, the better
chance it has.
POSITION BATTLES: Lobos must be
ready for an Air-Raid
■ A young defense must not get discouraged
if it gives up big plays because UNM’s
offense is vastly different from the one that
showed up against Tech last season.
Yds TD
297 3
17 0
UNM
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Offense
Int
1
0
DID IT
Rushing
Att
Net Avg
Taurean Henderson
6
68 11.3
Johnnie Mack
4
44 11.0
B.J. Symons
6
36
6.0
Sione Havili
4
13
3.3
Wes Welker
1
3
3.0
TD
2
1
0
0
0
Punt returner
Wes Welker
tied and
NCAA record
for career
touchdowns
with seven.
He got his
seventh last
week against
SMU
Receiving
Rec
Carlos Francis
5
Mickey Peters
5
Wes Welker
4
Taurean Henderson
3
Nehemiah Glover
3
Joey Hawkins
3
Taylor Jobe
1
Dupree Scovell
1
Johnnie Mack
1
TD
0
1
0
1
1
0
0
0
0
Yds
74
60
56
44
40
25
8
7
0
Avg
14.8
12.0
14.0
14.7
13.3
8.3
8.0
7.0
0.0
Defense
Mike Smith
Adell Duckett
John Saidi
Chad Johnson
Seth Nitschmann
Geremy Woods
Brock Stratton
Marcus Boyd
UT
6
6
7
6
5
3
3
3
AT Total
2
8
1
7
0
7
1
7
1
6
3
6
2
5
1
4
■ The offense not only must win the time-ofpossession battle but also must score frequently with that edge. Texas Tech proved
last year it can score on anybody in the country. SMU had a 2-to-1 time-of-possession
edge over Tech last week, but the Raiders
still managed 58 points.
■ The defense must keep Tech short passes
from becoming long gains for TDs.
TEXAS TECH
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Offense
Passing
Comp Att
B.J. Symons
23 38
Sonny Cumbie
3
3
KEY STRATEGIES
TFL Int
YardsYds
1-7 —
— 1-5
1-6 —
— 1-1
— —
— —
— —
— —
Carlos Francis
Jerrell Malone
Pos.: Wide receiver
Pos.: Cornerback
No.: 82
No.: 19
Height: 5-10
Height: 6-1
Weight: 197
Weight: 186
Notable: Francis has 11
receptions for 147 yards and
one touchdown in Tech’s last
two games against New Mexico. He’s one of three
Raiders wideouts to have
double-figure receptions
against the Lobos the past
two seasons. Mickey Peters
has only nine but has two TD
catches.
Notable: Malone and fellow
sophomore corner Gabriel
Fulbright have moved from
the safety spots they played
last season. Malone ran a
4.43-second 40-yard dash
last year and will need that
speed to keep up with
Tech’s big-play receivers.
Did you know: Francis is
fourth on the Tech career
receptions list with 141 and
sixth in yards with 1,850. He
had 234 receiving yards
against Utah State in 2000.
Did you know: Malone was
born on St. Patrick’s Day
and competed in the Junior
Olympics in high school. He
and Fulbright, both of whom
also play special teams,
might play the entire game
today.
ABOUT THE SERIES
HEAD-TO-HEAD: Tech leads 32-5-2
LAST MEETING: The Raiders ended UNM’s streak of scoring
in 111 straight games, embarrassing the Lobos 49-0 on
ESPN2 in University Stadium last season
Passing
Comp Att
Casey Kelly
12
16
Kole McKamey
2
6
Yds TD Int
165 3 0
72 0 1
Rushing
Att Net
20 109
17
77
1
40
5
26
2
15
Avg
5.4
4.5
40.0
5.2
7.5
TD
4
1
0
0
0
Receiving
Rec Yds
Bryan Penley
4
47
Dwight Counter
3
87
Mike Augustyniak
2
39
Hank Baskett
2
31
Michael Brunker
1
24
Adrian Boyd
1
18
Terrence Thomas
1
6
Landrick Brody
1
5
Avg
11.8
29.0
19.5
15.5
24.0
18.0
6.0
5.0
TD
1
1
1
1
0
0
0
0
DonTrell Moore
D.D. Cox
Dwight Counter
Casey Kelly
Kole McKamey
Defense
UT AT Total
Nick Speegle
6 2
8
Chrishone Harris 3 4
7
Billy Strother
4 2
6
Shannon Kincaid 3 2
5
Fola Fashola
3 0
3
Terrell Golden
3 0
3
Sidney Wiley
0 3
3
Jerrell Malone
2 1
3
Kyle Coulter
2 1
3
TFL Int
Yds Yds
— —
1-1 —
— —
— —
2-8 —
— —
— 1-0
— —
— —
Rocky Long
sixth year
(26-35)
FAST
FACT
The Lobos
haven’t
beaten the
Red Raiders
in Lubbock in
20 years, the
last win a
30-10 victory
in 1983
DID IT
The Lobos
converted
their first
eight
third-down
opportunities
last week
and finished
11 for 14 in
the game
ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL
●●
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2003 D11
How They Match Up
RED RAIDERS’
DEPTH CHART
LOBOS’
DEPTH CHART
Offense
Offense
XWR
6 Nehemiah Glover
88 Jarret Hicks
YWR
86 Mickey Peters
83 Slade Hodges
ZWR
82 Carlos Francis
7 Trey Haverty
HWR
27 Wes Welker
26 Dupree Scovell
LT
WR
8 Dwight Counter
15 Rashaun Sanders
18 Hank Baskett
WR
21 Adrian Boyd
81 Terrence Thomas
1 Michael Brunker
TE
87 Bryan Penley
88 Mike Augustyniak
85 Zach Cresap
60 Daniel Loper
69 Glen January
ST
75 Jason Lenzmeier
79 T. Pennington
LG
64 Cody Campbell
59 Brandon Jones
SG
76 Claude Terrell
69 Bryan Humphreys
C
66 Toby Cecil
77 Dylan Gandy
C
63 Ryan Cook
67 Derek Watson
RG
75 E.J. Whitley
63 Maunel Ramirez
RG
59 Robert Turner
62 Fred Tucker
RT
65 Casey Keck
62 Bryan Kegans
RT
64 Justin Colburn
74 Patrick Hodges
QB
2 B.J. Symons
15 Sonny Cumbie
QB
FB
19 Taurean
Henderson
4 Johnnie Mack
16 Casey Kelly
12 Kole McKamey
11 Tali Ena
FB
44 Adrian Byrd
34 Landrick Brody
TB
22 DonTrell Moore
5 D.D. Cox
47 Clay McGuire
32 Sione Havili
BH
Defense
Defense
LE
92 Seth Nitschmann
84 Randall Cherry
NT
93 Chris Hudler
97 Fred Thrweatt
DT
99 Ken Scott
90 Patrice M.Mwamba
91 Adell Duckett
96 Keyunta Dawson
QUARTERBACK: In season opener, senior B.J.
Symons (6-1, 220) picked up where graduated Kliff
Kingsbury left off.
QUARTERBACK: Senior Casey Kelly (6-3, 193) is
RE
SAM
46 Mike Smith
48 Paul Williams
RUNNING BACK: Sophomore Taurean Henderson
RUNNING BACK: Sophomore DonTrell Moore (5-
MLB
45 Brock Stratton
35 Geremy Woods
(5-9, 179) is more of a receiving threat. Backup
Johnnie Mack (5-7, 180) is dangerous.
11, 214) moved up to 25th on UNM’s all-time rushing list with his 109 yards last week.
WILL
5 John Saidi
30 Jason Wesley
RECEIVERS: Lost some height from last season
RECEIVERS: Senior Dwight Counter (6-3, 193)
but just as potent. Senior Mickey Peters (6-3, 213)
is Symons’ tallest target.
had 192 all-purpose yards in the opener against
Texas State-San Marcos.
OFFENSIVE LINE: Center Toby Cecil (6-4, 290) is
the most experienced on a veteran line, with 38
career starts.
LE
98 D.J. Renteria
90 Marcus Parker
NT
60 G. Morrison
96 Kyle Coulter
RE
71 Zach Rupp
93 Daniel Kegler
92 Evroy Thompson
OLB
33 Fola Fashola
17 Billy Strother
MLB
7 Daniel Gawronski
56 Mike Mohoric
OLB
89 Nick Speegle
39 Shannon Kincaid
LC
23 Gabriel Fulbright
14 Corey Brown
RC
19 Jerrell Malone
28 Brandon Payne
OFFENSIVE LINE: The Lobos had 299 yards on
the ground, and the line didn’t give up a sack last
week.
LOBO
9 Brandon Ratcliff
32 Art Haynes
LWS
6 Sidney Wiley
37 Josh Bazinet
DEFENSIVE LINE: Junior right end Adell Duckett
(6-4, 265) returned an interception five yards for a
touchdown last week vs. SMU.
DEFENSIVE LINE: Senior Daniel Kegler returns to
the rotation after being in the coaches’ doghouse
for the season opener.
RWS
3 Terrell Golden
27 Kevin Walton
LINEBACKER: Middle linebacker Brock Stratton
LINEBACKER: The speed of senior starter Fola
(5-11, 233) started last week as a true freshman,
making five tackles and one fumble recovery.
Fashola and senior backup Shannon Kincaid must
show today. They flew around the field last week.
WES WELKER
D.J. RENTERIA
TEXAS TECH
LC
12 Chad Johnson
18 Jamaal Jackson
RC
11 Marcus Boyd
25 SirDon Lewis
SS
28 Ryan Aycock
38 Micah Sweets
FS
1 Vincent Meeks
20 Byron Johnson
ADVANTAGE
UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO
leading NCAA Division I-A in passing efficiency
(223.5).
Specialists
P
Specialists
22 Alex Reyes
98 Wich Brenner
K
40 Keith Toogood
98 Wich Brenner
DS
58 Ian Smetona
83 Slade Hodges
KR
4 Johnnie Mack
6 Nehemiah Glover
PR
27 Wes Welker
6 Nehemiah Glover
Rushing
Passing
Penalty
Total
SPECIAL TEAMS: Junior Wes Zunker hit 7 of 8
PR
good was 7 of 8 on PATs and hit a 31-yard field
goal in his first game last week.
PATs. Sophomore Tyler Gaus only punted once last
week.
COACHES: Fourth-year coach Mike Leach put up
COACHES: Rocky Long has yet to find a way to
38.5 ppg in ’02 and has outscored UNM 115-33 in
three games combined.
slow down Texas Tech’s high-octane offense.
TT
1-1
Opp.
1-1
Penalties
TT
Yards gained
144
Yards lost
21
Attempts
23
Avg. per rush
5.3
Avg. per game 123.0
TDs Rushing
3
Total Yardage
123
Opp.
120
35
40
2.1
85.0
0
85
Passing
TT
Opp.
Avg. per pass
7.7
4.4
Avg. per catch 12.1
9.3
Avg. per game 314.0 195.0
TDs Passing
3
1
Total Yardage
314
195
Total offense
TT
Opp.
Total Plays
64
84
Avg. per Play
6.8
3.3
Avg. per game 437.0 280.0
Kick returns
TT
No./yards 3/131
Return avg.
43.7
Opp.
3/66
22.0
Punt returns
No./Yards
Return avg.
TT
4/63
15.8
Opp.
0/0
0.0
Interception returns
No./Yards
Return avg.
TT
3/6
2.0
TT
6
66
6
66
Avg. per game
Avg. yds./game
Total
Total yardage
Opp.
12
100
12
100
Opp.
1/0
0.0
TT
Avg. per punt
35.0
Net punt average35.0
Total punts
2
Total yardage
70
Opp.
37.0
24.4
5
185
Time of possession
TT
Opp.
20:35 39:25
Per Game
Conference
W-L Pct. Pts. Opp.
W-L
New Mexico
0-0
0
0
0
1-0 1.000
72
8
Air Force
0-0
0
0
0
1-0 1.000
49
0
Overall
Pct. Pts. Opp.
0-0
0
0
0
1-0 1.000
40
20
Wyoming
0-0
0
0
0
1-0 1.000
21
10
First downs
0-0
0
0
0
1-0 1.000
19
9
BYU
0-0
0
0
0
1-0 1.000
23
14
UNLV
0-0
0
0
0
1-0 1.000
28
19
CSU
0-0
0
0
0
0-1 .000
35
42
AROUND THE MOUNTAIN WEST
Today
SDSU at Ohio State, 10 a.m.
Air Force at Northwestern,
11 a.m.
Colorado State at Cal, 4 p.m.
UNLV at Kansas, 5 p.m.
Wyoming at Oklahoma State,
5 p.m.
BYU at USC, 6 p.m.
Utah at Texas A&M, 6 p.m.
4th-down conversions
4th-down pct.
Total
TT
100%
1/1
Opp.
33.3
1/3
Sacks
TT
2
13
Total
Yardage
Opp.
2
14
Field goals
TT
1
1
Total
Attempts
Opp.
1
1
Touchdowns
Total
TT
8
Opp.
1
TT
7/8
Opp.
1/1
PAT
Total/Attempts
2003 SCHEDULES
Texas Tech
(1-0)
Aug. 30 Tech 58, SMU 10
Sept. 6 New Mexico
Sept. 20 at N.C. State
Sept. 27 at Mississippi
Oct. 4 Texas A&M
Oct. 11 Iowa State
Oct. 18 at Oklahoma State
Oct. 25 at Missouri
Nov. 1 Colorado
Nov. 8 Baylor
Nov. 15 at Texas
Nov. 22 Oklahoma
New Mexico
(1-0)
Aug. 30 UNM 72,
Texas State 8
Sept. 6 at Texas Tech
Sept. 13 Brigham Young
Sept. 20 at Washington State
Sept. 27 New Mexico State
Oct. 4 Utah St.
Oct. 18 at San Diego State
Oct. 25 at Utah
Nov. 1 UNLV
Nov. 7 Colorado State
Nov. 15 Air Force
Nov. 22 at Wyoming
8 Dwight Counter
21 Adrian Boyd
Fumbles-lost
Utah
3rd-down conversions
TT
Opp.
3rd-down pct. 44.4% 37.5%
Total
4/9 6/16
Scoring
UNM Opp.
Points per game 72.0
8.0
Total
72
8
SDSU
9 Brandon Ratcliff
5 D.D. Cox
KR
UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO
TEAM STATISTICS
MOUNTAIN WEST STANDINGS
Punts
Rushing
53 Martin Lovato
SPECIAL TEAMS: Redshirt freshman Keith Too-
Fumbles-lost
Opp.
8
9
4
21
30 Wes Zunker
24 Aaron Barret
DS
First downs
TS
7
15
3
25
K
SECONDARY: Sophomore cornerbacks Gabriel
Fulbright and Jerrell Malone must be sure tacklers
today.
Scoring
Opp.
10.0
10
25 Tyler Gaus
30 Wes Zunker
SECONDARY: Senior Ryan Aycock (6-1, 208) had
148 tackles in ’02 and was rated the No. 11 strong
safety by The Sporting News.
TEXAS TECH
TEAM STATISTICS
TT
Points per game 58.0
Total
58
P
UNM
20
10
1
31
Rushing
Passing
Penalty
Total
Opp.
3
11
2
16
UNM
Yards gained
308
Yards lost
9
Attempts
54
Avg. per rush
5.5
Avg. per game 299.0
TDs Rushing
6
Total Yardage
299
Opp.
81
22
24
2.5
59.0
0
59
Passing
UNM
Opp.
Avg. per pass
11.2
5.4
Avg. per catch 17.1 11.9
Avg. per game 257.0 321.0
TDs Passing
4
1
Total Yardage
257
321
Total offense
UNM
Opp.
Total Plays
77
84
Avg. per Play
7.2
4.5
Avg. per game 556.0 380.0
Kick returns
Opp.
11/208
18.9
Punt returns
No./Yards
Return avg.
UNM
3/65
21.7
UNM
2/4
2.0
Penalties
Avg. per game
Avg. yds./game
Total
Total yardage
UNM
2
30
2
30
UNM
Avg. per punt
36.0
Net punt average36.0
Total punts
1
Total yardage
36
Opp.
4
40
4
40
Opp.
1/26
26.0
Opp.
41.0
41.0
3
123
Time of possession
Per Game
UNM Opp.
33:04 26:56
3rd-down conversions
UNM
3rd-down pct. 78.6%
Total
11/14
Opp.
30%
6/20
4th-down conversions
UNM
4th-down pct. 100.0%
Total
1/1
Opp.
33.3
4/12
Sacks
Total
Yardage
UNM
4
10
Opp.
0
0
Field goals
UNM
1
1
Total
Attempts
Opp.
1/1
1.0
Interception returns
No./Yards
Return avg.
Opp.
1-1
Punts
Rushing
UNM
No./yards
0/0
Return avg. 0.0
UNM
0-0
Opp.
0
0
Touchdowns
UNM
10
Opp.
1
UNM
Total/Attempts 9/10
Opp.
0/0
Total
PAT