On Saturday night the University of Utah strutted into Albuquerque to play lowly New Mexico, anticipating another victory and perhaps a few more points in the national polls. Instead, they left town without their winning streak, without a healthy starting quarterback and without a share of first place in the Western Athletic Conference.
The Lobos, who had lost five straight games this season, and five straight to the Utes dating back to 1986, defeated the Utes 24-7, and they did it in the strangest of ways - by hanging tough during crunchtime.If there's anything you could bank on this world it was that the Lobos would fold in the fourth quarter. They've written more bad endings than Stephen King. Four of their five losses this season had been decided in the final minutes, three of them by a touchdown or less. All of which was in keeping with an old Lobo tradition. Close losses have long been their curse. They lost 16 games by a touchdown or less during the past six years.
Not this time. Sure, they tried their best to throw this one away, just as they had so many times before, but it didn't work. Nursing a 13-7 lead early in the fourth quarter, they marched 80 yards in seven plays, scoring on a 13-yard run by quarterback Stoney Case. Case's subsequent two-point conversion run gave the Lobos' a 21-7 lead with 10:23 left in the game. They secured victory when Dave Margolis kicked a 37-yard field goal with three minutes remaining.
"It was a big win in a lot of ways," said Lobo coach Dennis Franchione, who, when asked to compare Utah with WAC leader San Diego State, said, "They are not in the class of San Diego State."
Winslow Oliver rushed for 112 yards and Case completed 15 of 21 passes for 215 yards, as the Lobos failed to commit a turnover for the first time since 1988. But if the offense delivered in the fourth quarter, credit the defense for carrying the Lobos the rest of the game. It was the fewest points the Lobos have allowed since 1984, and they did it with a blitzing, aggressive style of play that disrupted and confused the Ute offense. The Lobos sacked the Ute quarterbacks six times for 61 yards - three by defensive end Jesse Becton - equaling the number of sacks the Utes had allowed all season. The sacks proved costly in more ways than one loss.
Senior quarterback Frank Dolce, who ranked fourth nationally in total offense, sprained his left knee near the end of the first half on the last of a four-sack barrage and is expected to be sidelined anywhere from two to four weeks. He was replaced by Mike McCoy, who transferred from Long Beach State during the off-season after that school dropped its football program.
McCoy, whose only action of the season had been brief mop-up action against Utah State, completed 15 of 25 passes for 163 yards, but the Utes failed to score in the second half. Utah's offense managed just 318 yards, 90 of them on the running of Pierre Jones.
"They played a very good game and we played a poor one," said Utah quarterback Ron McBride. "Give all the credit to New Mexico. They did a good job of pressuring the quarterback and we did a poor job of protecting him. We've picked up the blitz all year. I don't know why tonight was different. We like people to blitz, because our receivers can beat DBs . . . They outplayed us."
The loss dropped the Utes out of a first-place tie with San Diego State, which defeated Texas-El Paso Saturday. They are 2-1 in WAC play, 4-2 overall. The Lobos, who gathered in front of the bleachers to celebrate with their fans after Saturday's rare victory, are 2-5.
Afterward, when someone asked how the loss would affect Utah's bowl chances, McBride replied, "I'm tired of people talking about bowls and where we might be at the end of the season. That's like fairy tales. We've got to play each game."
Both New Mexico and Utah could point to near misses during Saturday's game. New Mexico's Dave Margolis, who had made seven straight field goals, including a 42-yarder to start the game, missed two field goals against Utah, one a 42-yarder that bounced off the crossbar and the other a 29-yarder. And then there were the Utes, who moved deep inside the Lobos 40-yard line five times, twice reaching the two-yard line, and came away scoreless each time.
"We had opportunities to get back in the game," said McBride.
The Utes set the tone of the game on their first possession of the night. They drove to the one-yard line, but in two plays at the goal line they failed to punch it in. However, the drive did set up a touchdown on Utah's next possession. The Ute defense pinned down the Lobos at the goal and forced them to punt from their own end zone. Sean Williams fielded the punt at midfield and returned it 21 yards. After completing a pass to Henry Lusk near the goal line, Dolce scored on a quarterback sneak to give Utah a 7-3 lead.
The Lobos answered right back. Case pump faked a short pass and froze the Ute coverage, then went deep to Marcus Goodloe, who caught the ball two steps ahead of Edwin Garrette and dashed into the end zone for a 41-yard play and a 10-7 Lobo lead.
Behind the running of Jones and the short passes of Dolce, the Utes moved to the UNM 18-yard line, but no farther. Defensive end Jesse Becton, the leading sacker in the WAC, dumped Dolce for a 13-yard loss, and then on third down linebacker Scott Creagan dropped Dolce for another 15-yard loss, pushing Utah out of field goal range. Ditto for the next series. The Utes moved to the 38-yard line, but twice in three plays nose tackle Steve Green sacked Dolce, for losses totaling 17 yards and again the Utes were out of field goal range.
When the play was finished, Dolce limped toward the sideline, but he never made it that far. He collapsed on the field and was finally helped to the sideline, where he spent the rest of the night.
With time running out, the Lobos drove 72 yards on a variety of short pass plays to set up a 33-yard Margolis field goal with 13 seconds left in the half. That gave New Mexico a 13-7 halftime lead.
On Utah's first possession of the second half, McCoy, who hadn't thrown a pass all season, scrambled right and threw a lob down the sideline, allowing Williams time to break away from coverage on an out pattern and run under it. He was stopped 28 yards later at the two. Again, the Utes were in scoring position, but two plays later Jones, running wide left, fumbled near the goal line. The ball rolled into the end zone and out of bounds. Touchback. Lobos' ball.
After exchanging punts, the Lobos finally mustered another drive against a tough Ute defense. Case connected with Goodloe on a short slant pass for 29 yards, and the Lobos eventually reached the 11-yard line only to have Margolis miss the 29-yard field goal attempt.
After another Ute drive stalled, the Lobos finally scored, marching seven plays in 80 yards. Oliver ran 24 yards and Case 25 yards on back-to-back plays and then Case scored on a 13-yard option keeper and a two-point conversion, giving New Mexico a 21-7 lead with 10:23 left in the game. Margolis' field goal minutes later was enough finally to give the Lobos their first WAC win of the season.