Cherry Crush Defense Helps Lobos Ground Air Force, Sets Up Huge Game Vs. SDSU
New Mexico quarterback Jack Layne (2) throws a pass against Air Force Friday, November 23rd in Colorado Springs, CO. Photo: UNM Athletics
Rocky Long’s defenses ain’t got nothing on Jason Eck’s mean Cherry D machine.
The defense held Air Force to its lowest scoring output ever against New Mexico, and the offense played turnover-free in a 20-3 victory over the Falcons in Colorado Springs on Saturday night.
To Eck with Long, the Lobos boss tied Gwinn "Bub" Henry (1934) for most wins – eight – by a first-year coach.
“We were locked in,” Eck said in a postgame radio interview. “We were not going to be one of those teams who screws it up the week before the so-called ‘big game.’ … We were ready to go.”
Take a deep breath as we talk about this team’s continuing list of accolades.
UNM (8-3, 5-2 Mountain West) won its fifth straight game for the first time since 2016, won at Falcon Stadium for the first time since 2000 (breaking a 10-game losing streak), established its best record after 11 games since 1997 (that team went 9-2 in 11 games) and – most importantly - set up a showdown with conference leading San Diego State next Friday afternoon at University Stadium for a potential shot at the MW Championship Game on Dec. 5.
“They continue to do things that haven’t been done here in a long time,” Eck said of his team. “Proud of ’em, but the job’s not finished.”
The Lobos rode a defense that held the Falcons (3-8, 2-5) to 110 rushing yards and 161 yards of total offense. Air Force entered the game as the No. 3 rushing offense in the country, averaging 271.1 yards per game.
The three points allowed bettered UNM’s previous best effort in a 21-6 win in Albuquerque in 1961. Long, who regularly had top 25 defenses during his tenure (1998-2008), led UNM to a 24-12 win in 2003 for his unit’s best effort vs. Air Force.
The only thing the superheroes on defense didn’t do Saturday was hold the Falcons under 100 yards rushing. AFA topped 100 rushing yards for the 96th consecutive game, the longest active streak in the NCAA – but just barely.
Lineback Mercury Swaim had 11 tackles and a sack to lead a defense that twice forced AFA to give the ball over on downs.
The offense was stellar in the game’s first 18 minutes and did enough in the fourth quarter to give its defense an assist. Most significant was zero turnovers on offense and two takeaways on defense.
UNM scored on drives of 75 and 82 yards on its first two possessions of the game, and a Brett Karhu sack on Falcons quarterback Kemper Hodges produced a fumble that gave UNM the ball at AFA 14 and resulted in a 27-yard Luke Drzewiecki field goal for a 17-0 lead with 9:42 left in the half.
Lobos quarterback Jack Layne made three huge scrambles on the TD possession on third downs to keep drives alive, and it was his 12-yard scramble on second-and-11 that gave UNM a 7-0 first quarter lead.
“We really had some opening plays, and we executed those well,” Eck said. “Credit Air Force. I think they upped their game as the game went on and played better defense and made it a lot harder for us.”
The Lobos defense played its most dominant half of the season in holding Air Force to 44 yards, including just 39 rushing yards, in the first 30 minutes.
Air Force replaced Hodges with Josh Johnson in the second half, and the Falcons managed drives of 13 and 19 plays. The Falcons came away with just three points.
After a 27-yard AFA field goal cut UNM’s fourth quarter lead to 17-3, Layne and James Laubstein, back from a two-week absence due to an injury, combined to engineer an 11-play, 63-yard drive to set up Drzewiecki’s 23-yard field goal with 3:59 left to cap the scoring.
Eck is still chasing a couple of milestones. He’s looking for UNM’s first outright conference championship since 1963. Eck also needs two wins to tie Joe Morrison (1982) for the most wins in a single season with 10 and has a chance to eclipse Morrison if the Lobos win out, including a potential MW title game, and a bowl game.
After the game, Eck implored Lobos fans to show up on Black Friday vs. San Diego State.
“We need everybody (there),” Eck said. “We need 30,000 for this game. We’re playing for a championship next week. I can’t wait to see how the Lobo family, Lobo nation turns out next week.”
