ARCHULETA: Eck, Lobos Looking for ‘Delete History’ Button Today at Michigan
History is not on the University of New Mexico football team’s side today. Then again, history is a subject that has often failed Lobo football.
UNM travels to hallowed Ann Arbor, Mich., today to face No. 14 Michigan – two years removed from a national championship (however tainted it may be).
Earlier this week, The Pit Press asked the UNM athletic communications department when was the last time the Lobos beat a nationally ranked, non-conference opponent on the road?
The UNM athletic communications department did not respond. Here’s why:
UNM is 0-15 all-time against ranked non-conference foes away from University Stadium. Opponents’ average margin of victory is 37.5 points per game (the average score is 46.8-9.3).
It makes sense, then, that the Wolverines are a 36.5-point favorite today behind highly touted freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood.
First-year Lobos coach Jason Eck doesn’t sound intimidated, based on his own history with ranked opponents.
Eck’s Idaho Vandals played at No. 3 Oregon in the season opener last year and trailed just 17-14 in the fourth quarter before the Ducks scored an insurance touchdown and won 24-14.
“We’ve got nothing to lose,” Eck said earlier this week. “We’re not going to disappoint anyone’s picks if we lose this game; everyone’s picking against us. I really do think we have no pressure in this game.”
Today’s game marks the fourth time in school history that UNM is starting on the road against a Top 25 school.
And to be fair, UNM did play respectably in two of the three previous season openers vs. Goliaths.
In 1986, the Lobos lost 35-21 at No. 10 Tennessee. The Lobos opened the 2002 season against potential NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Phillip Rivers and No. 25 North Carolina State in Raleigh, N.C., and fell 34-14.
Now for that other season-opening loss.
UNM ventured into Oregon in 2010 and found itself on the wrong end of a 59-0 rout to the No. 11 Ducks.
At the half.
Fortunately for the Lobos, the Ducks let the gas off the pedal in the second half and cruised to a 72 to 0 victory.
The blowout caused the UNM athletic director to mention “I want to (expletive) kill myself,” on the elevator down from the press box at Autzen Stadium and the then-head coach to respond to a reporter’s question by saying, “They’re all correctable mistakes.”
Eck acknowledges the Lobos have a tall order today, but he wants his team to fight through the inevitable adversity by limiting mistakes.
“I want to see us play really, really hard, and I want to see us play sound where we’re not having self-inflicted errors in the game,” Eck said. “Because that stuff, it will carry over, even if it’s not a good enough effort to beat a Michigan team, it could probably beat some other teams in our conference (and) get us to a bowl game.
“I really don’t believe in moral victories, but I believe you can build confidence with how you play. How you play in a game can also set precedence for later for something to build upon.”
And lay the foundation for rewriting Lobo football history.
