LOBOS GIVE ONE ECK-UVA EFFORT

Written By Ryan Tomari

Michigan makes key plays in 34-17 win

Michigan running back Justice Haynes runs past UNM’s Abraham Williams and Caleb Coleman on Saturday at Michigan Stadium. Michigan defeated UNM 34-17. Ryan Sun/Associated Press

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Not necessarily the same old song and dance for the UNM football team.

But the same outcome.

The Jason Eck era began with a 34-17 loss to No. 14-ranked Michigan at Michigan Stadium on Saturday.

But there was plenty to be proud of from the Lobos' first visit to “The Big House” and the effort from Eck’s team in his first game.

“We were a little rattled early because of the atmosphere… proud of our team. I thought we battled and competed,” Eck said.

Highly touted Michigan freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood made his first start for the Wolverines. He threw for one touchdown pass but received a lot of help from his run game.

Justice Haynes, in his Wolverines debut, ran for 159 yards and three touchdowns.

The first came with 12:57 left in the first quarter. A 56-yard run that Haynes went on, untouched by UNM defenders.

Haynes scored his second with 4:57 left in the first from five yards out to give UM a 14-0 lead. UM would hit a field goal early in the second quarter for a commanding 17-0 lead.

“We've got to get better and we’ve got to hit the practice field this week,” Eck said. “I believe in these guys and we’ve got to continue to get better.”

UNM would finally put together a score-driving drive that ended on a trick play.

Tight end Dorian Thomas would catch a pass from running back D.J. McKinney on fourth-and-one from the 9-yard line.

Ryan Tomari

Host of The University of New Mexico-centric sports show “The Pit Press Live!” and “The Pit Press Podcast,” Ryan Tomari wrote the famous prognosticating column that led to former UNM head coach Mike Locksley’s infamous blowup at ABQ Uptown Sports Bar. Tomari is equal parts New Jersey and New Mexico, although his tenure in the Land of Enchantment is more successful than 2-26. It took him a decade to get his bachelor’s degree in history from the University of New Mexico. Still thinking two plus two is five, he’s a statistics class away from a print journalism degree, but he doesn’t really need it after spending his college years at the Daily Lobo, the beloved and bedraggled independent voice known affectionately by students as “The Daily Low Blow.” Rising to sports editor, Tomari covered the failed Locksley experiment, New Mexicans’ jilted love affair with former UNM men’s head basketball coach Steve Alford and the abrupt retirement of former UNM women’s head basketball coach. He worked in media relations for the Albuquerque Isotopes. He spent a year with the Albuquerque Journal before returning closer to his family roots in Central New Jersey, where he worked for CBS Sports, cutting highlights and doing research during live broadcasts of NFL, college football and basketball games. Tomari loves the tortured New York Mets, and joyously took in David Tyree’s miracle-helmet catch and Mario Manningham’s toe-tapping “insurance” clutchness that aided the New York Giants’ blissful Super Bowl runs. A sports nerd, Tomari has an encyclopedic knowledge of baseball and still regrets not approaching baseball icon Tony Gwynn at Bandido Hideout decades ago. He misses his late father, Stephen, a Rutgers graduate who started his Ph.D. at Wichita State University before moving to New Mexico to take a job at Sandia Labs. And he enjoyed every moment of Wichita State’s magical tourney run in 2013. Tomari has a 7-year-old son, Aidan, who loves his home state because it’s “not that new and not that old,” prefers green over red chile and considers 1990s Homer Simpson the “best thing since sliced bread.” His radio personality is a little bit Jim Rome and a little bit Jay Mohr – sharp, comedic and endearing. He’ll never regret calling the new Lobo men’s head basketball coach “Rich” on air. Strike that Richard Pitino.

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