New Mexico Lobos Football

To be fair and balanced here, it must be pointed out that there is one other first-year head coach (Lane Kiffin) that went straight to the hot seat.  New Mexico Lobo head coach Mike Locksley is on a hot seat that is his own fault for heating.

Coming in from Illinois and going to New Mexico, things were supposed to be low key.  This is a place out of the media glare and a perfect place to start building a head coaching resume. 

Or so Mike may have thought.

A few days ago, his former assistant in the football offices publicly filed charges against him for sexual harassment, age discrimination and retaliation by a former administrative assistant.

Details of the charges are not available yet, but clearly this puts Locksley in "Mike Price" territory. Coaches don't have much room to wiggle under certain charges.

Mike Price was the newly named head coach at Alabama several years ago who was fired before ever coaching a game for alleged relations with a stripper and his conduct at a strip club.

Should the charges be found to have merit, Locksley could be dismissed under the terms of his contract which have the standard "morals clause" in it.

As for now, the school stands behind the coach.  Though no top administration official has come forward, the UNM Athletics Vice President Paul Krebs said in a prepared statement, "He has done a tremendous job to date; we're excited with what he's done. We're excited with the direction of our football program, and I couldn't be more thrilled with what he's done to date."

Ms. Lopez worked as Locksley's assistant from February until April.  After those three months, she asked for and was granted a transfer. Upon quiting that job and leaving the University altogether, she filed these charges.

There have been coaches that were involved with scandal that kept their jobs, but few if any, have been kept after being found guilty of charges in the range of sexual harassment.

Clearly, Locksley qualifies for a hot seat until these charges are settled.

It should be noted at this point that so far there have been no "smoking guns" in the case and that the University is taking the charges seriously and have started their own investigation.

Clearly, we want to give Coach Locksley the presumptive right of innocence until proven guilty. 

In making a fair list of coaches on the hot seat though, this is certainly reason to place him there until more is known.

On January 29, it was announced by the University of New Mexico that former Lobo and current Chicago Bear Brian Urlacher would donate $500,000 to the UNM football program. In exchange for the gift, UNM would rename its indoor football practice facility Brian Urlacher Field.

Urlacher's donation will be paid annually over a time period of ten years. The money Urlacher donates will be used for facility maintenance and improvement, with some of the money also going toward UNM football's general budget.

"Brian committed to this gift quite some time ago," said UNM Vice President for Athletics Paul Krebs. "The details were recently confirmed and we're ecstatic that he is making such a significant contribution to the Lobo football program."

"We are deeply indebted to Brian for the tremendous gift he has made to the UNM football program," said head football coach Mike Locksley. "Having it come from a former Lobo All-American makes it all the more special."

A native of New Mexico, Urlacher led the nation in tackles in 1998, his junior year, and was a first-team All-American his senior year (at free safety.)  He finished third all-time at UNM with 442 tackles.

"I am very thankful for the opportunity the University of New Mexico gave me, and this is one way for me to show my gratitude. Go Lobos," said Urlacher.

Urlacher was a first-round pick of the Chicago Bears in the 2000 NFL Draft. He was the ninth selection overall, making him the highest-drafted Lobo ever.

Urlacher has completed nine seasons with the Bears, including being named NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2005, competing in six Pro Bowls, and having over 1,000 career tackles.

23 10

New Mexico looked to go ahead 17-0 in a dominant first quarter where New Mexico forced three turnovers, but then Aaron Kirchoff rumbled 96 yards on a fumble return.  This play was one of those game changing plays for a team, and after that it was all Air Force for the rest of the game.

New Mexico actually did a decent job of slowing down Air Force's massive running attack.  The Falcons managed to hold the Falcons to 227 yards which is 90 yards under their per-game average and the Falcons had a 3.3 yards per carry, and limited the big play by allowing a long rush of 14 yards.

New Mexico just rolled over after that 96-yard fumble return for a touchdown.  In the first quarter, New Mexico gained 142 yards in total offense, but only managed 154 yards over the next three quarters.  On the Lobos last seven drives they only averaged 22 yards per possession, but that number is inflated by one drive of 62 yards, and if you take that away the Lobos were getting only 15 yards a possession.

Air Force did the complete opposite after the first quarter, forcing turnovers and shutting down New Mexico Rodney Ferguson to only 40 yards after he gained 67 in the first quarter.  Offensively, the Falcons were decent and not overly spectacular, but when they were given short fields the Falcons took advantage of this and scored points.

This again shows that teams need good quarterback play to be successful in college football. Yes, Air Force only completed one of two passes, but their offense is geared to running the option and quarterback Tim Jefferson ran for 64 yards and manages the pitch on the option.  While New Mexico’s Brad Gruner was so awful in the passing game that coach Rocky Long benched Gruner for Tate Smith, who did not fare much better by going one-for-eight and throwing an interception.

This victory for Air Force made the Falcons bowl eligible for the second straight year under coach Troy Calhoun who is now 15-6 in his two years as Air Force’s coach.

(1-5) (3-4)

University Stadium 4PM MT TV: Radio: XTRA Sports 1360 or 770 KKOB

New Mexico really needs this game to get back to .500 and inch closer to a bowl bid. The Lobos have won six straight against San Diego State, and this year the Lobos have been up and down, so no wins are guaranteed.

San Diego State, as its record indicates, is not very good this year, and if quarterback Ryan Lindley can't go because of injury, the prospects of the Aztecs getting a win are not good.

New Mexico is decent in its run defense and that is all it will need to stop the very stagnant running game of the Aztecs. San Diego has only 284 yards of rushing on the year. Yes, the college game includes sacks in the rushing yards, but the Aztecs' top two rushers haven't done much through six games—Atiyyah Henderson has 146 on the year and Brandon Sullivan has 142.

Part of that is due to the Aztecs being down and needing to pass a lot, because the two average 3.8 and 3.9 yards, respectively. New Mexico should have little problems stopping this so-called running attack.

New Mexico will just run Rodney Ferguson until he can run no more because the Aztecs have been giving up big plays or a lot of rushing yards this year. Quarterback Brad Gruner should be able to have a good game because the Aztecs are giving up nearly 30 points per game, and, believe it or not, their pass defense is worse then their run defense.

Final Score New Mexico 34, San Diego State 10