Bursting With Hope for Homecoming

Never let it be said that the University of New Mexico football team isn't a resilient bunch. Hope springs eternal at University Stadium today as the Lobos (0-6, 0-2) play host to UNLV (2-5, 0-3) in, perhaps, the final stages of what has been the most tumultuous season in recent UNM history. First-year coach Mike Locksley will not be at the stadium today for UNM's homecoming game because of a 10-day suspension for a physical altercation way back on Sept. 20 with wide receivers coach J.B. Gerald. Locksley will return to work Sunday. Gerald remains on administrative leave, and in the meantime, assistant head coach/defensive backs coach George Barlow has control of the team. Asked about UNM's mind-set after coming back from a week off last week, redshirt freshman cornerback Anthony Hooks said, "We still have a chance to win out. If we can win out, hey, we still have a chance to go to a bowl game." And Hooks should buy the movie rights for what would be the greatest comeback story ever in college football . He's not alone, however, in positive spirit. "We just kind of feel an energy that we're ready to go," sophomore defensive end Jaymar Latchison says. "Everything that happened in the beginning of the season - so many distractions - now it's like we finally took a breath, we got our break and it's all behind us. We're ready to get after it and go get our first win." On paper, the Rebels seem to be the best matchup UNM has. The visitors are on a four-game losing streak, and fifth-year coach Mike Sanford is on his own hot seat. This was the season Sanford, who has a career 13-41 record, was supposed to lead the Rebels to a bowl game. His team was 5-7 in '08. "The big thing for us is that very thing - it's about us," Sanford said. "Our whole deal is focusing on us getting better - getting better on defense, us getting better on offense, being able to score in the red zone and not turning the ball over." Those were the biggest factors in UNLV's 35-15 loss to Utah last week. It scored just 12 points in five opportunities inside the Utah 20, and the Rebels managed only one other field goal in two trips to the Utes' 20 and 21. The effort was a significant improvement from UNLV's two previous games - blowout losses at Nevada (63-28) and against BYU (59-21). "One of our deals going into (the Utah) game was to get off the mat like a boxer and fight, and I felt like we did that," Sanford said. "There was a little more encouragement in the fact that we did play a little better on defense." UNLV averages 26.1 points a game, which creates a difficult matchup for the Lobos, who are averaging just 14.5 points per game. The Rebels have two quality starting wide receivers in senior Ryan Wolfe and Phillip Payne and two mobile QBs in Omar Clayton and Mike Clausen, who beat UNM in relief last year in Vegas. UNM will rely on embattled senior QB Donovan Porterie to spark the offense again, but the depleted coaching staff hopes a reduction of the playbook will help the team execute better. "We felt we were doing a little too much, that we needed to hone in on the things that we were doing good," offensive coordinator Darrell Dickey said of UNM's self-scouting week last week. "I know that could sound laughable, but we did find some things our guys are getting better at." Besides, Barlow has nothing to lose, for the game still will go on Locksley's record. "I'm a pretty competitive guy ... let's just say this: I'll definitely be out there to play to win," he said. The coaches are "going to do anything we can to try to get these kids a win." And keep hope alive. Today UNLV at UNM, 6 p.m. TV: The mtn. Radio: KKOB (770-AM)/Lobo network