New Mexico football was defined by its mistakes, Colorado State by its lack thereof.
The UNM offense came into the game putting up 50 points or more in each of its last three contests, the Rams put their hoof down, giving the CSU alumni a warm welcome back with a 17-6 victory.
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CSU hasn’t played turnover-free football in 707 days, a streak that will not be missed, but something that has often defined the Jay Norvell era of CSU football.
“I’m just determined to be a team that continues to get better as the season finishes,” Norvell said. “We’ve always taken great pride in that.”
This season the turnovers haven’t necessarily been toned down, but it has felt like they haven’t been as dire when they occur. Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi has been better at protecting the ball, albeit attempting 12 less passes than a year ago.
While Saturday afternoon there were no turnovers, it was most definitely not the offense’s best showing, and was far from the defense’s best showing. Oftentimes, however, it’s the team that plays the most mistake-free football that emerges victorious.
The offense only scored 10 points, but thanks to Kobe Johnson and his 82-yard punt return, that lackluster showing doesn’t quite mean as much.
“I saw the ball come off his foot,” Johnson said. “It was a punt that I would like as a returner and I stepped up to it and caught it, felt a guy on my right hip and made him miss, and I knew once I made those two people miss that with the scheme that coach (Tommy) Perry put together, once I got to the (open) field it was a touchdown.”
The Rams defense allowed 453 yards, and for much of the night UNM was able to drive down the field. However, credit is due where it’s due: CSU’s defense capitalized each time UNM made a mistake.
Norvell credited a large part of that to the amount of film that the team as a whole watched. Oftentimes film is looked at as a chore more so than something a player gets to do. Caleb Goodie said he looks forward to his weekly film session with Fowler-Nicolosi, excitement Chase Wilson has seen from a lot of players this year.
“I think across the board, not even just defensively, but offensively,” Wilson said. “I think these guys really possess a genuine love for each other too. So it’s really easy to come to work every day and get extra film, get extra work in.”
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That greater understanding of the game and the niche details that a player learns can lead to forcing mistakes from their opponents.
For UNM, those mistakes were plenty. 10 penalties for 65 yards, two fumbles within striking distance, two interceptions with a chance to change the momentum, a missed field goal and an overall inability to finish drives allowed CSU to hold a team that had come into the game scoring 50 points in three consecutive weeks to just six.
“We obviously heard 50, 50 all week, but we knew if we just kept following coach (Freddie) Banks‘ game plan, techniques, fundamentals, things like this happens,” CSU defensive back Dylan Phelps said. “We show that we’re one of the best defenses and we showed it tonight.”
As part of that showing, Kennedy McDowell sacked Devon Dampier for his first full sack of his career, one that was certainly special because no one had been able to bring Dampier to the ground all year long.
Buom Jock also got his first career interception, and Wilson would later join the turnover party with an interception that truly sealed the Lobos fate.
“I think our linebackers and our defensive line particularly are improving every week,” Norvell said. “And we’re getting different contributions from different guys, and even our young guys are contributing. … Really proud of Buom — Buom is still a relatively young guy, he’s played a lot of football for us, but every week he plays, he learns the adjustments a little bit better. (He’s) a little more confident in his technique and his reads — you can see us reacting quicker defensively.”
Norvell has been frequent in bringing up the fact that stats don’t always equal victories.
Saturday epitomized that. UNM outpaced the CSU offense by 119 yards, what won’t show up in the box score is the amount of mistakes each team made.
UNM: A lot.
CSU: A little.
“We have a lot of kids that are investing in improving as players and they’re preparing themselves to play on Saturdays,” Norvell said. “And these critical moments in the game where you have to make adjustments, that comes from a lot of hard work and preparation, it just doesn’t happen. … If you want to win you’ve got to take a hard road. It’s not easy and it’s not for the faint of heart, and it’s not for the weak and the weak get forgotten. We talk about that all the time. We have to make the choice to do the hard things to help us be in a position to win on Saturdays.”
Reach Damon Cook at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @dwcook2001.
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