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Albuquerque, N.M.
Max Hall and Jan Jorgensen stood in a tunnel adjacent to the stadium where their team, favored by 26 points, had just gained one of the most conflicted victories in their combined memory. A victory that came within a few inches of being one of the most humiliating losses in BYU history.
It felt like defeat, dressed up as a win.
Each struggled to find terms to properly describe it.
"Is there a word for happy and disappointed?" Hall asked. "We're all disappointed with how we played, and relieved we won. But we took a step back today."
Said Jorgensen: "How do you describe that ? It was a battle that shouldn't have happened. We got dragged into a dogfight we never should have been in. Those other guys played a good game. No disrespect to New Mexico."
Everyone disrespects New Mexico.
The Lobos are now 0-10, the worst team in the Mountain West. They can't beat anybody, but they almost beat the Cougars.
BYU made them look like title contenders, the Cougars suffering a 24-19 win here on Saturday.
If Lobo kicker James Aho hadn't doinked two makeable field goals and an extra point off the uprights, Hall's and Jorgensen's postgame descriptions would likely be unprintable in this space.
After a game of bad execution by BYU on both sides of the ball, slop that kept New Mexico alive, the Lobos saw their last chance slip away in the final two minutes.
But
The Lobos didn't ultimately embarrass BYU, but they certainly exposed them.
Even Bronco Mendenhall, who tried unsuccessfully to blow sunshine in every direction after the game, had to admit: "It wasn't nearly as clean as it was last week."
No, it was downright dirty.
BYU's issues, all brought to the fore against a winless opponent, included:
» A defense that struggled to put pressure on Donovan Porterie, the Lobos' quarterback. That defense came up with some important sacks, but, again and again, he was left to do his business unimpeded.
» Cornerbacks who play too soft. Porterie completed 28 passes, many of them to receivers who were uncovered by at least five yards.
» An offense that either cannot or will not run the ball. Last week, Utah punished the Lobos on the ground, stacking up 251 rushing yards on 47 attempts, complemented by 306 passing yards. BYU gained a mere 41 yards on 23 carries, getting 314 through the air.
» A defense that lacks speed overall. New Mexico spread the Cougars out, and they flailed around trying to keep up.
» Desperate efforts to hurry the quarterback by blitzing that were adeptly countered by screen passes, keeping Lobo drives alive and facilitating a 26-yard TD.
There are more issues, many more.
Mendenhall, though, chose to see the positives in a W hung -- "I was proud of our guys, how hard they fought," he said -- all while real satisfaction fell by the wayside.
The two seniors knew it. "We have to play better," Jorgensen said.
"New Mexico played like they were undefeated," said Hall. "We played like we knew we were going up against an 0-and-9 team. We have to improve, we have to learn from this."
GORDON MONSON hosts the "Monson and Graham Show" weekdays from 2-6 p.m. on 1280 AM The Zone. He can be reached at gmonson@sltrib.com .
