The feel good stuff that came to the Lobos after the University of New Mexico's win over New Mexico State was understandable and deserving.
The strutting needs to be put on hold.
What the Lobos did in beating the Aggies 44-34 on Saturday night - UNM's fifth straight win over NMSU - is whip up on a team that has been a whipping boy of college football for oh, almost forever.
This was not a win over Arizona, Saturday's foe, or Brigham Young, which comes to University Stadium on Sept. 29.
Those are games in which wins would produce a well-deserved Lobos swagger. BYU beat Arizona 20-7 Sept. 1 in Provo, Utah.
"Arizona is a step up, a Pac-10 school," said Lobos coach Rocky Long.
For now, the reality of a win over NMSU produces more of a "whew" - as in, "Thank goodness, we didn't lose to those guys."
Lobos are supposed to beat Aggies. Lobos are higher on the food chain. Lobos have more advantages, more things.
The Aggies under Hal Mumme still lack numbers, defense, tradition, facilities, budget and the know how to win big games.
That might never change.
And the Lobos have bigger fish to fry - or bigger fish to get fried by.
What the Aggies win does is return some much needed strut to these Lobos while it stroked a few egos in need of stroking.
For instance, kicker John Sullivan, who went 3-for-3 in field goals after missing two chip shots at UTEP.
For instance, quarterback Donovan Porterie, who was not sharp in UNM's 10-6 loss at UTEP.
Porterie is a good athlete who shows signs of being a good quarterback. He has a strong arm and, for a sophomore, shows decent composure in the pocket.
He was a good quarterback against the Aggies, tossing for 342 yards on 17-of-24 passing with two touchdowns and no interceptions.
"I did better," Porterie said.
Said Long: "He was disappointed and everybody else was disappointed in the way he played (against UTEP)."
The thing about Porterie is that UNM can't afford for him to have many disappointing games.
And Porterie needs to develop into a master of the pocket because the Lobos don't want him to run the football.
"Other than scrambling, we won't run him," said Long. "We are trying to keep him from getting hurt."
The running game UNM needs to keep Arizona from keying on Porterie was present against the Aggies. UNM's Rodney Ferguson ran for 118 yards on 26 carries. He is averaging 125 yards for the 1-1 Lobos.
One surprise Saturday might have been NMSU's ability to run on the Lobos. UNM showed some vulnerability up front when NMSU spread out UNM's defense.
The Aggies matched UNM at 3.9 yards per carry and NMSU's Tonny Glynn had 92 yards on 10 totes for a 9.2 average. The Aggies got 473 yards passing from Chase Holbrook to light UNM up for 581 yards in total offense. UNM had 496 total yards.
Arizona is coached by Mike Stoops, who is known as a defensive coach much like Long. But Stoops has brought in an offensive coordinator (Sonny Dykes) from Texas Tech who is looking to add some passing sizzle to the Wildcats' offense.
The 'Cats prefer to spread out a defense by using four wide receivers. But the 'Cats like to keep a defense honest by running the ball.
Which is kind of what the Aggies did Saturday.
What the Lobos did Saturday was play a cat-and-mouse thing with their passing defense going back and forth from a zone to a man.
Sometimes Holbrook read it right - 47 completions, four TDs. Sometimes Holbrook read it wrong - 16 incompletions, two interceptions.
"We think we can play better than we played and we're going to have to play better than we played," said Long. "We only made (NMSU) punt twice."
Which is a stat you probably can get away with in University Stadium - but not in Arizona.
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What went right/wrong
Right
No offensive turnovers: In a game of offensive explosions, the team with the fewest turnovers had the edge. That went to UNM with none on offense and only a late fumble loss on an Aggies on-side kick. The Aggies had two turnovers on UNM interceptions.
Steady Porterie: Sophomore QB Donovan Porterie had a solid passing game, completing 17-of-24 passes for 342 yards with two TDs and no interceptions. He also averaged 20.1 yards per completion - a big improvement over the UTEP game.
One big play: The biggest play of the game came on defense. Lobos safety Clint McPeek smashed Aggies tight end Nick Cleaver a second after he caught a pass and the ball popped into the hands of UNM's Frankie Solomon for an interception. UNM went on to hit a field goal with 5:22 to play to give the Lobos a 37-27 lead.
Wrong
Too much Holbrook: Aggie QB Chase Holbrook found too many holes in the UNM secondary. The Aggies junior passed for 473 yards, completing 47-of-63 passes.
Mental mistakes: UNM coach Rocky Long said he was not happy with foolish penalties UNM made in the fourth quarter that helped the Aggies move the football. "Those are not the signs of a good football team," said Long. "That's not a good way to end a game."
A hot rusher: The Lobos knew the Aggies were going to move the ball through the air, but NMSU also did a decent job on the ground. Aggies' Tonny Glynn had 92 yards on 10 carries for an impressive 9.2 average. The Aggies matched UNM with a 3.9 average per carry.
The strutting needs to be put on hold.
What the Lobos did in beating the Aggies 44-34 on Saturday night - UNM's fifth straight win over NMSU - is whip up on a team that has been a whipping boy of college football for oh, almost forever.
This was not a win over Arizona, Saturday's foe, or Brigham Young, which comes to University Stadium on Sept. 29.
Those are games in which wins would produce a well-deserved Lobos swagger. BYU beat Arizona 20-7 Sept. 1 in Provo, Utah.
"Arizona is a step up, a Pac-10 school," said Lobos coach Rocky Long.
For now, the reality of a win over NMSU produces more of a "whew" - as in, "Thank goodness, we didn't lose to those guys."
Lobos are supposed to beat Aggies. Lobos are higher on the food chain. Lobos have more advantages, more things.
The Aggies under Hal Mumme still lack numbers, defense, tradition, facilities, budget and the know how to win big games.
That might never change.
And the Lobos have bigger fish to fry - or bigger fish to get fried by.
What the Aggies win does is return some much needed strut to these Lobos while it stroked a few egos in need of stroking.
For instance, kicker John Sullivan, who went 3-for-3 in field goals after missing two chip shots at UTEP.
For instance, quarterback Donovan Porterie, who was not sharp in UNM's 10-6 loss at UTEP.
Porterie is a good athlete who shows signs of being a good quarterback. He has a strong arm and, for a sophomore, shows decent composure in the pocket.
He was a good quarterback against the Aggies, tossing for 342 yards on 17-of-24 passing with two touchdowns and no interceptions.
"I did better," Porterie said.
Said Long: "He was disappointed and everybody else was disappointed in the way he played (against UTEP)."
The thing about Porterie is that UNM can't afford for him to have many disappointing games.
And Porterie needs to develop into a master of the pocket because the Lobos don't want him to run the football.
"Other than scrambling, we won't run him," said Long. "We are trying to keep him from getting hurt."
The running game UNM needs to keep Arizona from keying on Porterie was present against the Aggies. UNM's Rodney Ferguson ran for 118 yards on 26 carries. He is averaging 125 yards for the 1-1 Lobos.
One surprise Saturday might have been NMSU's ability to run on the Lobos. UNM showed some vulnerability up front when NMSU spread out UNM's defense.
The Aggies matched UNM at 3.9 yards per carry and NMSU's Tonny Glynn had 92 yards on 10 totes for a 9.2 average. The Aggies got 473 yards passing from Chase Holbrook to light UNM up for 581 yards in total offense. UNM had 496 total yards.
Arizona is coached by Mike Stoops, who is known as a defensive coach much like Long. But Stoops has brought in an offensive coordinator (Sonny Dykes) from Texas Tech who is looking to add some passing sizzle to the Wildcats' offense.
The 'Cats prefer to spread out a defense by using four wide receivers. But the 'Cats like to keep a defense honest by running the ball.
Which is kind of what the Aggies did Saturday.
What the Lobos did Saturday was play a cat-and-mouse thing with their passing defense going back and forth from a zone to a man.
Sometimes Holbrook read it right - 47 completions, four TDs. Sometimes Holbrook read it wrong - 16 incompletions, two interceptions.
"We think we can play better than we played and we're going to have to play better than we played," said Long. "We only made (NMSU) punt twice."
Which is a stat you probably can get away with in University Stadium - but not in Arizona.
====
What went right/wrong
Right
No offensive turnovers: In a game of offensive explosions, the team with the fewest turnovers had the edge. That went to UNM with none on offense and only a late fumble loss on an Aggies on-side kick. The Aggies had two turnovers on UNM interceptions.
Steady Porterie: Sophomore QB Donovan Porterie had a solid passing game, completing 17-of-24 passes for 342 yards with two TDs and no interceptions. He also averaged 20.1 yards per completion - a big improvement over the UTEP game.
One big play: The biggest play of the game came on defense. Lobos safety Clint McPeek smashed Aggies tight end Nick Cleaver a second after he caught a pass and the ball popped into the hands of UNM's Frankie Solomon for an interception. UNM went on to hit a field goal with 5:22 to play to give the Lobos a 37-27 lead.
Wrong
Too much Holbrook: Aggie QB Chase Holbrook found too many holes in the UNM secondary. The Aggies junior passed for 473 yards, completing 47-of-63 passes.
Mental mistakes: UNM coach Rocky Long said he was not happy with foolish penalties UNM made in the fourth quarter that helped the Aggies move the football. "Those are not the signs of a good football team," said Long. "That's not a good way to end a game."
A hot rusher: The Lobos knew the Aggies were going to move the ball through the air, but NMSU also did a decent job on the ground. Aggies' Tonny Glynn had 92 yards on 10 carries for an impressive 9.2 average. The Aggies matched UNM with a 3.9 average per carry.
