The trivia answer is jarring.
What is the only football program in the Mountain West Conference with at least six victories in each of the past six years?
It's not national power TCU, which won just five games in its final year in the WAC in 2004. It's not Brigham Young, either. It's the team coming to town this Saturday, a New Mexico program that quietly has put together a string of consistency that should be the envy of many more tradition-rich teams.
On the other hand, the Lobos are just 40-34 in that span, and after a 6-7 season that ended with a home loss in the New Mexico Bowl last year, the program is looking for more than consistency this year.
It's looking for excellence, and with 17 starters back, it's primed for it.
"We had a string in 2002, '03, '04 where we had really good teams, then we kind of went backward the last two years," coach Rocky Long said. "In '05, we had a really good, experienced football team. We went up to UTEP 3-0, UTEP beat us and we finished 6-5. Last year we had a very young team that went 6-7.
"The last two years we kind of stepped back. We were second in the league three straight years; we were fourth the last two. We're hoping we can move back up there."
There's no shortage of confidence for a team that returns 10 defensive starters, the top rusher in the MWC, a quarterback who provided a spark last season and a pair of veteran receivers.
"We see ourselves as a darkhorse," senior linebacker and captain Cody Kase said. "We've
definitely raised expectations. I saw a quote that we are a top-tier team, always in the mix. We're starting to get in the top tier."
"The next step is to win the conference, win a bowl game, get in the top 10," said junior running back Rodney Ferguson, who rushed for a league-leading 1,234 yards last season. New Mexico last won a bowl in 1961. "This year there is a different vibe around the locker room: That we can do it, not maybe we can do it."
Ferguson is a big part of that confidence, but while New Mexico plans on using him extensively, the Lobos also are looking to get back to throwing the ball from their three-receiver, one-back offense.
Quarterback Donovan Porterie began last season as a third-team freshman before earning five starts, including the bowl game. The Lobos are hoping to turn him loose a bit more this week.
"We have two quality wide receivers in Travis Brown and Marcus Smith, and we have some young guys stepping up," Long said. "We'd like to throw the ball more than we did last year. We don't want to be considered just a smash-mouth team. We want to run the ball, but we want to spread it out."
But the play calling against UTEP will evolve depending on what the Miners do.
"It will be determined by how they play us on defense," Long said. "If they put enough guys in the box, the quarterbacks and receivers will have to make some plays."
The story is similar defensively. Long said much of what New Mexico does will be dictated by who UTEP has at quarterback, Lorne Sam or Trevor Vittatoe.
"The quarterbacks have different skills, you have to defend them in two different ways," Long said. "You have to play a general defensive game plan that lends itself to both quarterbacks."
The players, meanwhile, just are anxious to get going.
"We have a lot of experience, and that gives you confidence," Case said. "This is a senior-laden team. The ultimate goal is to win more games than the year before and win the conference.
"We think we can do that."
What is the only football program in the Mountain West Conference with at least six victories in each of the past six years?
It's not national power TCU, which won just five games in its final year in the WAC in 2004. It's not Brigham Young, either. It's the team coming to town this Saturday, a New Mexico program that quietly has put together a string of consistency that should be the envy of many more tradition-rich teams.
On the other hand, the Lobos are just 40-34 in that span, and after a 6-7 season that ended with a home loss in the New Mexico Bowl last year, the program is looking for more than consistency this year.
It's looking for excellence, and with 17 starters back, it's primed for it.
"We had a string in 2002, '03, '04 where we had really good teams, then we kind of went backward the last two years," coach Rocky Long said. "In '05, we had a really good, experienced football team. We went up to UTEP 3-0, UTEP beat us and we finished 6-5. Last year we had a very young team that went 6-7.
"The last two years we kind of stepped back. We were second in the league three straight years; we were fourth the last two. We're hoping we can move back up there."
There's no shortage of confidence for a team that returns 10 defensive starters, the top rusher in the MWC, a quarterback who provided a spark last season and a pair of veteran receivers.
"We see ourselves as a darkhorse," senior linebacker and captain Cody Kase said. "We've
definitely raised expectations. I saw a quote that we are a top-tier team, always in the mix. We're starting to get in the top tier."
"The next step is to win the conference, win a bowl game, get in the top 10," said junior running back Rodney Ferguson, who rushed for a league-leading 1,234 yards last season. New Mexico last won a bowl in 1961. "This year there is a different vibe around the locker room: That we can do it, not maybe we can do it."
Ferguson is a big part of that confidence, but while New Mexico plans on using him extensively, the Lobos also are looking to get back to throwing the ball from their three-receiver, one-back offense.
Quarterback Donovan Porterie began last season as a third-team freshman before earning five starts, including the bowl game. The Lobos are hoping to turn him loose a bit more this week.
"We have two quality wide receivers in Travis Brown and Marcus Smith, and we have some young guys stepping up," Long said. "We'd like to throw the ball more than we did last year. We don't want to be considered just a smash-mouth team. We want to run the ball, but we want to spread it out."
But the play calling against UTEP will evolve depending on what the Miners do.
"It will be determined by how they play us on defense," Long said. "If they put enough guys in the box, the quarterbacks and receivers will have to make some plays."
The story is similar defensively. Long said much of what New Mexico does will be dictated by who UTEP has at quarterback, Lorne Sam or Trevor Vittatoe.
"The quarterbacks have different skills, you have to defend them in two different ways," Long said. "You have to play a general defensive game plan that lends itself to both quarterbacks."
The players, meanwhile, just are anxious to get going.
"We have a lot of experience, and that gives you confidence," Case said. "This is a senior-laden team. The ultimate goal is to win more games than the year before and win the conference.
"We think we can do that."
