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New Mexico Bowl: Long not quick to assume victory against Spartans

By Iliana Limón
Monday, December 11, 2006

University of New Mexico football coach Rocky Long is already throwing up warning flags.

He wants fans to forget the oddsmakers.

Forget homefield advantage.

And remember this is no easy foe to conquer for the Lobos.

UNM (6-6, 4-4 in Mountain West) is a 4-point favorite to beat San Jose State (8-4, 5-3 in WAC) in the Dec. 23 New Mexico Bowl, but Long says the Lobos are lucky to have this much time to prepare for the Spartans.

"They've got talent at every position," he said. "People are going to assume they'll be easy to beat, but they're a very good team."

The Lobos practiced three times last week, mostly brushing up on fundamentals and conditioning.

This week they begin getting down to bowl business, easing in elements of their game plan for San Jose State.

The Lobos say they're eager to accelerate the bowl preparation.

"We've tried to stay in game shape and have some fun going up against each other, but we're definitely looking forward to getting into the game plan," junior linebacker Cody Kase said. "It's fun going against each other and hitting pretty hard, but we all know the main reason we're out here is to get ready for the bowl game. We want to be ready for anything San Jose State throws our way."

The Spartans posted their first eight-win season since 1990, when they made their last bowl appearance. The highlight of their r‚sum‚ was a 23-20 loss to then-No. 13 Boise State, nearly busting the Broncos run to a BCS bowl game.

Long sees challenges in every corner of the San Jose State depth chart.

As a defensive specialist, he naturally began by rattling off the virtues of the Spartans' offense.

Junior quarterback Adam Tafralis has had a strong year leading San Jose State's offense, going 170-of-258 passing for 2,075 yards, 18 touchdowns and seven interceptions.

His top targets are James Jones, who has 64 catches for 787 yards and eight touchdowns, and John Broussard, who adds 48 catches for 738 yards and six touchdowns.

The Spartans also have two reliable running backs.

Yonus Davis leads the team with 984 yards and six touchdowns on 155 carries, and backup Patrick Perry adds 444 yards and 10 touchdowns on 100 carries.

"They have a lot of talented guys and can do a ton of stuff on offense," Long said. "They run three wide receivers, four wide receivers, five wide receivers, two tight end sets. It's like the encyclopedia of offenses. It seems like if it's out there, there's a chance they might run it."

When the offense falters, the Spartans get an instant boost from punter Waylon Prather, who averaged 43.9 yards per boot this season. His longest punt sailed 72 yards and he has pinned 19 punts inside the 20-yard line.

Long doesn't have to talk up the San Jose State defense very much.

The Spartans' lineup speaks for itself.

Junior cornerback Dwight Lowery is nearing the end of a banner season, with nine interceptions returned for 111 yards and six passes broken up. He also has 45 tackles and two fumble recoveries.

Lowery made school history when he was named a first-team All-American this month by the American Football Coaches Association and Football Writers Association of America.

Sophomore cornerback Chris Owens is a strong threat opposite Lowery, with four interceptions returned for 72 yards. He also has broken up five passes, forced one fumble and racked up 46 tackles.

When opposing teams turn to the running game, they usually slam into senior middle linebacker Matt Castelo. He ranks third nationally with 147 tackles, including 67 solo stops. He also has one interception returned for nine yards and has forced two fumbles.

"They use him a lot like we use Quincy (Black)," Long said. "They push everyone toward him, and he's good enough to tackle a whole bunch of people."

Tomey rewarded: San Jose State coach Dick Tomey signed a two-year contract extension, keeping him with the Spartans through 2010. The deal was announced late last week as a reward for boosting the Spartans program, but it also quelled speculation that Tomey is a candidate for the vacant head coaching job at Stanford.