Rick Scibelli, Jr./Special to The Tribune

Lobo sophomore safety and punt-return specialist, Frankie Solomon, attempts to reverse his course to avoid the swarming BYU special teams defense during the second half of the Lobos' 31-24 loss on Saturday night, Sept. 29, 2007, before a packed homecoming crowd at University Stadium.

Rick Scibelli, Jr/Special to The Tribune

UNM cornerback, DeAndre Wright steals a touchdown pass intended for BYU wideout, Michael Reed, during the Lobos 31-24 homecoming loss on Saturday evening, Sept. 29, 2007 at a packed University Stadium.

Related Links

• Iliana Limón's Wolf Tracks

More LoboZone

• Richard Stevens: Faces I'll remember are the smallest ones
• Michael Garcia: Here's to you, athletes, coaches and friends. These memories - and lessons - will last forever.
• Tribune sports: Five faves

MOST RECENT TRIB STORIES

• ABQTrib.com to remain available
  08:48 a.m., February 25, 2008
• Congressman is indicted
  08:37 a.m., February 23, 2008
• Series of attacks target Green Zone
  08:36 a.m., February 23, 2008
• Iran is defying U.N., agency says
  08:35 a.m., February 23, 2008
• Waterboarding approval probed
  08:34 a.m., February 23, 2008

TRIB IN THE BLOGOSPHERE*

• Ty Murray Invitational thrills fans in Albuquerque
• Is Rome Burning?
• Ominous Skies
• The Road to Invalidation
• Albuquerque company participates in “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”

*Note: The Tribune does not create and is not responsible for the blogosphere's headlines and stories. These links to blogs talking about ABQTrib.com are automatically generated. Use them at your own risk.

STORY TOOLS

• E-mail story
• Comments
• iPod friendly
• Printer friendly

SHARE THIS STORY [?]

Rodney Ferguson's heart hurt a whole lot more than the rest of his body.

Ferguson, the University of New Mexico's junior running back, is built like a tank but he still gets black and blue like everyone else.

He took loads of lumps for the Lobos, posting one of the best games of his career Saturday night against BYU in University Stadium.

Ferguson made the Cougars' defense look mediocre. He finished with 87 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries. Ferguson also caught four passes for 105 yards and another touchdown.

"Rodney always plays his heart out," UNM junior quarterback Donovan Porterie said. "He didn't lose this game. He did what he had to do to help us win."

The problem is Ferguson's Lobos did lose a heartbreaker to BYU, falling 31-24 against the Cougars. UNM gave up five turnovers, setting up 24 of BYU's points and effectively giving away a victory.

"It doesn't matter how I played because we didn't win," Ferguson said. "It still leaves us 0-1 in conference. It's still a game we should have won we but we didn't. It's still really hard to accept."

Frustration and regret permeated the UNM locker room and will likely linger during the next two weeks.

Long admitted Sunday, with all due respect to BYU, the mistakes his team made were painful.

"I think (Saturday) night was very disappointing because I think we gave the game away," he said.

UNM has a bye this week, time off that is a double-edged sword.

"It goes both ways because we are going to be very frustrated for a long time, but it also motivates us to make the most of this week," senior Travis Brown said. "I know this bad taste in our mouths isn't going away. I know we're going to always look back and regret this game. We'll use it to make us better."

Brown said the Lobos are so disgusted by the loss it will take time to recognize they had the upper hand against the defending conference champs, a feat that could bode well for the remainder of their conference games.

"We went into the game believing we could beat anyone in the conference," he said. "Now it definitely still seems like we can beat anybody in the conference, but we lost one of those games. I guess that could end up giving us more confidence eventually, but for right now I think it just makes us angry."

Long said it is early in the conference race and he obviously would have rather beaten the Cougars to snag an early lead. At the same time, he expects a lot of changes in the standings before the championship is settled.

"I say this every year, and it hasn't happened the last two years so maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think anybody will run the table in this conference," Long said.