Breaking Bad in the ABQ

Yo Byotch!

The state of New Mexico is known for many things, but college football would not be at the top of the list. The state of New Mexico has a certain mysticism to it. It is the home of Roswell, New Mexico, where aliens invaded 70 years ago and now occupy positions of importance throughout our world’s governments. It is also the same land where Lucas McCain as The Rifleman took on all comers and always won his shootouts. More recently, the city of Albuquerque is where the popular series Breaking Bad took place. In fact, there are RV and bus tours throughout the city that take fans of Walter White and Jesse Pinkman to many of the locations that were featured in Breaking Bad. The landscape outside of the city is majestic with big, blue skies, a mesa to the west and the Caspian Mountains to the east. Most notably, I spent the first night of my honeymoon at Kirtland AFB many setting moons ago.

 

Current World Leader from Roswell, NM

He kept the rifraff out of New Mexico

The University of New Mexico is a big part of the city as it is home to over 22,000 students. The campus has a largely southwestern flare to its architecture honoring the Native American and Hispanic cultures that are significant in the land of enrichment. University stadium resides on the southern end of campus. It was built in 1960 and currently has a capacity of 42,000. It is a horseshoe structure with a beautiful football training facility in the south end zone. The Lobos (Spanish for “wolf,” for you knuckleheads) are better known for basketball and play their home games in an arena simply known as The Pit. As far as notable football players go, there’s Don Perkins who played RB for the Dallas Cowboys in the 60s, and more recently,  Brian Urlacher — a monster of a man. Brian used to go to my barber but is now president of the Chicago chapter of the hair club for men. What a sellout.

 

The watering holes of the mystical ABQ

The Lobos hosted the Miners from the University of Texas El Paso “UTEP” for a 6 p.m. game. But prior to the game itself,  there were rituals that needed to be performed, as is customary. Friday night I had happy hour on the swanky rooftop bar of the Hotel Chaco while watching the sun set into the western mesa. Saturday’s pregame began with a few breakfast beverages and an introduction to a peanut butter and jelly shot at Bourbon and Boots in downtown ABQ. Then I was off to a trendy craft beer spot called Differential Brewery close to campus. After the proper hydration rituals were complete, I wandered over to the main tailgate lot on the east side of the stadium. Let’s just say I was underwhelmed with the tailgate scene that lacked both tailgaters and energy. Maybe it was the heat that was in the high 80s or the waft of weed that has everyone in the ABQ on a constant mellow, but something was missing. I did find my way to the alumni tailgate tent and fit right in as an old-timer. Rudy’s BBQ catered the event, so naturally I acted like I belonged and was fed like a ranch hand on Yellowstone while I listened in on stories of former teammates reminiscing about their glory days.

New Mexico was coming off a big loss to their Mountain West Conference bully the Boise State Broncos. UTEP had just squeaked out a win against their neighbor from Las Cruces, NM, the New Mexico State Aggies. UTEP plays in the Conference USA. The Lobos are led by versatile QB Miles Kendrick who hails from Valley Christian High in San Jose, CA. The stadium was less than half full with most of the fans sitting on the west side to avoid the late afternoon sun during the first half. Interestingly enough, the traveling UTEP marching band was larger and louder than the home Lobos’ band. For the most part, the fans' energy was on par with what I witnessed in the tailgate lot. The student section was only a few hundred strong in numbers.  However, after big plays or scores, a loud wolf howl would sound throughout the stadium  while fans made a wolf-like figure with their hands.

 

The low key University Stadium

As far as the on-field action went, the Lobos jumped out to a 10-3 lead in the first set that they stretched  to 20 by halftime. Kendrick controlled a balanced offensive attack, and the Lobos defense performed the “bend don’t break” methodology to perfection. Miners QB Gavin Hardison threw for 299 yards but was wildly inconsistent throughout the game. The Miners could not dig themselves out of the hole they created in the second half as each team added another touchdown. Final score: Lobos 27, Miners 10.

Around the country – Who has ever had a more memorable start to their season than the Appalachian State Mountaineers? In week one, they scored 40 fourth quarter points to still lose in regulation to North Carolina 63-60. Then last week, the nation witnessed the Mountaineers go into Bryant College Station, TX, and slay Goliath in the form of the highly-rated Texas A&M Aggies. In fact, ESPN loved it so much they awarded College Gameday to App State for the first time ever this past Saturday. The town of Boone, NC, went absolute bonkers with this news and pulled out all the stops to give the Gameday crew a hearty welcome. Then the miracle in Boone happened on Saturday night. Facing the Troy State Trojans, App State found themselves down by two with a few seconds on the clock. App State QB1 Chase Brice heaved the pigskin 53 yards in the air with a hope and a prayer, and it was answered. The ball was tipped near the goal line and grabbed out of the air by Wide Receiver Christian Horn who calmly ran it in for the game-winning score. Mayhem ensued, fans rushed the field, animals were sacrificed, moonshine was distilled, and babies were made that night in Boone, NC. Out west, UW behind Indiana transfer QB Michael Pendix put a hurting on Michigan State. Arizona eked out a victory over FCS champion North Dakota State. Big Ten power Penn State traveled to Auburn and promptly caged the War Eagles in a one-sided contest. UGA annihilated South Carolina and helped reaffirm that Spencer Rattler is still … not good. In the ACC, NC State proved to be an inhospitable host to the visiting Texas Tech Red Raiders by applying a 27-13 win on them. In the Big 12, Brent Venables took the Sooners to Lincoln, NE, for the storied rivalry game with the Cornhuskers. After a slow start, and falling behind 7-0, the Sooners ran off 49 unanswered points before bringing in the second team in the third quarter. Get this everyone: Kansas is 3-0 after topping Houston by 18.

 

Bieber – A mostly Bieberless weekend I must admit, other than the classless act by the ASU AD firing Coach Herm Edwards on the field immediately following the game.

 

Ginger – The town of Boone, NC, and Appalachian State University. The spirit this combo has shown all year needs to be recognized in the form of the prestigious Ginger Badass award. Last night’s storming of the field after their Hail Mary win over Troy was nothing less than epic. The previous Saturday night, the town of Boone went berserk in celebrating the team’s win at Texas A&M 1,000 miles away. The icing on the cake was how the town lined up to receive ESPN College Gameday. Country Star Luke Combs, an APP State alumnus, was the guest picker and was quite entertaining. The visit to App State also gave ESPN Gameday the shot in the arm it needed, as the program has become stale as of late. Love the spirit of the Mountaineer nation.

 

Next up – DFT will mostly be grounded the next few weekends as we pack up our California home and say goodbye to our Danville friends. My next scheduled game is Family Weekend at CU Boulder on 10/15 

 

Happy Tailgating!!!