Lobos on a sky-high trend of late

Rocky Long believes BYU and Utah's new coaches, Bronco Mendenhall and Kyle Whittingham, will do just fine and wishes them well — until they play his Lobos.

Long has steadily worked the New Mexico program and now he has an edge in coaching experience over Utah and BYU, since these rivals have just turned over the torches.

If the Lobos defeat UNLV in the opener for 2005, it would mark the sixth straight conference victory for UNM — a milestone for a program that used to be a conference doormat. People have stopped picking the Lobos in the bottom tier of preseason league polls.

Back in 1999, New Mexico was picked seventh and finished fifth. In 2000, the media picked Long's crew eighth and it again finished fifth. In 2001, it was predicted seventh and finished third. In 2002, the guess was sixth and the Lobos took it to No. 2, just as they have the past two seasons. A year ago, a fourth-place prediction ended up wrong again.

Are the Lobos now for real? The record speaks for itself, and if Long gets New Mexico native DonTrell Moore back in the lineup after knee surgery sidelined him last season, who knows how far New Mexico can go?

Count on Long using this as motivation to begin a season that includes a non-conference schedule as easy in the league. Only a game with Missouri on the road could be considered a serious BCS challenge for the Lobos.

Another motivator will be New Mexico's lackluster performance in postseason play — now that it's reached bowl-game status. New Mexico lost to Navy 34-19 in the Emerald Bowl in San Francisco last December. It was the third consecutive bowl loss in three seasons.

One of the reasons New Mexico is listed so high is that 17 returning starters, plus two specialists, return from a squad that defeated BYU and toyed with Utah for a while before losing with some key injuries, including that of Moore.

"I guess we've earned some respect in some people's eyes," senior linebacker Mike Mohoric told the Albuquerque Journal. "But the conference race is pretty much wide open."

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NEW MEXICO FACT BOX

Predicted finish: Second

2004 record: 7-5, 5-2 MWC (second)

Returning starters: 17 (nine offense, six defense)

Key offensive players: DonTrell Moore is the best runner in the league if healthy. Offensive lineman Robert Turner, center Ryan Cook and tackle Terrance Pennington provide veteran blocking experience up front.