New Mexico Lobos

2005 Season Summary

New Mexico Lobo head coach Rocky Long entered the 2005 season having led the Lobos to three consecutive 7-win seasons and bowl berths for the most successful period of football in school history.

Consistent profits

New Mexico was 7-5 both straight up and against the spread in 2004 as they finished in the black versus the oddsmakers for the fourth consecutive season. The consistent profits were aided the Lobos remarkable string of 11 covers in their last 13 road games as they entered 2005.

Winning with the basics

At a school where losing was a way of life for decades, Long was winning with the basics at New Mexico, as his teams featured a strong rushing attack along with a solid defense.

Not without Questions or doubters for 2005

Despite their recent success, New Mexico was not without questions or doubters for 2005. First, in gambling, just as in the stock market, what goes up must come down and New Mexico's string of winning seasons against the sportsbooks simply wasn't going to sustain itself much longer as they were now a popular choice amongst the mainstream gambling public as a non-BCS team to wager on.

New Mexico also faced an improved Mountain West Conference that had seen its teams become more athletic each year and now added TCU, a perennial Conference USA contender, as a member.

Sending gamblers mixed messages early

New Mexico opened the 2005 season with a Labor Day morning game against UNLV on ESPN as hefty 15.5-point chalks, barely escaping with a 24-22 win. The following week at Missouri, the Lobos continued their exceptional play on the road with a 45-35 upset win as 9.5-point dogs as the Lobos were sending mixed messages to gamblers early in the season.

Long overdue market correction

New Mexico returned home for their intra-state rivalry game against New Mexico State as 22.5-point chalks. State was completely rebuilding and a weak program but this was one game in which they would certainly be at their best and they covered in a 21-38 loss.

New Mexico next traveled to UTEP and suffered a 13-21 loss as 2.5-point dogs. A road trip to TCU followed and the Lobos were blown out by the Horned Frogs 28-49 as 1.5-point dogs for an uncharacteristic second consecutive loss against the spread on the road.

Home cooking proved to not be of help in New Mexico's next game as 7.5-point chalks versus BYU as they suffered a 24-27 upset loss to fall to 3-3 straight up and 1-5 against the spread as the long overdue market correction had finally taken place with New Mexico and gamblers.

Value was briefly restored

Having dropped five out of six games against the spread, New Mexico had, for all intents and purposes, turned off the mainstream gambling public. In their next game at Wyoming, the Lobos got back on track as a profitable road play with a 27-24 upset win as 6.5-point dogs. This was followed up with another strong road performance in a 47-24 "upset" win over San Diego State as 3-point dogs. The line set for the game against SDSU proved that New Mexico's value was briefly restored. The visitor, in fact, had covered 6 of the Lobos' 8 games so far in 2005.

Visitor pattern continued to the end

New Mexico returned home to face Colorado State and lost a 25-35 decision as 5.5-point chalks. Their success on the road continued at Utah the following game, however, as they upset the Utes 31-27 as 7-point dogs. The visitor pattern continued to the end as in the season finale, New Mexico was upset by Air Force 24-42 as 9.5-point home chalks. Overall the road team covered 9 out of New Mexico's 11 games and the Lobos increased their string to 15 out of 19 covers on the road.