By Mike Marzelli, of the Commercial Staff
How does a team bounce back from a 55-point loss when it knows its next opponent is expected to be its toughest of the season?
That’s the question Arkansas-Pine Bluff is trying to answer this week as it prepares for New Mexico State. Fresh off an embarrassing 58-3 loss to No. 7 Southern Illinois that was the program’s worst defeat since 1983, the Golden Lions are now staring down the task of taking on a Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A) opponent for the first time in school history. Not just any FBS team, either. The Aggies (2-2) have been an offensive juggernaut under former Kentucky coach Hal Mumme, averaging 487 yards of total offense and just under 30 points a game on the season.
The situation may appear to spell doom already, but UAPB head coach Mo Forte isn’t ready to count out the competitive spirit of his team.
“We know it’s going to be a huge challenge for us out there but if we just gave in to what things looked like on paper we would never need to play a game,” Forte said after practice Tuesday. “I don’t think anyone in Las Vegas is going to pick us but hopefully we will go out there and give 100 percent and that will be good enough to win the game. I think our team’s mindset is that they know how they were embarrassed last weekend and they need to go out and fight harder and focus more on playing better to make sure that never happens again.”
After watching film Forte heaped plenty of praise on the Aggies, but he was also quick to point out that his team may not be taking a giant step up in competition this week.
“Obviously [New Mexico State is] a good football program and they’re the biggest challenge we’ve faced since I’ve been here, but who’s to say that [Southern Illinois] isn’t as good as a mid-level Division I team like they are?” he asked. “We already found out that the [former] No. 1 team in I-AA is better than Michigan, the No. 5 team in Division I, so who knows how good they’re really going to be compared to what we’ve faced?”
Regardless of how good New Mexico State may be, UAPB needs to play a drastically different game than it did Saturday in Carbondale, Ill. The Golden Lions were stagnant offensively for the fourth straight week, eventually leading them to wear down on defense, but the most alarming aspect of the game was players’ lack of effort and intensity in the second half.
“Pride is always on the line any time you’re involved in any type of competition and when you’re a competitor you’re going to do whatever you can to be successful in any situation because of that pride,” Forte said. “We didn’t play with pride for four quarters last week and that surprised me because I know our team is made up of competitors.
“I’m looking for a renewed sense of pride and focus for this game and for our guys to come out fighting and working hard and focusing on one play at a time and giving 100 percent on that one play until its over.”
There will not be wholesale changes for the Lions, as Forte plans to stick with junior Johnathan Moore at quarterback after Moore and former starter Chris Wallace both saw action at SIU.
“I saw progress with the offense last week, especially with our offensive line, I really did,” Forte said. “We had much better pass protection than we had before, we were just killed by drops that cost us a number of chances to move the chains.”
NOTE: Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. Saturday and not 6 p.m. as listed on a number of area schedules. Las Cruces, NM is in Mountain Time and the game is slated for 6 p.m. MDT, which is an hour behind Central Time. There will be no television broadcast, so the only chance to follow the game will be on KUAP 89.7 FM.
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