Greetings from Albuquerque

Dick Harmon and I arrived in Albuquerque this afternoon, getting ready for Saturday’s New Mexico Bowl game between BYU and UTEP.
After arriving this morning, the Cougars held an afternoon practice at a local high school. It was a cool, windy afternoon and it wasn’t one of BYU’s sharpest practices. But considering the players and coaches awoke early this morning for their flight here, that was understandable. It’s been a long day, which included a dinner for both teams at the Albuquerque Balloon Museum.

It’s a little strange being here instead of Las Vegas at this time of year. After playing in five consecutive Las Vegas Bowls, BYU has had to alter its routine a little bit. One of the differences between the Las Vegas and New Mexico Bowls will be the fan support. While the Cougars perennially sold out the Vegas Bowl, BYU fans have bought a little more than 2,500 tickets so far through BYU’s Web site. It’s expected that there will be considerably more Cougar fans in the crowd because the bowl has sold several thousand tickets as well. Meanwhile, UTEP fans have purchased about 3,700 tickets.

Plan on seeing more UTEP orange in the crowd than BYU blue. That makes sense, since El Paso is only a four-hour drive from Albuquerque and this is the Miners’ first bowl appearance since 2005.
Tonight I talked to Dan Markham, a diehard BYU fan from Albuquerque who works for a pharmaceutical company as a sales rep. He’s going to the bowl game, of course. Markham is part of a group of about 30 fathers and sons from the Albuquerque area that choose at least one road game to travel to together. They went to Air Force and Florida State games in September. “We call it ‘Boy’s Trip,’” he said.
And for the bowl game this year, BYU came to them.
Markham was never able to attend any of the Las Vegas Bowls due to work conflicts. So he’s thrilled to see the Cougars here.
“There’s a pretty good group of us that are BYU fans,” Markham said. “We’re excited for them to come down here into town.”
Still, he expects to be outnumbered on Saturday.
“I wouldn’t be surprised to see more UTEP fans than BYU fans,” Markham said. “I know of about 150 people that are going from here that are BYU fans. Coming from out of town, there are a few coming in from Arizona, but not many are making the trip from Utah. The distance is a problem and a lot of people don’t know what it’s like here in Albuquerque and that it is a good place to visit. And with it being the week before Christmas, I think it’s an obstacle. But locally, we’re going to have a good turnout. As I talk to New Mexico residents that are Lobo fans, all of my work colleagues who are New Mexico fans are going to this game just because it’s a bowl game and it’s kind of a big deal to the locals here. They’re excited and most likely they’ll be cheering against BYU because they don’t like BYU very much.”
The fact that the Cougars drilled the Lobos last month, 40-7, and the fact BYU is leaving the Mountain West Conference to go independent probably adds fuel to the fire.
The past five years, the Cougars have made Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas feel like a home game.
I asked senior wide receiver Luke Ashworth if he thinks Saturday’s game could have a road-game feel.
“UTEP should have a lot of fans and bring a lot of energy,” he said. “It might have a little bit of a feel of a road game, but I think it will feel about equal.”