The UNM football team hopes that the combination of a week off and a visit to Sin City will be the right recipe to snap a two-game losing streak.
The revamped Lobos travel to Las Vegas this weekend to take on the University of Nevada at Las Vegas in a Mountain West Conference match up that could make or break the season.
Two weeks ago, UNM (2-4, 0-1 MWC) welcomed Texas Tech University and a national TV audience to Albuquerque and was thoroughly beaten by the Red Raiders 49-0.
The loss proved costly as junior quarterback Casey Kelly went down with a broken arm and is out six to eight weeks. Offensive lineman Nate Hembree was also lost for the season and linebacker Shannon Kincaid was re-injured and will be out for several weeks.
Freshman Kole McKamey will take over the helm for the Lobos getting the start at the quarterback position this weekend against the Rebels. He did see some action last week rotating snaps with junior Justin Millea. McKamey completed one of four passes for three yards and rushed twice for minus-one yard.
"He's got great training from a real good high school football program," head coach Rocky Long said of McKamey. "He's pretty skilled at knowing how to read progressions on routes and he's pretty skilled at reading coverage's. He's probably got more ability than Casey at carrying the football."
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The 6-foot-2 inch, 185 pound Artesia native is the first true freshman to start for the Lobos since Jeremy Leach in 1988. He is also the first native New Mexican to start at quarterback for UNM since Barry Garisson of Eldorado High School in 1987.
Quarterback changes are nothing new to the Lobos. Since 1998, UNM has used seven different starting quarterbacks.
With an inexperienced quarterback leading the way, the Lobos may need to rely more on freshman tailback DonTrell Moore and the running game.
"We're going to have to be able to run the ball," Long said. "They know we're going to have to run the ball, we know we're going to have to run the ball."
Moore took over the starting running back position when senior running back Quincy Wright went down with a season ending injury in a game against Baylor. Moore had a team high 33 yards on just eight carries against Texas Tech. On the season he has rushed for 221 yards on 57 carries, an average of 3.6 yards-per-carry to go along with two touchdowns. With that said, Moore and McKamey will need some help from the big boys up front to create holes and time.
"The key to the game is our offensive line playing well," Long said. "They've been the most consistent part of our offense."
On defense the Lobos will have to tighten up to improve on last game. Texas Tech gained 590 total yards, the most given up by UNM since it gave up 619 to Northern Arizona in 1996. The Lobos also gave up school-records for opponents in first downs (37), pass completions (47), pass attempts (68), and total plays (102). A rested and hungry team could be the result of a week off.
"It (the week off) gave us the opportunity to recuperate," junior safety Terell Golden said. "We had an extra week to prepare for UNLV and get them down. We got a lot of reps and that should help us."
The Rebels (2-3, 0-0 MWC) are coming off a 21-17 win over the University of Nevada at Reno last week. Reno beat BYU and took Colorado State to the wire earlier this year. UNLV is led by quarterback Jason Thomas and receiver Larry Croom who hooked up for a game-winning touchdown last week.
The Rebels are also averaging 205.2 yards a game, good enough for second in the conference and 25th in the nation.
Kickoff is set for 5 p.m. at Sam Boyd Stadium on Saturday. No television broadcast is planned for the game, but it can be heard on 770 KKOB AM.
