No, Bob Davie hasn’t forgotten about last year’s 69-28 beat down at Fresno State.
It’s hard to forget a loss he describes as the “lowest point” during his head coaching tenure at New Mexico. The Bulldogs were clearly the better team on the field that day, but injuries and a lack of depth let the game get out of hand early for the Lobos.
Davie said he tried to not bring up the loss during the week, but he couldn’t help himself after Wednesday’s practice when he was trying to fire up the team.
“There’s a lot of pride here. Obviously, there’s a lot of pride,” Davie said. “It has nothing to do with them as much as it has to do with us. I don’t blame them for what happened. It’s personal, but it’s all personal.”
Now UNM (1-2) has the chance to show whether it has closed the gap against Fresno State (1-3) when the Lobos host the Bulldogs in both teams’ Mountain West opener today at University Stadium. Fresno State is a five-point favorite heading into the game.
Quarterback Cole Gautsche, who didn’t play in last year’s loss, said the team must not fall behind early. Last season UNM was down 35-0 at halftime.
“They got a big name and still are. The important thing is to go out there and compete with them,” he said. “Kind of keeping up with them and not getting behind in the game. Staying up with them and not getting lazy is the main focus with them.”
It’s been a rough start to the season for the defending Mountain West champion Bulldogs. Fresno State lost its first three games of the season by an average of 36 points per game before earning a 56-16 victory over Southern Utah last weekend. Those three losses were to USC, Utah and Nebraska.
As a result, the Bulldogs rank 122nd out of 125 Division I teams in total defense, giving up 541 yards per game. UNM is barely ahead of Fresno State coming in at 117th, allowing 518 yards per game.
“They’re a lot like us. Now they probably have more experienced players than we have, but as far as how it’s gone for them, they’ve given up huge numbers,” Davie said. “You know, they’re talented. It’s kind of the same guys that we played last year. They’re struggling on defense.”
For both teams, the quarterback situation is fluid. Gautsche said he’ll be ready for Friday’s game after not playing in the second half in last week’s 38-35 win over New Mexico State. He left early because he almost re-aggravated his hamstring injury. Backups Clayton Mitchem and Lamar Jordan are both expected to see playing time if Gautsche doesn’t play.
Fresno State head coach Tim DeRuyter hasn’t named a starter for Friday’s game but doesn’t plan on playing two quarterbacks, according to the Fresno Bee. Signal-caller Brain Burrell has started all four games for the Bulldogs, but was pulled out of the game versus Southern Utah. Brandon Connette is the backup quarterback.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
Regardless of who’s at quarterback for Fresno State, the team will still be running its no-huddle-up offense.
UNM linebacker Dakota Cox said the team is prepared to go against another up-tempo offense after facing Arizona State and NMSU.
“I’m getting used to it after that game against New Mexico State. They were a lot more fast-paced than I could have ever imagined. We tried practicing it because there was nothing like that,” he said. “We’re getting better now that we’ve seen it. We know what to prepare for and know how it’s going to be.”
Thomas Romero-Salas is the sports editor for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at sports @dailylobo.com or on Twitter @ThomasRomeroS.
