In 19 games against the conference, UNM is 2-17 (.105 winning proportion), including 0-3 this season. UNM has been outscored by a net 169 points in its 17 losses.
The Lobos have lost by double digits in eight of those games.
“Going from being competitive to winning in this conference is the next step,” Davie said. “I do think that if you go back and look starting our first year, we’ve been close a lot of times. That doesn’t matter; we’ve been blown out a few times, but we’ve been close more than we’ve been blown out.”
UNM’s only two conference wins were a 35-23 win at Hawaii in 2012 and a 45-37 victory at home against Air Force last season.
This year the Lobos have already lost to Fresno State, San Diego State and Air Force. Each game was competitive, and UNM did have multiple chances to come back and win.
“I think as far as the non-BCS conferences, it’s probably the best one,” Davie said of the MWC. “I look at the other conferences and I think that the Mountain West Conference, as far as the non-BCS, is No. 1. It may be close, but I don’t think there is any question.”
The Lobos (2-5, 0-3 Mountain West) look to earn their first league win of the season when they travel to Las Vegas, Nevada, to take on a struggling UNLV squad on Saturday. The Rebels’ only two wins of the season have been by a combined four points (a 13-12 win over Northern Colorado and a 30-27 victory versus Fresno State in overtime).
However, UNLV has won five of its last six games against UNM, including a 56-42 victory last season at University Stadium.
The point spread is even for this year’s game, which will likely be decided by whether the Lobos can stop the Rebels’ passing attack. UNM ranks 31st in the country against the pass, but that’s partly because teams have gashed the Lobos for 284 rushing yards per game but only 204 per game through the air. UNLV averages 247 passing yards per contest, ranking 50th in the nation, and earns just 122 rushing yards per contest.
“They’ve thrown it probably 50 times a game the last three or four games,” Davie said. “I think they will probably try to run the ball a little more against us. Most teams have, but they’re a throw-first team. They are a little bit different than last year in that respect.”
UNLV (2-6, 1-3 Mountain West) boasts two of the best wide receivers in the conference in senior Devante Davis and true freshman Devonte Boyd. Davis suffered a wrist injury in a 47-14 loss to Houston on Sept. 20 and has missed the past four games. He’s listed as questionable for Saturday’s game.
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As for Boyd, he has 562 yards on 33 catches, which is the fifth-most receiving yards by any freshman this year.
Quarterback Blake Decker has had trouble with turnovers this year, throwing 12 interceptions versus just nine touchdown passes. Decker’s accuracy is also a question mark as he’s completed just 58 percent of his throws. The junior is also the team’s second-leading rusher with 236 yards, but averages just 2.3 yards per carry.
“He is an older, more experienced player. He beat out the big quarterback that played a couple years ago for them when he was a true freshman up there,” Davie said. “He is a thrower, but the thing that concerns us really as much is he scrambles. He’s very active, takes off running.”
Thomas Romero-Salas is the sports editor for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @ThomasRomeroS.
