New Mexico head coach Bob Davie said the young season has seemed to have had a lot of starts and stops, but things are about to ratchet up with nine straight weeks of football on the slate.
The Lobos have put in a lot of practice for three games that were unconventionally spaced out from each other. The season opener was on Sept. 1, but the team has played only two games since last week’s bye.
New Mexico (1-2) comes off the bye having lost back-to-back games, but returns to Albuquerque for its homecoming matchup against San Jose State on Saturday.
In Tuesday’s press conference, Davie offered two reasons as to why the Lobos have ended up on the wrong side of things recently.
“The field position piece of it has been absolutely our biggest problem,” he said. “With that said, there’s no one reason it’s been that.”
Davie chronicled numerous examples where opponents have started drives on the Lobos side of midfield. Sometimes it results from a turnover on offense, sometimes due to poor execution on special teams and other times because the defense allows a big play that puts them in the red zone with momentum.
He said those big plays given up by the defense are the second biggest contributor to the team’s woes. That, coupled with the defense’s inability to force turnovers, has made for a bad combination.
“If you’re going to give up a big play on defense, you better create a big play on defense,” Davie said. “And we haven’t been able to knock that ball out.”
Although special teams recovered a fumble against Rutgers, the defense has failed to record a turnover since forcing two in the season opener against South Dakota.
Davie said sometimes those turnovers come in bunches, and the team needs to continue to work hard and emphasize it.
San Jose State (1-3) might just be the team UNM plays to get the defense back on track. The Spartans forced six turnovers in its win over Portland State, but giving up the ball has cost them in their other three games.
In San Jose State’s loses, the team coughed up the ball multiple times in each game and their opponents have cashed in those mistakes, scoring over 60 points off turnovers.
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If the Lobos can find a way to win the turnover battle, the team should be in good shape.
Quarterback Lamar Jordan said ball control is important, but the team needs to be more consistent in its approach as well.
The offense has gone cold at times, and its third down efficiency has plummeted in the last two games. He said they need to approach each drive as if they have to score seven points every time.
Jordan will start at quarterback for the foreseeable future due to Apodaca being shelved after suffering a shoulder injury late in the loss at Rutgers.
He said San Jose State has a good defense that possesses a lot of speed, and that the team will have to bring its “A-game” against the physical team.
But that’s going to have to be a consistent focus in the game plan each week going forward as the Lobos open conference play.
“In our eyes, we’re 0-0. We need to treat every game like they are the best team in the world,” Jordan said.
Davie said he has noticed a change in the body language and confidence in Jordan the last several days in practice that comes with being the starter. He said the quarterback is in a great position right now, and is anxious to see him play.
Kickoff is set for Saturday at 2 p.m. at University Stadium. As part of enhancing the fan experience, the first 5,000 fans will receive a pair of Lobo sunglasses.
Robert Maler is a sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers cross country, football, tennis and track and field. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @robert_maler.
