New Mexico football has a chance to do something Saturday in Hawaii that it hasn’t achieved in nearly 10 years — win three consecutive regular season games.
The last time the Lobos won three in a row was the 2007 season, under head coach Rocky Long. The team actually accomplished the same feat twice that season, en route to a 9-4 record.
That’s not to say this team hasn’t experienced some recent success. The Lobos won seven games last season and had the Mountain division title in its reach until almost the very end.
This season, New Mexico (4-3, 2-1 MW) is back over .500 and will showcase its best-in-the-nation rushing attack in the 10:00 p.m. (MT) road game against Hawaii (4-4, 3-1). The Lobos have won the last six meetings between the schools, including a 28-27 victory last season.
Despite its No. 1 run game and being 17th in the nation in scoring, the number of fans at last week’s 59-17 win over Louisiana-Monroe in Albuquerque was significantly down. The trend is nothing new, but may be a surprise to some considering the team is viewed by many as, at the very least, fun to watch, with their propensity for explosive plays.
UNM has shown a penchant for the big play. Running back Teriyon Gipson, who leads the nation in yards per carry, has as many 60-yard runs himself as any team in the country, according to a release.
Head coach Bob Davie normally doesn’t speak much about attendance numbers, often citing that it isn’t his place to coach fans. But in a rare moment during Tuesday’s press conference, he seemed to express some surprise at the lack of attendance this season.
“I’ve heard a lot about since I’ve been here, ‘Coach, if you win...they’ll come,’” Davie said. “I mean, we’re 9-3 in our last 12 home games.”
He said that if it means the team has to go 10-2 or 11-1 in the next 12 games before local support becomes consistent once again, the team will just have to keep working to get there.
The Lobos can take another huge step toward fans viewing this season as a success. A win over Hawaii would put the Lobos in a great position to earn a second consecutive bowl game berth.
Hawaii enters the matchup having won three of its last four games. The Rainbow Warriors stunned Air Force, 34-27, in double overtime last week. Air Force missed a chip shot field goal that could’ve won the game in regulation.
Senior safety Daniel Henry said the Lobos defense is encouraged by the two turnovers it created last game and hopes it can make an impact again, in what he said will be his first trip to Hawaii.
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“It all starts in practice. It’s hard to make plays in games if you don’t do it in practice,” he said. “We realize that we’re a team that needs to do a lot of things right to win.”
Davie said Isaiah “I.B.” Brown and Ryan Santos are expected to return from injury to join Henry in the defensive backfield.
Rushing offense and defense have been hallmarks for the team, but perhaps the most consistent aspect has been provided by junior kicker Jason Saunders.
Saunders is among the best in the country in touchback percentage, neutralizing opponent’s kickoff return game. He has recorded 45 touchbacks on 49 kickoffs, including an active streak of 17 in a row.
“I think it’s fun to kick it out of the end zone. I mean, you don’t have to worry about anybody coming down running at you,” he said. “I take a lot of pride in it.”
Saunders also recently moved into second place in school history for consecutive extra points made. He added eight more on Saturday to bring the total to 59, although one was particularly more challenging.
Back-to-back penalties resulted in a 45 yard attempt after one of the touchdowns. Despite a high snap, which caused Sanders to hesitate, the kicker still drilled the kick to keep his streak alive.
With five games remaining, he could catch the record of 76 before the end of the season. He is also 12 kicks away from setting the single-season program record for PATs (49), both of which are held by Justus Adams.
The remaining games on the schedule are all against conference foes, but are also all winnable and should provide the Lobos with a legitimate shot of at least matching last year’s win total.
Davie said in 117 years of New Mexico football, there have been 19 occasions where the team won seven games — and last year was one of them.
For college football to thrive in Albuquerque, there appears to be a lot of work that still needs to be done. The head coach said everyone needs to work collectively to make the program the best it can possibly be.
“It’s hard to say what the expectation should be, if you haven’t made the commitment,” he said. “And I think all of us ought to keep that in mind as we move forward.”
Robert Maler is the sports editor for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers football and men’s and women’s tennis. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @robert_maler.
