New Mexico at Arizona discussion thread

[Merkin]

Copied this over here

New Mexico lost in Bronco Mendenhall’s first game as head coach, dropping a home game to a supposedly pretty good FCS Montana St 31-35. I guess, considering our loss to NAU a couple of years ago, and a close win against North Dakota St in 2022, we should suspend judgment for now, but I think we’ll feel pretty confident at home. Decent sized O-line, but nothing particularly dazzling about their offense. And their defense struggled in general. Their kicking game probably suffered from some high winds during the game, but they had zero punt or kick returns.

Side note apropos of nothing: They have Albuquerque's altitude listed on the fronts of their helmets, and "Desert Built" on the backs. I was a little mystified by it, so I looked it up.

OFFENSE:
QB 4 Devon Dampier SO 5-10 200 PASS: 18-26 172 YD 1 TD 0 INT RUSH: 34 YD 1 TD
RB 6 Eli Sanders JR 5-11 195 87 YD
WR 15 Luke Wysong RS-JR 5-10 185 95 YD
WR 18 Ryan Davis RS-SR 5-11 175 21 YD
WR 14 Shawn Miller SO 6-2 195
WR 7 Nic Trujillo RS-FR 6-1 175
OL 55 Jawaun Singletary SR 6-2 315
OL 56 Baraka Beckett SR 6-4 340
OL 66 McKenzie Agnello JR 6-4 315
OL 76 Wallace Unamba JR 6-4 330
OL 78 Richard Pierce JR 6-2 320

BENCH:
TE 5 Trace Bruckler RS-JR 6-3 245 34 YD 1 TD
RB 28 NaQuan Rogers JR 5-11 210 26 YD

DEFENSE:
DL 99 Bryce Santana RS-SR 6-2 300 4 T
DL 45 Kyler Drake RS-SR 6-3 285 4 T
DE 17 Okiki Olorunfunmi SR 6-6 250 3 T
DE 9 Gabriel Lopez RS-SR 6-2 235 4 T 1 S
LB 22 Dimitri Johnson SR 6-1 225 4 T
LB 24 Jayden Wilson SO 6-1 220 7 T 1 S
CB 1 Noah Avinger JR 6-0 185 14 T 1 FR
S 0 Bobby Arnold SO 5-9 180 5 T
S 8 Christian Ellis JR 6-0 200 11 T 1 FR
S 18 Cameron Watts RS-SR 5-10 190 4 T
CB 13 Bryson Taylor JR 6-0 175 5 T

BENCH:
LB 33 Randolph Kpai RS-JR 6-3 220 5 T

KICKING:
P 10 Aaron Rodriguez RS-SR 6-0 200 41.5 YPP
K 26 Luke Drzewiecki JR 6-0 180 1-3 LONG 45
KO 35 Charles Steinkamp RS-SR 6-5 205 3-6 TB

[Merkin]

https://www.azdesertswarm.com/football/ ... vlabSiBYeQ


Arizona is a 30.5-point favorite over New Mexico according to vegasinsider.com. The Lobos played in Week 0, losing to FCS program Montana State 35-31 after leading 17-0 in the first half.

Oddsmakers don’t like New Mexico’s chances of giving Arizona a competitive game.

The No. 21 Wildcats are playing their first game under coach Brent Brennan. Last year Arizona was one of the best bets in the country, going 10-3 against the spread (ATS).

Arizona covered in all three of its non-conference games last season.

[wyo-cat]

I’m going on the record, bishes.

Cats win!

[TheCatInTheHat]

...and it looks like it rains a little bit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07JUS2_rkoo

[scumdevils86]

...and it looks like it rains a little bit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07JUS2_rkoo

Who actually considers this a rivalry anymore?

[wyo-cat]

No more. Hasn’t been competitive since the 90’s.

We barely beat them in a Copper Bowl.

[Fishclamps]

Just an insane amount of touch passes to Tmac lol, not sure about that one being a staple of our offense.

[TheCatInTheHat]

Looking back at what I guess was considered a rivalry, I'm mostly grateful that we outgrew it. I'm not one to throw out or deny history, so the past is what it is. There have been plenty of close contests through the years. But some close games don't make for the passion on both sides required for a true rivalry. Going back to something like the late 60s in football, when we beat them, it was either a shrug or some level of relief. Players will always jump around in the immediate aftermath of any close win. But our fans would typically say something like "okay," while their fans would get excited about the occasional upset and get irritated if our fans didn't think it's the biggest deal ever. I'm fine with playing them in circumstances like this year, but that's no different than for any other team in a bordering state.

[azgreg]

[Fishclamps]

[azcat49]

Akina must have called him. That is great to see him back.

I bet we return the opening kick for a score! Bam

[CatsbyAZ]

In my college football preview mag New Mexico is ranked #124 out of 134 teams. I read their preview page and there's hardly anything about their team worth posting. Bronco Mendenhall is their new coach? The former BYU and Virginia coach? Mendenhall is like an actor with a middling filmography. Like Toby Kebbell. For as bad as New Mexico's performance was Vs Montana State, the one advantage they have going into Arizona Stadium this Saturday is having a game under their belt. They've taken their first punch that the Wildcats haven't yet.

[azgreg]

[84Cat]

[84Cat]

Yesterday they were showing blue unis. Who's posting the game thread?

[PHXCATS]

Yesterday they were showing blue unis. Who's posting the game thread?

Seen people say that there was an issue getting New Mexico's white uniforms to the game but they had other uniforms available.

So Arizona agreed to wear white today to help out New Mexico

[Merkin]

That's truly a shame.

[pc in NM]

Yesterday they were showing blue unis. Who's posting the game thread?

Seen people say that there was an issue getting New Mexico's white uniforms to the game but they had other uniforms available.

So Arizona agreed to wear white today to help out New Mexico

[Carcassdragger]

Always good to get a win but alot of improvement needed.

Our D Line looked soft and at times out of shape. They got pushed around and do not look D 1 caliber. I think our D line coach is a low energy guy and his players reflect that.

Our O line wasn't much better. It took them almost 3 quarters to figure out how to run-block.

D backs also couldn't cover anybody in the first half. Tacario wasn't having a great game and compounded it by making rookie and immature decisions.

Special teams-what the fuck was that stupid move letting the ball hit you on the back during a punt? Add to that a flubbed extra point.

Of course, T Mac is fantastic, but where were our other receivers? Without T Mac, we mightve lost this game.

Running backs look good, but none of them look to be an even replacement for Coleman. Better blocking by the line was needed though.

Overall, a win is great but all those penalties are not indicative of good discipline. I think this team was not all that ready to play.

We may have overrated ourselves and this team will not contend for a Big 12 title. Hope I'm wrong.

[PHXCATS]

Few things to keep in mind

NM has a good coach and had a game to work issues out already
NM has a really athletic and good QB
UA has a new DC and HC. Yes Akina was involved last year but new players and new scheme
Look at much better teams than Arizona who played far worse

It is week 1.

I think the defense will be much better by the Kansas State game

[Merkin]

Of course, T Mac is fantastic, but where were our other receivers? Without T Mac, we mightve lost this game.

Fifita said that was partially on him. Doesn't have confidence yet in the other receivers which will come.

[TheCatInTheHat]

Certainly not a work of art. In a perfect world, we'd have played NAU last week while NM played Montana St. Get all the logistics and butterflies out and make the same Game One to Game Two improvement (particularly so with the all-new staff and some new rules and equipment.) Lev said it was a 29 point spread before kickoff, so after all the gnashing of teeth, we missed that by one TD.

As to legitimate concerns, other than the O-line injuries, I'd say the jury's out on our defensive scheme. Having the necessary size and depth to stuff the run is crucial, but if you over-commit and over-run plays trying for flashy TFLs in the backfield, it can be a problem in giving up too many doubles (or even home runs) instead of singles. Ellerson had a novel approach in 1992, partly to take advantage of a generational talent in Bruschi. But when he was gone and teams had adjusted to the scheme, we didn't get the penetration and big plays, and it wasn't nearly as dominant, and those DBs on their islands were exposed.

Credit NM's QB/WR combo, as that can level the playing field, even if only for a half. But most QBs these days are pretty elusive, so if we don't have the personnel this year to reach the goal in time consistently and/or we can't wrap up on tackles, I'd hope Akina would dial it back some, rather than succumb to any temptation to grind away at improvement hoping to re-live past greatness with Desert Swarm II or III or whatever it would be. I kind of like the idea of tailoring what you do for your opponent week-by-week to keep them guessing.

But again...it's only the first game, and these kinds of concerns are legion across college football this time of year.