New Mexico vs. San Jose State: Keys For A Lobos Win
Lobos are looking for a win vs. the Spartans
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New Mexico opens up league play.
WHEN: 10 p.m. ET
WHERE: CEFCU Stadium
TV: CBS Sports Network
STEAMING: FuboTV – Get a seven-day free trial
RADIO: New Mexico | San Jose State
SERIES RECORD: Spartans lead the overall series 12-5-1
GAME NOTES (PDF): New Mexico | San Jose State
SPREAD: San Jose State -6.5
Mountain West foes New Mexico & San Jose State are both looking to bounce back from painful losses when they meet at CEFCU Stadium in San Jose this Friday night.
The New Mexico Lobos travel to San Jose State in its first conference game of the year and need a win to give a shot in the arm for Bob Davie’s team.
The Lobos are coming off a tough 17-10 loss in Lynchburg Virginia to the Liberty Flames in what becomes a defensive battle versus an anticipated offensive shootout.
San Jose State was beaten soundly by the Air Force Falcons 41-24. The Spartans and Lobos have met twice as conference opponents, and both times the road team lost the game. The Lobos were able to pile yards; they just could not score many points.
New Mexico came into that game averaging more than 30 points a game with a strong offensive outing against NMSU the week before but never got on track against the Flames.
The offense struggled to get in sync and develop some rhythm and get some big explosive plays against Liberty.
The Flames defense a solid game limiting the Lobos and holding them to just three points in the first half.
The Lobos were hoping to establish a run game to set up the pass, but a big physical Flames defensive front put a stop to that.
In Davie’s press conference this week, he mentioned that San Jose State also had some good-sized defensive front guys and felt like the Lobos could run the dive play on them.
“In that game, we had opportunities to make big runs, but blocks were not sustained, we missed some throws, we dropped a couple of balls and most of all we had penalties on the first of five drives.”
So that will be interesting to see if Dailey’s offense can bounce back and if the big offensive line for the Lobos can create holes for the running game for the Lobos running backs tandem Ahmari Davis & Bryson Carroll.
The Lobo offense has a 1-2 punch at running back, with Ahmari Davis and Bryson Carroll both averaging more than five yards per carry. Davis has 361 yards on 71 carries, while Carroll has 168 yards on 28 totes.
New Mexico racked up 362 yards last week against the Flames but could not find the end zone. Still, the Lobos averaged 29.5 points per game with Tevaka Tuioti calling the shots.
The sophomore quarterback has 626 passing yards and can make plays with his legs, rushing for 121 yards, including a run of 33 yards last week.
So, the question for the offense this week against San Jose State is what offense will show up?
The offense that put up big numbers and explosive plays two weeks ago or last weeks version? Last week’s version could barley muster 3 points at halftime before finding the end zone in the 4th quarter.
On the San Jose State side of things on offense, they are led by Josh Love, who puts up over 402.9 yards per game while averaging 26.5 points.
He has thrown for 1,013 yards and 5 TD’s for a 129.4 rating. He has some reliable receivers he is throwing to, Bailey Gaither (13 catches for 168 yards), Tre Walker (18 catches for 230 yards) and Isaiah Hamilton (13 catches for 155 yards)
Both Tavaka Tuioti and Josh Love know each other well, and each has the utmost respect for each other as root for the other, except when they play for their respective programs, of course.
Tuioti played as a backup to Love at Long Beach Poly in California, which Tuioti attended for three years before transferring to La Mirada.
“He’s an incredible guy,” Tuioti said of Love. “I learned so much from him being able to watch him do his thing.
Love also holds Tuioti in high regard and was pulling for the UNM redshirt sophomore to win the starting quarterback job since July, and they both had a great relationship at Long Beach Poly.
The Spartans defense has been very good with turnovers and tied for fourth in the nation with seven interceptions, led by safety Bobby Brown with three and cornerback Nehemiah Sheltons with two.
Linebacker Ethan Aguayo has been a tackling machine with 50, a sack, and an interception, while Jesse Osuna has 26 tackles, a sack, and a fumble recovery.
Alex Hart and Dylan Horton are the heart of the Lobo defense as the top two tacklers, and each has 1.5 sacks, and a pass defended. Safety Jerrick Reed has 20 tackles and has returned an interception for a touchdown.
The Lobo defense did much better than expected last week against the high-powered offense of the Flames, holding the Flames to 160 yards rushing on 31 attempts.
New Mexico linebacker Alex Hart and Dylan Horton are the heart of the Lobo defense as the top two tacklers, and each has 1.5 sacks, and a pass defended. Safety Jerrick Reed has 20 tackles and has returned an interception for a touchdown.
