New Mexico Starts Off Year With Dominant Win Over Maine
Cruising to a 41-0 win
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Lobos start at 1-0
Head New Mexico coach Danny Gonzales started the season out strong on both sides of the ball as they would go on to beat the Main Black Bears 41-0.
Offensive Coordinator Derek Warehime had to have been happy to see this offense start taking the steps it needs to compete in the Mountain West Conference.
The Lobo offense looked night and day different than last year’s offense that stood still and was ranked last in 2021 with 235 yards a game ranking them near the bottom of the NCAA.
The Lobos scored 21 points in the second quarter alone and racked up over 437 total yards, 170 passing, and 267 rushing yards for a balanced offense.
The Lobos would play the spoiler for first-year head UMaine Coach Jordan Stevens, a 2010 graduate of the school.
The Black Bears did hold the Lobos scoreless in the first quarter until Sherod White scored one of his two touchdowns in the second quarter.
White would lead the Lobos in rushing with 58 on 13 attempts. His longest run was 22 yards, and he had 4.5 yards per carry.
Luke Wysong looked very fast carrying his extra 18lbs he put on from last year, scoring back-to-back touchdowns as the Lobos jumped out to a 21-0 lead.
https://twitter.com/UNMLoboFB/status/1566229234221084672
Wysong had 43 yards rushing and 51 yards receiving and had an impressive 7.2 yards per average.
New Mexico quarterback Miles Kendrick completed 14 17 passes for 170 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions.
Kendrick looked poised in the pocket and solid, knowing when to tuck and run as he would finish with 40 yards rushing and 3.6 yards per carry.
This Rocky Long defense held the Black Bears to just 118 yards total offense. They would finish with just 22 yards rushing and 96 yards passing.
Its been this writer’s opinion after watching this Lobo program since 1999 that the Rocky Long defense usually makes an impact right away as they did; they tend to get more effective.
Consider this, the Lobo defense made some massive improvements in 2021, ranking 44th in overall total defense and a 57-spot improvement from the previous year, 2020.
UNM allowed 363.1 yards per game, the lowest total in 13 seasons since the 2008 team allowed 335.8 yards per game.
They also ranked 44th overall, and the 2008 team ranked 45th. Last year’s ranking was the best since 2007 when UNM ranked 13th in total defense at 319.9 yards per game.
I think this bears out with some of Danny Gonzales’s presser comments that defensive players start to grasp the defense, so they are not thinking so much but able to play free-flowing and attack the offenses they play against.
Gonzales has said multiple times that Rocky Long, in his opinion, and this writer tends to agree that Rocky Long is the best Defensive Mind in NCAA Football. Numbers do not lie.
One could argue that the Lobos looked dominant against an FCS team while the Lobos are an FBS team; one still had to be impressed with the overall game on both sides of the ball.
Once the Lobo team becomes more balanced, they will be a force to contend with in the Mountain West Conference.
We saw this against the Black Bears of Maine but make no mistake about it, and the Boise State Broncos will give the Lobos all they can handle, especially coming off an embarrassing loss to the OSU Beavers 34-17.
https://twitter.com/UNMLoboFB/status/1567143776505954305
The Lobos will be tested this Friday as the Boise State Broncos come to Albuquerque for a nationally televised game on CBS Sports Network at 9 PM EDT
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