The Lobos (3-5, 2-2) return home after spending the last couple of weeks on the road (a win at USU, and a loss at CSU), to face the Wyoming Cowboys (1-7, 1-3). The Lobos are still fighting for a Bowl Game in year 1 of the Bronco Mendenhall Era, and a win today against Wyoming will go a long way in making that possible. The Lobos will look to finish drives after struggling in big plays against CSU, as they only scored 6 points in the loss to the Rams. Dampier and Co. look to get the offense going early and often against this Wyoming defense. I will be updating this during the game so tag along for the ride today.
Reality Check
With this week’s addition of Hawaii as a full member, the MW looks as though it has stabilized and will live to see another round of realignment. It was a wild few weeks with surprises (Utah State jumping to the PacX at the last second!), intrigue (will the AAC schools stay or leave?), and an incredible amount of anxiety that certain schools will be left in an awful situation. Thankfully, the Lobos don’t have to wonder about where their future lies anymore, but there were nights where there was legitimate concern.
As much pride we take in the Lobos and the University, I can’t help but think that this round of realignment was a massive reality check as to where we actually stand in the overall pecking order.
Zach’s Running Blog: Lobos vs. Fresno State 9/21/24
Sorry for the delay, I have been dealing with an issue on the site.
The Lobos (0-3) welcome Fresno State (2-1) for their opening Mountain West game of the season.
Zach’s Reacts: Lobos vs. Montana State
Saturday Afternoon was full of emotions around the Lobo Football Program, it was a new beginning with the official start of Coach Bronco Mendenhall’s Era, the first game of the season, and the first heartbreak of the season. The Lobos entered the game as 13.5-point underdogs against a Top 5 FCS Program in Montana State, and they gave the Bobcats all they could handle, leading at one point by 17. The Bobcats scored the game-winning touchdown with 10 seconds remaining to give them the 35-31 win in both teams’ opening game. While it wasn’t the best outcome for the Lobos to lose the opener (Captain Obvious), many things looked good during the first game, things that they can work on, and other observations from the game on Saturday. Here are some of the things that stood out from the game on Saturday.
Zach’s Running Blog: Lobos vs. Montana State
We are about 20 minutes away from the start of the Bronco Mendenhall Era of Lobo Football. The Lobos (0-0) will kick off their 2024 Season during Week 0 against the most talented FCS program they have faced in Top 5 Montana State. The Lobos will look to make a statement as they enter the game as 13.5-point underdogs. I will be updating this during the game, with thoughts and observations that come up.
Thank you, Eddie!
This past weekend after spending almost 7 years at UNM, Vice President of Athletics and Athletic Director Eddie Nunez accepted the Athletic Director’s position at Big 12 member the University of Houston. Unsurprisingly, he would make the move considering he’s moving up in conference, budget, and salary. This isn’t a knock on where the UNM Athletic Department is at the present day, it shows the strength and growth that happened during the 7 years that Nunez was in charge of the Department. While there will always be things that people will have issues with during any person’s time in charge, it’s clear that the UNM Athletics Department is in a way better place than it was in 2017. It was a great run for Nunez at UNM, and I believe that Houston will be better because of him, just like UNM is better because of his leadership.
Before Nunez:
It’s crazy to think how much has changed in the last 7-plus years at UNM, and something that we can’t lose sight of is how bad of shape the Athletics Department and UNM, in general, was before Nunez was hired and President Stokes was in charge of the University. The Athletics Department was coming off of the news of the Paul Krebs scandal, and the University didn’t have a President in place. Trying to shape something with growth was going to be difficult for whoever the new Athletic Director was going to be. The Board of Regents and other decision-makers made a great call in making Eddie Nunez the call.
Stepping Into The Unknown:
One thing that I think is clear, Nunez was stepping into something unknown of what could happen with him in charge. I believe that Nunez was taking a bigger risk than UNM at the time, and it paid off for both parties. Being hired for your first time as an Athletics Director in a situation that didn’t have a President, had a new Men’s Basketball Coach that you didn’t hire, a possible need to make a change at the head of the Football Program, and the need to find more money for the Athletics Department. If we recall at the end of the Mountain West Tournament in March, Krebs announced that Neal would be back for the 2017-2018 season, and that didn’t change until basically, the entire roster announced that they would be transferring and that a decent number of fans wouldn’t buy tickets for the 2017-2018 season. These things forced Krebs and UNM to pay the $1,000,000 buyout to Craig Neal and find a new coach. Nunez brought leadership and a vision for what the Department could become.
The Vision:
To me, it’s pretty clear, that Nunez wanted a Department that valued everyone in the Department, and it showed with the support for sports that don’t get much attention. He made it where it was clear that there would be leadership and support for everyone under his leadership. The results showed National Championships (both team and individual), Conference Championships, and a rise in support for the Department. Nunez made a point to show that he was part of the Lobo Community and would talk to anyone who would have questions. I remember in the Fall of 2018 covering the Football Game in Fort Collins with Cameron Goeldner (with the Daily Lobo at the time), and how glad he was to see us both at that game. He would always make a point to say hi to us every time he saw us after that game. He also shared a joke with the two of us before a basketball game that will remain an inside joke for the three of us. I believe that Nunez did achieve what he wanted to as the head of the Athletics Department. As someone attached to UNM Men’s Soccer (RIP), I don’t think that it is correct to blame him entirely for the end of the program, along with the Ski, and Beach Volleyball programs. It will always be something that will be attached to his era at UNM, and I do hope that a some point we can see a return of at least the soccer program.
What’s Next:
With Nunez taking a huge pay raise at Houston it sets up UNM for a very interesting choice. There is a buyout that will be paid to UNM for $125,000 while it isn’t life-changing for the Department it does help with the bottom line. We will find out in the not-too-distant future if there are plans to make an in-house hire or hire from outside the department. The logical choice in the Department is Dave Williams who has been the number 2 for Nunez and has experience as an Athletics Director. Someone that I think would be a great choice at some point is Ryan Berryman, but I don’t know if they would make that choice, and the logistics of him coming back from the University of Washington. One thing I do know is that there are a good amount of people in the room where decisions happen that are huge fans of Berryman. In my opinion, those are the two names that are as in-house as you can get, if it isn’t one of those two, I would expect someone from a similar background as Nunez. I also expect that the decision-makers will seek some input from Nunez. As for the coaches that could be impacted by this, the buyout for Pitino does get cut in half this next cycle, while the change doesn’t impact the possibility of him leaving (that difference wouldn’t keep a Power Conference Program from hiring him), it does impact the bottom line if he is hired by a different program this year. Something else that could happen is the impact of other people of leadership in the Department following him to Houston. We can all speculate on what’s going to happen now, but one thing that we can’t lose sight of is that UNM is in a way better spot than they were before he came to Albuquerque.
We want to thank Eddie for everything he did for UNM and wish him and his family nothing but success in Houston (a city that has Lobo Lane History).
A look at UNM Lobos Football Schedule 2024
The University of New Mexico is entering a new era of Lobo Football as Head Coach Bronco Mendenhall takes over after Danny Gonzales led the Lobos for the last 4 years. The Lobos are coming off a 4-8 season that saw the Lobos win 2 conference games, a road win against UMass, and a home win against FCS Tennessee Tech. Things will be different this year with the schedule for the Lobos, as we see a change in the Conference Schedule, three bye weeks, and the improvement of the FCS opponent. This season the Lobos will also only play 5 home games this year instead of the traditional 6 or 7 home games (we will dive into why this probably happened with this schedule later). Look at the schedule, quirks, and other odds and ends.
Lobo Lane Update for the 2024-2025 Season
It has been a little while since we have posted here, and I (Zach) want to update you on what the 2024-2025 season and likely the following years will look like with Lobo Lane. The last few years have been a challenge for me to put a ton of focus on writing here, and I am someone who wants to put good stuff out instead of just putting stuff out there. For the first time really since 2020, I have the energy and focus to finally put out good stuff regularly, and I am beyond excited to be able to do that. This will be our 10th year of covering UNM Lobo Athletics, which is insane that it has already been that long. Here’s the update on what things will look like moving forward.
Zach’s running blog MW Tournament Championship: 6 Lobos vs. 5 SDSU
We have made it to Saturday for the Championship game between the 6-seed New Mexico Lobos (25-9) and the 5-seed SDSU Aztecs (24-9). This is the first Title Game for the Lobos since 2018 when they lost to SDSU. Lobos will have a sick Donovan Dent who will try to give it a go, so Jaelen House and Jamal Mashburn Jr. will be expected to carry a heavy load today. Very simple for the Lobos, win and you take all questions away before the selection show.
Zach’s running blog MW Tournament: Semifinals 6 UNM vs. 7 CSU
We are back for the third day in a row for the Semifinal match-up between the 6-seed New Mexico Lobos (24-9) and the 7-seed Colorado State Rams (24-9). The Lobos have handled both their first two games extremely well against two completely different teams in Air Force and Boise State. The game has become even more important than it looked like it would a few days ago with a lot of similar teams winning in their Conference Tournaments. Before everyone freaks out, we have no idea what the committee thinks about the teams after the top 20ish. We will be updating this as the game goes along.