The Lobos went back to basics today in Laramie, resulting in a 38-28 victory against Wyoming that was probably their most complete game of the season. This win was big for the Lobos, as not only did it keep their bowl chances alive, it started them out 1-0 in conference play and gave them some momentum going into the game next week against NMSU.
The big story for this game was Lamar Jordan, who made a strong case for himself to be the primary quarterback going forward. He began the game by hanging on to the ball on an option run and breaking it open down the sideline for a 56 yard run, making it clear that UNM was going to be able to run against the Wyoming defense all day. He was effective running all day, ending up with 147 yards on 15 carries. When Wyoming tried to adjust to stop the run, Jordan was able to be effective in the air too. While he only attempted 8 passes, he completed 5 of them for 107 yards, highlighted by a 64 yard touchdown pass to Carlos Wiggins. He clearly did everything that Davie asked out of him today, as he wasn’t replaced by Austin Apodaca until the very end of the game when the outcome was no longer in question. Davie wanted one of the two to take command of the position; Jordan went a long ways towards doing just that today.
Jordan was hardly the only Lobo who was effective running the ball today, with the team as a whole gaining 302 yards on the ground. The offense looked more like what we were expecting going into the season, with the running game eating up the defense and allowing for the occasional big pass play. Jhurell Pressley, in particular, looked like the guy we were expecting going into the season. After being held in check in the games so far, Pressley busted out for 103 yards on 17 carries. When he gets going, he’s fun to watch and he gives the Lobos a player who is effective both inside and outside the tackles. Richard McQuarley, on the other hand, showed how effective he can be rushing it up the middle, scoring the last two touchdowns for UNM today. The last of which was another that will go on the highlight reel, when he took the ball up the middle in hopes of converting a 4th and inches, but instead found a hole and broke the run open for a 43 yard touchdown run. The Lobos have a lot of depth in the backfield, so it’s fun to see who ends up having the big game each weekend.
The defense, in general, played pretty well. Wyoming tried to get their running game going for most of the game, but the Lobo defense completely shut it down, allowing only 42 rushing yards total. It was clear that Wyoming was trying to get their top running back Brian Hill opportunities, but the Lobos seemed to make it a point to not allow him any room to run. However, where the Cowboys were effective was in the air, ending up with 366 passing yards. At one point, their quarterback, Cameron Coffman, completed 11 straight passes in a stretch that included two touchdown passes. Much of that came because of the size of Wyoming’s receivers, with 6-2 Tanner Gentry, 6-6 Jake Maulhardt, and 6-4 Jacob Hollister causing matchup problems for the UNM defensive backs all afternoon long (it looks like big receivers are becoming a constant problem for the team, so figuring out how to stop them should be a priority for the team in the near future). The best drives that Wyoming strung together were the ones that relied mostly on passing, particularly their drive at the end of the first half that cut the Lobos’ lead down to 28-14. The Lobos did make some plays towards the end of the game to neutralize their passing attack, with Markel Byrd and Dakota Cox intercepting consecutive passes to basically seal the game.
A large part of the defense’s success today was due to the play of their interior linebackers, Dakota Cox and Kimmie Carson. The two of them combined for 18 tackles, 6 of which were for a loss, 2 sacks, and an interception. They basically removed the middle of the field as an option for the Cowboys, forcing the majority of the plays to the sidelines. A lot is expected out of these two for the season, so them both having good games today was good to see and bodes well for the defense here on out.
Now, Wyoming is not a particularly good team this year and it is starting to seem more and more likely that they’ll finish the season winless. So, while some of the positive things we saw today were really encouraging, the Lobos still need to play well against a good opponent. Still, this was a much-needed win, as a loss today would have basically shattered any remaining hopes the team had for a bowl game. With this win, the team can, and should, feel good about themselves and hopefully use it to build momentum that will start them on a little winning streak. Next week against NMSU is another big game, with it being both a rivalry game and another game that is vital to the team’s bowl chances. It should be a good one.