After a surprising and devastating loss to their in-state rivals, the Lobos apparently decided to get as far away from New Mexico as they can. They’ll be in New Jersey this weekend, taking on the Rutgers Scarlet Knights in hopes of rebounding from their loss to the Aggies. It feels like an opportunity for the Lobos to pick up a nice win while collecting a big paycheck, but they’ll have to overcome the absence of a couple of key players to do so.

A Little about Rutgers

If you paid attention to Rutgers football at all last season, it wasn’t because of what they were doing on the field. Over a dozen players were the subject of off-the-field controversies, ranging from breaking curfew (meh) to getting arrested for felony assault and home invasion robbery (yikes!). On top of all of the off-the-field issues the players were having, the head coach, Kyle Flood, was investigated for trying to get a player’s grade changed in a class. Needless to say, Rutgers has a new head coach this year. They have high hopes for him too. After all, he was the defensive coordinator for the Ohio State Buckeyes when they won the national championship a couple of years ago.

Chris Ash is that new man in charge, taking over the Scarlet Knights for his first head coaching job. One has to think that Rutgers is banking on him bringing both his defensive philosophies and the offensive playbook from Ohio State, although it might take a few years for him to have the players necessary to pull it off, especially after the purge that happened last year.

They do return an extremely exciting player, however, in all-conference senior Janarion Grant. Grant is listed as a wide receiver, but playmaker might be more accurate. He’s led the team in all-purpose yards in both of the games the Scarlet Knights have played this year, picking up those yards on kick returns, receptions, and rushes. He’s liable to break off a huge play at pretty much any time, so the Lobos will absolutely need to keep him in check this game.

Rutger’s quarterback is junior Chris Laviano, who had a pretty effective season last year. He’s more of a pocket passer than a runner, completing 60.9% of his passes last year for 2247 yards and 16 touchdowns against 12 interceptions. He hasn’t really had a great game yet this year, but he’s certainly capable of having a big game. Lining up behind him will probably be their top back, Robert Martin, although he’s been a little hobbled with a hamstring injury. Junior Josh Hicks and senior Justin Goodwin will also see their fair share of touches.

On defense, Rutgers features an experienced defensive line, an experienced strong safety, and a brand-new set of starting linebackers. On the defensive line, they are led by seniors Darius Hamilton and Julian Pinnix-Odrick. Hamilton is coming off a medical redshirt season and has been off to a slow start, but has had a lot of success earlier in his career. Pinnix-Odrick is off to a faster start, as he leads the team in tackles for losses and sacks. Their strong safety, Anthony Cioffi, has a knack for picking the ball off, already collecting one this season against Washington. He’s also defended three passes and has collected 11 tackles on the season.

Some Relevant Stats

• Against Washington, Rutgers ran a ridiculous 88 plays (48 rushes, 40 passes) to gain just 304 yards on offense. Then, against Howard, they ran 76 plays (53 rushes, 23 passes) to gain 512 yards. I think that the main thing that I can make of this is that Washington is better at football than Howard. I’ll try to keep the hot takes to a minimum after that scorcher.
• Fun fact: Rutgers has blocked the most kicks (field goals and punts combined) in the NCAA since 2009. They blocked another one last week, so maybe they’re still strangely good at it.
• According to the UNM game notes, this is the first time the Lobos have ever faced a Big 10 school, which seems impossible, doesn’t it? That’s wild.

Scattered Thoughts

• Remember how deep the running back position felt going into the season? Well, we’re going to test that out this game – and maybe a few others. We knew that Teriyon Gipson was going to miss this game, thanks to a concussion he received on the last play of the game against the Aggies, but with new revelations about some legal issues he has been dealing with since January, it wouldn’t be a shock to see the team play a few games without him. I have no idea how Coach Davie would have reacted to this incident if he had found out about it in January, but I can’t imagine that he appreciated finding out about it now. I doubt that was a fun conversation for Teriyon.
  In his place, expect to see a healthy dose of Tyrone Owens, Daryl Chestnut, Diquon Woodhouse, and Richard McQuarley. Gipson is clearly the most experienced in the backfield – and has been the most explosive – but these four guys have all shown flashes of talent already this season, so I’m not too worried about the run game right now. Talk to me again Saturday afternoon.
• The absence that does worry me, however, is Dakota Cox. After banging heads with Kimmie Carson in the third quarter, Dakota missed the rest of the game with a concussion, which is forcing him to sit out this week as well. I still think that his injury was a major turning point in the game against NMSU, as the Aggies had a much easier time moving the ball once he was out. Hopefully with a full week of practice as the starter, Alex Hart is ready to fill that hole and serve as the backbone of the defense. It could be a long morning, otherwise.
• Around the Mountain West, it was not a stellar weekend for the conference, going 2-4 against P5 opponents, with Boise State picking up a win against Washington State and SDSU beating Cal. Of those four losses, three were massive blowouts on national television, so that is unlikely to help the conference’s reputation. The conference did go 5-1 against non-P5 opponents, however, with the Lobos suffering the only loss. It is worth mentioning that three of those wins came against FCS schools, however.
  This week, the conference only takes on a few P5 schools, with the Lobos facing Rutgers, SJSU taking on Utah, and Hawai’i visiting Arizona. The rest of the teams play either an FCS school or a school from arguably lesser conferences. It should be a good week for the conference, is what I’m saying.

Prediction

I think that in most years, Rutgers would be a heavy favorite in this game. However, they are coming off a tough season and have yet to show that they can compete against FBS competition. If the Lobos were at full strength, with both Teriyon Gipson and Dakota Cox participating, I would feel really good about the Lobos’ chances. But, because they’re not, I think the Lobos will end up losing a close one, 35-31.

Game Info

Who: New Mexico Lobos (1-1) at Rutgers Scarlet Knights (0-1)

When: Saturday, September 17, 2016 at 10am MT

Where: High Point Solutions Stadium, Piscataway, NJ

Watch: ESPNews/ESPN3

Listen: 770 KKOB/94.5 FM