Hey! It’s gameday for Lobo Football! In the first game at the newly-renamed Dreamstyle Stadium, the Lobos take on Abilene Christian University. The Lobos will be looking to build on their momentum from the past few seasons, while the Wildcats have their eyes on a big upset. Based on the last couple of opening games against FCS teams, there will probably be a lot of fireworks for the Lobos, so it should be a fun night to attend.
Also, before we get into it, we put up a Google form to get people’s predictions for the season. Only a handful of people have filled it out at this point, which is a bummer, as the more predictions we get, the more fun it will be. I’ll keep track of the game predictions as the season goes on and keep everyone updated on who among us is best at predicting the future. So if you have a few minutes, check it out: https://goo.gl/forms/WKf892C7YTy5fwE92
A Little About ACU
Last Year: The Wildcats went 2-9, only picking up wins against Incarnate Word and Northwestern State. It was their fourth season at the FCS level, and unlike most teams that jump a level and improve year to year, they’ve seen their record go from 6-5 to 6-6 to 3-9 to 2-9. A worrying trend for sure. Because of that, they fired their coach, Ken Collums, who had been part of the program since 2005. They’re expected to struggle again this year, having been picked 8th out of the 11 teams in the Southland Conference, but with a new coaching staff, there’s renewed optimism.
Coach: Adam Dorrel is in his first season at ACU, taking over for the fired Coach Collums. Coach Dorrel has definitely earned the opportunity to move from the DII Northwest Missouri State up to an FCS team, given that in the past four years, he’s seen his team go undefeated and win the National Championship three separate times. That’s absolutely bonkers. Because of that, his hire reminds me a little of Wyoming’s hiring of Craig Bohl, who was an extremely successful coach at the FCS level. If it works out the same, this year might not be a great one for the Wildcats, but they could take some huge strides next year.
The Offense: With a brand new coaching staff, it’s a little hard to know what to expect out of the Wildcats, despite 9 starters returning. By the sound of it, the offense will try to be balanced between rushes and passes and will likely rely on two (or more) quarterbacks. Last year’s starter, junior Dallas Sealey, will certainly be in the mix, having shown good ability throwing the ball last year, but it sounds like he’s being pushed by freshman Luke Anthony and senior Kade Munden. I bet we’ll see all three at some point.
Running back De’Andre Brown had an injury-plagued 2016, but the before that he proved to be a dynamic runner, gaining over 1700 yards and 14 touchdowns in his first two seasons. Sophomore Tracy James filled in for Brown last year and will be expected to be a big part of the offense this season as well. Senior Troy Grant, a 6’2” receiver, is expected to be the primary target, although 6’1” senior Carl Whitley will get plenty of looks too.
The Defense: It’s safe to say that the defense struggled last year, as they allowed 37.9 points and almost 500 yards per game. But again, they’ll be running a different scheme this year, so it’s a little hard to compare. Like the offense, the defense returns quite a few starters, seven to be exact, so there is at least some experience there.
Linebacker Sam Denmark led the team in tackles, picking up 111 on the year, and interceptions, with 3. Assuming he stays healthy, he’ll almost certainly end up ACU’s all time tackler by the time he’s done. Another guy to keep an eye on is Bryson Gates, a linebacker last season but now a defensive end, who led the team in sacks. The Wildcats are fairly inexperienced in the secondary, so it is up in the air who will emerge as the leader from that group.
Scattered Thoughts
Most of my scattered thoughts going into this game were covered in my post earlier this week, so check them out if you haven’t already. I will say that, like most of these games against FCS teams, the primary goals are a) win (obviously) and b) don’t get hurt. The Lobos have done a really solid job of this the last couple of years and I hope that it continues again today. If they can jump out to a big lead, we’ll get the double benefit of resting the starters while watching some guys get an opportunity to play who might otherwise not. And who knows? One of them could show enough to find himself in the rotation.
On an unrelated side note, we actually have a ton of ties to ACU. For example, our 86-year-old grandmother will actually be at the game to root on the school that she attended back when it was Abilene Christian College. So, this game will be fun for us for several reasons.
Prediction
The Wildcats are an FCS team and not a particularly good one at that. So, even though I like the hire they made to lead the team and I think they’ll be successful in the future, that’s still down the road. I like the Lobos to win 52-10.
Game Info
Who: New Mexico Lobos (0-0) vs. Abilene Christian University (0-0)
When: Saturday, September 2, 2017 at 6pm MT
Where: Dreamstyle Stadium, Albuquerque, NM
Watch: You’ll have to be at the stadium, because that’s the only way to actually see the game…
Listen: 770 KKOB