Saturday: UTSA (Conference USA) vs. New Mexico (Mountain West)
Time: 6 p.m. MDT
TV: My50TV (Comcast 12, DiectTV and Dish 59)
Radio: Lobo Radio Network — KKOB-AM 770; ESPN Deportes, KRZY 1450-AM in Spanish
Game Promotions: Coach Bob Davie Bobble Heads (to the first 2,500 fans at the game); YAFL Night (selected YAFL teams will play at halftime); Postgame Fireworks Show
The University of New Mexico football team embarks on its 115th season overall and second season under coach Bob Davie
The University of New Mexico football team embarks on its 115th season overall and second season under coach Bob Davie when it entertains UTSA on Branch Field at University Stadium on Saturday at 6 p.m. Davie is 5-1 in season openers as a head coach.
The Lobos are looking for an encore to a promising 2012 season under Davie. UNM’s four wins last season were one more than the program had from 2009-11 combined. New Mexico showed the biggest improvement in point differential from 2011 of any Football Bowl Subdivision program in the country. UNM had a 25.3-point improvement (it was outscored by an average of 29.7 points per game in 2011 and 4.4 in 2012).
The game features former BCS coaches matching wits. UTSA’s Larry Coker led the University of Miami to the 2001 national championship. UNM’s Bob Davie took Notre Dame to its first BCS bowl game in the 2000 Fiesta Bowl. The coaches also are familiar with each other from their days in the Big 12 in the 1980s. Coker was offensive coordinator at Oklahoma State (1983-89) and Oklahoma (1990-92) while Davie was outside linebackers coach (1985-88) and defensive coordinator (1989-93) at Texas A&M.
UNM is 64-47-3 all-time in season openers, and 53-21-2 in home openers.
The Lobos broke a six-game losing streak in home openers last season, defeating Southern University 66-21 on Branch Field at University Stadium. The 66 points were more than double the amount of points UNM scored in openers from 2006-11 combined (a total of 31 points).
New Mexico senior running back Kasey Carrier will look for an encore presentation to his 2012 season, in which he set a UNM school record with 1,469 rushing yards. His 122.4-yard average per game last season ranked 12th in the nation. He also set the UNM and Mountain West record for rushing in a single game with 338 yards vs. Air Force on Oct. 20, 2012.
Carrier, senior center Dillion Farrell, senior linebacker Dallas Bollema and senior nose tackle Jacori Greer have been elected as team captains for the 2013 season.
Sophomore Cole Gautsche (Rio Rancho, N.M.) will be the first in-state product to start the season at quarterback for the Lobos since Kole McKamey (Artesia) in 2005.
The Roadrunners were picked to finish seventh in the West Division of the Conference USA 2013 preseason poll. Senior QB Eric Soza will lead a UTSA offensive attack that averaged 31.2 points per game in 2012. Soza threw for 2,085 yards with an impressive 20-to-3 touchdown-to-interception ratio.
KATIE’S ANNIVERSARY
Aug. 30, 2013, one day before UNM’s season opener against UTSA, will be the 10-year anniversary of Lobo kicker Katie Hnida becoming the first female player in Division I-A college football history to score in a game and only the third ever to score.
Hnida converted a pair of extra points during UNM’s 72-8 victory over Texas State at University Stadium on Aug. 30, 2003.
The Littleton, Colo., native made history previously by becoming the first female to play in a bowl game in 2002. She had an extra-point attempt blocked in the 2002 Las Vegas Bowl against UCLA on Christmas Day.
LOBO PROWL
The UNM Alumni Association is encouraging Lobo fans to greet the Lobo football team as it walks through the Howl Zone and into University Stadium two hours prior to kickoff. The Howl Zone is in the tailgate area near the corner of Avenida Cesar Chavez and University Boulevard SE and had a great first year in 2012 as a new tradition. The Prowl will continue throughout the season, exactly two hours before kickoff at each UNM home game.
Coach Bob Davie instituted the Prowl in part so the team would better understand and appreciate the support UNM’s fans provide during each game on Branch Field at University Stadium.