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New Mexico Lobos Football – Branch Field at University Stadium
When/Who: 1 p.m., Saturday — Wyoming (4-7, 2-5 MW) at New Mexico (3-8, 1-6 MW)
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By Richard Stevens – Senior Writer/GoLobos.com
Let’s face it. When it comes to running into hot quarterbacks, the Lobos have had their fair share of bad luck.
Maybe that luck has changed.
Up in Laramie, Colby Kirkegaard is hobbling around. He severely sprained his left ankle in Wyoming’s 63-14 loss to Boise State. The Cowboy senior is getting better, but he might not play at New Mexico – or he might not play for long.
This obviously could be a damaging blow for Wyoming. Kirkegaard started the first 11 games for Wyoming and until he got hurt, he was the only Wyoming quarterback to attempt a pass this season.
Kirkegaard obviously has enough experience where missing snaps in practice this week won’t be a problem. The key is the ankle.
Saturday’s Mountain West battle on Branch Field is a big one fo
r both teams even though there is no postseason in either team’s future this year. There are smash-mouth football games with bowl implications — and then there are games that can flush a certain taste out of your mouth and leave you with a better taste.
The Wyoming Cowboys and the University of New Mexico Lobos will have just such a game Saturday on Branch Field. They seek a better taste.
The Lobos are looking to spit out the bitterness of their 58-20 defeat at Colorado State. The Wyoming Cowboys want to wash away the reminder of their 63-14 loss to Boise State.
They both want to walk off Branch Field with a feel-good and taste-good win to carry into the off season. It’s an important game for two teams that have hit a few bumps on the Mountain West road and want to make a statement about their program and their future.
The last two scoreboards are not indicative of what these teams have accomplished in 2014.
The Cowboys struggled against Boise State, but the ‘Pokes have had two impressive wins during their Mountain West run. They beat Air Force 17-13 and they won at Fresno State 45-17. The Lobos lost to these two league members.
The message here probably is a simple one. The Cowboys can be very good – or very average. But do they need Kirkegaard in order to be very good?
Like the Lobos, Wyoming needs the units on both sides of the football – offense and defense – to be clicking at the same time; and to be mistake free.
The Cowboys were impressive in the win over Fresno State. Wyoming held a high-octane Fresno State offense to 315 total yards – and 17 points. The Cowboys gave up 356 yards to Utah State.
The Cowboy defense did that despite losing two leaders – linebacker Mark Nzeocha and defensive back Darrenn White – to season-ending injuries. Wyoming has lost six starters (not counting Kirkegaard) to season-ending injuries.
The Cowboys’ defense is led by junior defensive end Eddie Yarbrough. He was First Team All-Mountain West as a sophomore. He is good at breaking through blocking and disrupting a team’s backfield.
The Cowboys also can move the football. They rolled out 694 total yards in the win over Fresno State. The Cowboys philosophy on offense is similar to New Mexico’s intent. The Cowboys like to control time of possession and do not mind long, time-consuming scoring drives. In the win over Fresno, Wyoming had scoring drives of 75, 92, 88, 95 and 88 yards.
Wyoming seeks balance on offense. They look to establish a ground game to open up a solid passing attack. Wyoming averages 151.7 yards rushing and 214.6 yards passing. They total 366.4 yards on offense. They give up 435.2 total yards.
Wyoming has a solid running back in Shaun Wick. He has four 100-yard games this season. He had 122 yards vs. Oregon. Wick averages 88.1 yards per game off a 6.3 average per carry. Brian Hill averages 58.1 yards per game and 5.5 yards per carry. Hill had 281 yards rushing against Fresno State averaging 12.2 yards per carry.
The Cowboys’ offense leans heavily on the arm of Kirkegaard. The senior averages 208 passing yards per game completing 58.4 percent of his throws (184-of-315). He is not a quarterback who will hurt you much scrambling out of the pocket. He averages 200.5 total yards – a minus 83 on the ground. Kirkegaard had 320 passing yards vs. Fresno.
The backup to Kirkegaard is sophomore Tom Thornton. He had an interception vs. Boise returned for a touchdown. Thornton might be a better scrambler than Kirkegaard.
Kirkegaard has a favorite target in senior Dominic Rufran, who has caught a pass in 48 consecutive games. He was contained in the loss to Boise State pulling in three passes for 19 yards. Rufran also returns kickoffs. The Cowboys’ secondary is led by Blair Burns, who is No. 3 in MW history in interception return yards.
Wyoming’s biggest problem on offense is pushing the football into the end zone. The Cowboys are last in the MW in scoring offense at 20.3 points per game. They have up an average of 32.5 points on defense. UNM’s defense cracks at 36.5 points per game. Wyoming gives up an average of 199.5 yards rushing.
Wyoming averages 366.4 yards (11th in MW) in total offense and the Lobos average 401.1 yards (seventh).
Editor’s Note: Richard Stevens is a former national award-winning Sports Columnist and Associate Sports Editor at The Albuquerque Tribune. You can reach him at rstevens50@comcast.net.