New Mexico Game Notes | Colorado State Game Notes | Mountain West Weekly Notes
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — It’s been a long time, but the New Mexico Lobos are two wins away from going to the Mountain West Championship Game. That quest starts on Saturday with a very difficult task … a Colorado State Rams team that has put up 124 points on the Lobos in the last two games and has defeated UNM five straight times overall. Add to that the Rams are playing for bowl eligiblity and the game at Branch Field should be a wild and wooly affair.
Last season the Rams, who were ranked No. 23 at the time, put the hammer to UNM, taking a 51-7 lead before ultimately winning 58-20. That win followed the 2013 game in which Colorado State beat UNM 66-42, with the teams combining for one punt in the game. CSU in fact has had a player score six touchdowns in each of those games, Kapri Bibbs in 2013 and Dee Hart last year. However, these Lobos aren’t the 2013 or 2014 versions.
The Lobos (6-4, 4-2 MW) enter the game having knocked off the Boise State Broncos 31-24 in Boise, handing the Broncos just their fifth home loss in the last 101 games. It was BSU’s largest margin of defeat at home since 9/8/2001 when Washington State defeated BSU 41-20. Colorado State (5-5, 3-3 MW) has also won two straight and need one more win for Bowl eligibility. The Rams defeated UNLV 49-35 on Saturday.
New Mexico would win the Mountain Division title and advance to the Sports Authority Mountain West Championship Game on December 5 with wins over Colorado State and then Air Force in the finale regardless of what happens in any other game in the league.
The Coaches:
The University of New Mexico Lobos are coached by Bob Davie, who is 17-30 in his fourth season with the Lobos, and he is 52-55 overall in his ninth season. He spent his first five seasons as a head coach manning the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. For the Rams, they are coached by Mike Bobo, former Georgia quarterback who is in his first season as the head coach of Colorado State. He is 5-5 overall.
Series History:
The two teams have played 62 previous times, and the Rams lead the series 37-25. Colorado State has won five straight in the series. The last game in Albuquerque was in 2013 and it was crazy as CSU won 66-42. CSU led 45-42 in the fourth before getting three fourth quarter touchdowns. Kapri Bibbs rushed for six touchdowns in that game. UNM’s last win over Colorado State was November 21, 2009 when James Aho hit a 27-yard field goal with 12 seconds left for UNM’s first win of the season.
Broadcast Information:
The broadcast will be on ROOT SPORTS with Colorado Rockies play-by-play man Drew Goodman on the call along with Sed Bonner and Marc Stout on sidelines. The game will also be on campusinsiders.com outside of the ROOT footprint.
The game will be broadcast on the Lobo Radio Network with Robert Portnoy and DonTrell Moore calling all the action, with Michael Carlyle serving as engineer. Scott Stiegler will host the post game call-in show. The flagship station is 770 AM KKOB out of Albuquerque. This feed will also be available via the TuneIn Radio App.