Lobo 2020 Football Schedule Released
2020 Printable Football Schedule
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — A six-game home slate including three October games and home dates with the likes of nationally ranked Boise State and Wyoming highlight UNM’s 13-game schedule that was released by the Mountain West on Thursday.
The 2020 schedule will play out over 14 weeks, concluding on Sat., Dec. 5 with the Mountain West Football Championship Game featuring the two divisional champions.
The Lobos will be playing a 13-game regular season schedule for the first time since the 2012 season. NCAA rules allow for a 13th game in seasons in which a team plays at Hawai’i. Additionally, a new NCAA rule allows teams that play at Hawai’i the opportunity to open the season a week earlier, which in 2020 fall on Saturday, August 29.
That will be the date of the first of six Lobo home games, and that will be the first game in the Danny Gonzales era, and it will come against Idaho State. That game, played in Dreamstyle Stadium, is a déjà vu of sorts, as Gonzales was a player the last time UNM hosted Idaho State. That date was September 5, 1998, which was also the first game that Rocky Long served as UNM’s head coach. Long, the all-time winningest coach in UNM history, is back in the Duke City as UNM’s defensive coordinator.
UNM’s other non-conference home game will serve as Homecoming as UNM hosted UMass in the first game of a two-game contract. That game will be on October 3 at Dreamstyle Stadium, and UNM will return the trip to Amherst in 2023.
UNM’s conference schedule will open on the road at Canvas Stadium in Fort Collins as UNM will play Colorado State on October 10. It’s the third straight season that Colorado State is the sixth game of the season. It also will mark the fourth straight season that the Lobos will open Mountain West play on the road. From there, UNM will alternate home and road through the rest of the season.
UNM’s conference home opener comes in a West Division crossover matchup with Nevada. The last visit to Albuquerque by Nevada was memorable as UNM clinched bowl eligibility in 2016 with a 35-26 win that ended at 1:12 a.m. due to a weather delay.
The Lobos close out the month with a trip to Logan, Utah to meet Utah State on October 24 before hosting San Jose State on Halloween. November will open with a long trip to the islands to face Hawai’i, where UNM has won its last four meetings with the Rainbow Warriors, dating back to 1994.
UNM hosts nationally ranked Boise State on November 14 before heading north to face Air Force on senior day at the Academy. UNM will then finish the 2020 regular season by hosting Wyoming at Dreamstyle Stadium. It marks the fourth straight time that Wyoming’s trip to Albuquerque will fall on the final game of the regular season, as UNM also hosted Wyoming to end the season in 2014, 2016 and 2018.
Today’s release represents the first phase in the 2020 football schedule process. Mountain West national television partners CBS Sports and FOX Sports will now initiate a selection procedure which will include potentially shifting games to non-Saturday dates. That will be followed by the identification of network outlets and kick times. The Mountain West also is in negotiations for its third-tier television rights.
New Mexico will open its spring football camp on Tuesday, March 3 with the first of 15 practices. The team will hold its spring game on Saturday, April 4 at Dreamstyle Stadium.
Tickets for the 2020 football season are now on sale. Fans can renew their season tickets and purchase new tickets by clicking here.