ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — With the 2020 season not counting as a year of eligibility due to the COVID-19 pandemic, University of New Mexico head coach Danny Gonzales has announced that 14 of UNM’s 27 seniors will return for the 2021 season. They will all once again be classified as seniors.
Rejoining the squad for the 2020 season will be several starters on both offense and defense. Five student-athletes will return on offense including three on the offensive line in Kyle Stapley, Austin Cook and Ben Davis, who combined for 15 starts in the 2020 season. Stapley will enter the 2021 season with a streak of 31 straight starts. Stapley has been a three-year starter and will be playing in his fourth season.
Cook, who played mostly on special teams as a sophomore and junior, started all seven games at left guard for UNM in 2020 and will be playing in his fourth season. Davis, who made one start and played both guard and tackle last season, was a graduate transfer from Minnesota and will be playing in his second season in 2021.
Also returning on offense is starting slot receiver Emmanuel Logan-Greene. The slot man led UNM in receptions (30) and yards (277) last season, and he also was UNM’s punt returner, averaging 5.3 yards per return. He also led UNM with a 31.2-yard average on kickoff returns with a long of 72 yards. Logan-Greene, a transfer from UCF, will play in his third season at UNM in 2021.
The other returner on offense is tight end Kyle Jarvis, who started several games and played in all seven. Jarvis will play in his third season in 2021. Jarvis caught three passes for 43 yards during the season. The 2021 season will be his third for UNM.
On defense, UNM will see nine players return, with four in the defensive backfield, two linebackers and three defensive linemen.
Joey Noble, who started all seven games in 2020, returns for what will be his third season with the Lobos. Noble in 2020 was third on the squad in tackles with 40 along with a team-best 5.0 TFLs and 4.0 sacks, plus a fumble recovery and a forced fumble. Those 40 tackles in the COVID-19 shortened seven-game season were the most by a Lobo defensive lineman in three years, when Kene Okonkwo registered 43 over 12 games in 2017.
Two other defensive linemen return in seniors Ben Gansallo and Adam Gay, both of whom used their available redshirt year in 2020. Gansallo played in four games for UNM, starting two at nose tackle. Despite missing three games, Gansallo was second on the team in sacks with 3.0, and third in TFLs with 3.0, all of which came in the final two games of the season. Overall, he recorded nine tackles. Gay, a transfer from New Mexico Highlands, only saw action in one game for UNM, playing at Hawai’i.
Two linebackers will return for a second senior season in Devin Sanders and Reco Hannah. Sanders, who started all seven games last season, was fifth on the team in tackles with 32 including a pair of forced fumbles. Sanders will be returning for his third season with the Lobos.
Also returning is Reco Hannah, who missed most of the 2020 season with an injury. He was able to return for the final three games, recording 11 tackles. His big contribution was a seven-tackle effort including two key stops on third-and-1 and fourth-and-1 in a 17-16 win over Wyoming. Hannah started one of the three games he played and will be returning for his third season with the Lobos.
In the defensive backfield, starting safety Patrick Peek will return for his fourth season with UNM, and his third senior season after playing four games and redshirting in 2019 and then starting all seven last year. Peek tied for the team lead with three passes broken up, and he recorded 31 tackles on the season. He also picked off a pass against Fresno State in the season finale.
Another starter that returns is Tony Collier, Jr. Collier started four of six games at corner, recording 24 tackles with a TFL and a pass break up. Collier will be returning for his third season at UNM.
Corey Hightower, who will be playing in his sixth season at UNM including his freshman season when he redshirted, made the first two starts in his career, starting at corner against Wyoming and Fresno State, with UNM winning both games. While he only recorded two tackles on the season, he helped UNM to its best defensive output of the season against Wyoming, and he helped limit the Mountain West’s top passing unit in Fresno State.
The final Lobo returning for a second senior season is Shaddrick Lowery, who like Hightower broke into the lineup over the final two games. Lowery, just like Hightower, made the first two starts of his career, coming in the final two games against Wyoming and Fresno State. Lowery, who was a stalwart on special teams in the same vain as Hightower, picked up six tackles on the season.
New Mexico will begin its second season of the Danny Gonzales era on September 4 against Houston Baptist at University Stadium. The Lobos will enter that game with a two-game winning streak after a season which saw UNM become the first team in Division I college football history to play its entire season of at least seven games outside of its own home state with no official home games.