Lobos, Gonzales Ready for Maine

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — There’s passion, and then there’s whatever coarses through Danny Gonzales’ veins.  Sure, he bleed cherry red, but he would probably do so if he were Vulcan (Star Trek fans know Vulcan’s have green blood).  So it should have come as no surprise that Gonzales spent the opening part of his initial weekly press conference talking about all the things he is passionate about.  Of course, Gonzales can speak to these things as a coach, a former player, and a fna who sat in University Stadium as a kid.

Things of note from the head man himself … UNM is at 94% of it’s season tickets from a year ago, with about 6,300 sold after selling 6,700 last year, and the feeling is with four days left until the opener, UNM will match last year’s total at least.  Generally, many faculty and staff season tickets are purchased in the week leading up to the first game, and with those tickets available at 50% of the price for faculty and staff, it’s a win-win for everyone.

How many head coaches talk concessions?  Well Gonzales did, mentioning the new Grab’N’Go stands along the north ends of the bleachers.  There, fans can enter, grab a bottled water or Pepsi product, a bag of popcorn or candy, and then pay as they walk out in a fashion similar to the kiosks at the Sunport.  Of course there’s plenty of food options in the stands including the Southwest Corner Value Stand.

Gonzales mentioned the new digital reader boards on the sidelines, and in perhaps a note that he was happier about than anything, the movement of the student section away from the southwest corner of the stadium, which generally was in the sun during the day games, to the North End Zone, with the UNM Marching Band setting up shop in that corner.  It should give the northern end of the stadium a healthy and fun atmosphere.

“We met with the students, and I was a student here,” he said. In moving the students and the band, he said it creates a couple of things. “It gets them out of the sun so they aren’t directly right into it, it will put them closer to some of the amenities inside the stadium, and now they will be with groups that, well, enjoys themselves and likes to have excitement.”

Unlike basketball when students were moved from midcourt to section 26 without any input, the students were a part of this process every step of the way.  “We met with the student body goverment and we met with the students, and it was unanimous.  They were excited to partake in that area of the stadium.”

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Of course there is a little matter of a football game, and Gonzales knows all too well that UNM can’t take Maine, or anyone else, lightly.  All that was needed was to hear that the soccer and volleyball teams were playing Portland State to make the hair on the back of Gonzales’ neck stand up.

Gonzales was on the staff in 2006 when UNM lost the season opener to FCS Portland State 10-6.  Now it eventually worked out as UNM made it to the New Mexico Bowl that year, but certainly a team like Maine that went 6-5 a year ago and did it without their starting quarterback for most of the season will have everyone’s attention.  Joe Fagnano played terrific until getting hurt in his fourth game last year, and he returns, as do a host of others that picked off FBS UMass last year 35-10 and won five of its last six games.

For UNM, the Lobos enter the matchup with a new quarterback in Miles Kendrick, and they will be without Nate Jones, who will suit up for Game 2 against Boise State but sit the opener.  However, all Jones has done this week is give a blistering Scout Team performance to get the Lobo defense ready for Maine and the running back tandem of Elijah Barnwell and Freddie Brock.

UNM shouldn’t suffer too much as the Lobos have a full stable at running back with Sherod White earning the start.  UNM has tons of depth and the Lobos could very well go five deep there, and they have the option to always ride the hot hand.  That hot hand will be keyed by a revamped O-Line that will see four new starters with DJ Wingfield, Ise Matautia, CJ James and JC Davis joining Isaak Gutierrez.

Kendrick also have plenty of receiving weapons in a newcomers Geordon Porter, Jah’Mar Sanders and Tristan White and returners like Tre Hall, Jace Taylor, Luke Wysong and the Erickson brothers.

However, where UNM made strides last year was on defense, finishing 44th overall in total defense, its best finish since 2008. Gonzales likes his defense’s attitude about that. “I don’t want our kids to think 44th is acceptable.  We want to be great. Our job is to be really good on third down and keep them out of the end zone and all of those other statistics will take care of themselves.”

The big issue for UNM is replacing Joey Noble’s production up front, but Jake Saltonstall, an end last year, has moved into the middle, and Omar Darame and Justin Harris should get first crack at the ends.  The great thing is UNM should be able to rotate plenty of defensive linemen up front.  In fact, UNM is deep at most defensive spots, which should bode well.

It will all take place at 6 pm on Saturday night in the first of three straight at home.  The opener will be followed by a nationally televised Friday night matchup with Boise State with a “Red Out” planned, with a new uniform concept being brought out for the game, with the game also being Educators Night (fans can check golobos.com/tickets for special tickets deals and ways to nominate favorite teachers for special honors and prizes).  The September 17 game with UTEP will feature a postgame fireworks show.

And for those sad about the loss of the giant cottonwood tree in the southeast corner of the stadium, well Gonzales noted, “we still have a bunch of beautiful Ponderosa Pines in the Southwest Corner.  Not many stadiums have trees inside of them so let’s enjoy the beuaty that we have.”