Lobos Will Look to Make Senior Night One to Remember
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ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — One home game left. One home game left for 12 seniors who have, depsite losing more games than winning, laid it all on the line, all the time. Say what you will about Lobo Football, but UNM’s 12 seniors of Adam Gay, Isaak Gutierrez, Trae Hall, Reco Hannah, Justin Harris, Radson Jang, Miles Kendrick, Donte Martin, Isaiah Perez, Jerrick Reed II, Jake Saltonstall and George Steinkamp are an ecclectic group that have done everything from overcoming career threating injuries (Jang and Hall), to transferring to UNM from schools big and small (Kendrick, Perez and Gay), to joining the team after having not ever played before (Steinkamp).
It’s those guys that are hoping for folks to brave what could be a chilly, but actually nice night on Friday night as UNM looks to play spoiler to San Diego State’s slim hopes of the Mountain West title game. The Lobos more importantly are looking for a win to hang their hats on to propel them into the final on November 25 and the offseason, while giving the seniors one last hurrah.
To do it, UNM will have a take on a team that they are very similar to. Last year in Carson, California, the Lobos fell 31-7, a game that UNM trailed 17-7 in the third. San Diego State is sitting at 6-4 and 4-2 in the Mountain West’s West Division, tied with San Jose State and a game behind Fresno State. The Bulldogs need just a win in either of its final two games to clinch a berth in the final against most likely the winner the this week’s Boise State/Wyoming matchup, although there is an interesting scenario at play there.
The Lobos are currently stuck in a seven-game losing skid, having lost three of six conference games in which it had the lead at the half. The issue for UNM has been both the offense, which ranks 131st (out of 131) in total offense with 239.5 yards per game, 130th in passing efficiency offense, and 129th in first downs and scoring offense (14.7 points per game), and the second half. In the second half, UNM is getting outscored 174-53, including 174-26 in FBS games.
Danny Gonzales knows that all of that has to change. “We are not good on offense. We are OK on defense, and if we could score some points and possess the ball and move the ball we’d be a lot better on defense. That’s my responibility and that’s why I made a change halfway through.”
Gonzales added, “There are expected results when you make a change at this point in the program, and those expected results are to win football games. It’s not to hire a game and have to let him adjust. We are a competitive football team despite some of the lopsided scores you see and as frustrated as people get, but we are still on the path to compete for a conference championship.”
UNM is also looking to get its first win over the Aztecs in nine tries, having lost eight in a row after having won eight in a row over those same Aztecs. There’s other interesting notes about this matchup, with Gonzales having also previously worked at San Diego State and of course, Rocky Long was the head coach there at SDSU before returning to UNM.