Lobos Open MW Play at Wyoming
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Fresh off a win 34-31 overtime victory that squares up UNM’s season record at 2-2, the Lobos are now headed into conference play, taking on a Wyoming Cowboys team that is sitting at 3-1 and receiving votes in the national polls. The game will kick off at 2 pm on Saturday and it will be broadcast on the Mountain West Network and Stadium with Chris Sylvester and Jared Petrino on the call. The game will also be on the Lobo Radio Network with Robert Portnoy and DonTrell Moore.
Before even discussing Wyoming, UMass, or anything else for that matter, Coach G took a minute to announce that through the CFP, the Lobo Football team was able to help Lowell Elementary School and their teachers with $8,000 to use as they see fit. Lowell, which is located right next to the Lobo practice fields, was able to help out their teachers with classroom supplies or anything of their choosing.
As for Wyoming, it a team that UNM has had some success against recently, going 2-1 under Gonzales, although it was a 27-14 win for the Cowboys in 2022 that was the last meeting. In that one, UNM had a 14-0 lead in the first quarter but didn’t score again. Against UMass, UNM also had a 14-0 lead, but kept scoring and eventually won 34-31 giving UNM it’s first true road win in the Eastern Time Zone in program history.
The Cowboys have a Power 5 win, also in overtime, beating Texas Tech in the opener in double overtime 35-33. The Cowboys have only lost once, and that was 31-10 to the No. 4 Texas Longhorns, a game that was tied 10-10 entering the fourth quarter. Starting quarterback Andrew Peasley missed that game but has QBed the three wins. He also beat UNM last year, and has a win over UNM from 2020 when he quarterbacked Utah State to a win over UNM, a game in which he had a fourth quarter, back-breaking 74-yard touchdown run on a third-and-long when it looked like UNM was going to get the ball back down seven.
However, it’s Craig Bohl, he of several FCS National Titles with North Dakota that has Wyoming playing much the way UNM wants to play, which makes sense since Bohl is a mentor of Gonzales. “Coach Bohl is a mentor of mine, and I replaced him on the AFCA Board of Trustees, hand-picked by him,” said Gonzales. “We have very similar philosophies. Play really physical defense, beat each other up, take care of the football, and take it away.”
“He (Bohl) has done so much for our game outside of football, actual playing, that I’m so thankful one, that I’ve gotten to know him, and two, that he’s in our league and three, for everything he’s done.”
UNM’s offense is much improved, and having two 28 point first halfs in the first four games after doing that just twice over the last two seasons combined is proof enough. However, Wyoming’s defense will be about as good as UNM has seen, and it’s a defense that allowed just one touchdown to App State along with four field goals. “They are really, really good up front. Their inside guys … those two guys don’t get knocked off the ball. Texas didn’t knock them off the ball, App State didn’t knock them off the ball, and they can get pressure on the quarterback.”
The Lobos have had success in Laramie, actually leading the all-time series there, including a 14-3 win in 2021, UNM’s last conference victory. Neither team moved the ball much, and UNM got a 43-yard touchdown pass in the win, and kept the Cowboys out of the end zone save for a field goal.