Who needs a crowd when you have an obnoxiously loud video board. Get with the program.
This. DE needs to bring it. Any word if Turay is ready yet ?
Also need #9 Hampton back. Our Safety tackling against Howard in the 1st Half was the worst I have ever seen at RU.
The game is at noon and isn't New Mexico 3 hours behind? So they're playing a game at what feels like 9am to them? I like our chances
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anon_0k9zlfz6lz9oy
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idk man. Our D was atrocious at trying to defend the read option when HOWARD ran it. NM has SERIOUS SERIOUS speed. I watched the entire game of them vs NMSU last night and they have some serious playmakers. They have a kid #7 who objectively speaking may be better than Grant at the same size. If you look back at Ash's career the read option/option in general has given his defenses hell. I'm not crazy confident going into this one.
I should probably go and actually watch the NM-NMS game before I predict. But if NM really doesn't have a passing game and we game plan effectively, I don't see them giving us too much of a problem.
Do they throw out of their read a lot? If so I would be worried. If they strictly run the ball I'm hoping we should be ok. I'm also expecting the O to break out a little bit with Gio at the helm. Get that 11 on 11 and run on them all day.
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anon_0k9zlfz6lz9oy
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New Mexico has a good football team with talented players that do a good job running a triple option. I don't know how people are so confident that we'll win. I hope we win. I think the potential to win is there, if things go well. But I see no reason to be confident of a win.
I think the first two games illustrated that our team still needs several more games of making mistakes and learning from them. If this game was being played in the second half of the season, I would probably be confident of a win. But at this point, I think it will be a real challenge.
OTOH, I think there's more potential than I thought prior to the season to steal a game we aren't expected to win during the second half of the season. Is just that the early season games have a higher than desired potential for mistakes as the staff and players figure things out.
I think the first two games illustrated that our team still needs several more games of making mistakes and learning from them. If this game was being played in the second half of the season, I would probably be confident of a win. But at this point, I think it will be a real challenge.
OTOH, I think there's more potential than I thought prior to the season to steal a game we aren't expected to win during the second half of the season. Is just that the early season games have a higher than desired potential for mistakes as the staff and players figure things out.
If true, it's a little ironic. Schiano could never defend the spread, but his D's were always stout against the read option. Now, we've got a guy who is known for defending against the spread, but he can't defend against the read option!
Explain to me how they are a good team.
I think Rutgers will win by 14 points or more. We will run through their line with little resistance. They will get their points too but I don't think they will keep up.
I see us winning a close game. We have to put up points each time we possess the ball as their offense will eat up huge chunks of time and limit our possessions. This is like playing an academy . A good test for our coaching staff. Schiano and flood knew how to defense triple option attacks. And we won most of these types of contests. I have faith in this staff and feel they will get the job done.
As already noted, they need to score a lot to stay in the game since their D is so porous. Grant should be running all over them.
If we can run the ball effectively, which I think we will, it should be enough to win. Just don't have much trust in Laviano's arm.
Also, I would like to see us rotating the QB's to keep their D honest and see if they run out of gas like last week.
Huge game as we are most likely looking at a very ugly three games following this one.
If we can run the ball effectively, which I think we will, it should be enough to win. Just don't have much trust in Laviano's arm.
Also, I would like to see us rotating the QB's to keep their D honest and see if they run out of gas like last week.
Huge game as we are most likely looking at a very ugly three games following this one.
Did you watch their game last week? I watched the first half. I thought they did a good job of executing the option. They seemed crisp and polished on offense. As others have said, their QB did a nice job running and throwing the ball. Their coach was head coach at Notre Dame where he had a 35-25 record, so he's experienced against really good competition.
Last season, they went 7-6 (5-3 in conference), went to a bowl game and kept it pretty close w/Arizona.
Relative to where we are at right now, IMO, they are a good football team. They are not a Howard. They are not a great team. And they are beatable. Some folks that watched the second half last week say they ran out of steam, so conditioning may be a factor very much in our favor.
But at the moment, our players are still getting experience running a totally new offense, a mostly new defense, with a head coach and offensive coordinator that have only ever coached two games. Our players are learning systems they weren't recruited to play (and doing a great job of it, IMO). And our recruiting has been off for a few years.
So I think it will be a real challenge. One I hope we meet well and win.
New Mexico is in the Mountain Time zone so it's a two hour difference.
We have little history with New Mexico. RU played men's basketball in the Lobo Invitational many years back but the most memorable game we've had against them was in the 1967 NIT when RU knocked off a #13 New Mexico team in the second round of our first ever post-season tournament (the Lloyd and Valvano team) before a huge, raucous weeknight crowd of something like 17,000 RU fans at the "old" MSG.
Some humidity would also help our cause on Saturday.
I'm looking forward to a very strong rushing game on our part. Rolling up a lot of first downs with rushing plays will chew up clock while keeping their offense off the field. I believe that we have more rushing yards than passing yards so far this season. When is the last time that happened?
We have little history with New Mexico. RU played men's basketball in the Lobo Invitational many years back but the most memorable game we've had against them was in the 1967 NIT when RU knocked off a #13 New Mexico team in the second round of our first ever post-season tournament (the Lloyd and Valvano team) before a huge, raucous weeknight crowd of something like 17,000 RU fans at the "old" MSG.
Some humidity would also help our cause on Saturday.
I'm looking forward to a very strong rushing game on our part. Rolling up a lot of first downs with rushing plays will chew up clock while keeping their offense off the field. I believe that we have more rushing yards than passing yards so far this season. When is the last time that happened?
I had a friend that used to play at NM so I have been a casual Lobo fan for a few years now. I follow the team pretty closely during the season and watch as many of the games as I can, so hopefully I can provide a little insight on NM and what to expect.
The spread on the game does not surprise me as you are in rebuilding mode and we are hopefully past that point and on the rise. I don't think we are as bad as last weeks score might suggest. Anybody who watched can tell you we were the better team most of the game and NMSU got some unbelievable breaks at the end. It's a big rivalry game too which can obviously have a big impact. I also don't think you guys are as bad as your loss to Washington might suggest either... It was your first game with a new coach, on the road, and Washington is one of the best teams in the country in my opinion.
On offense the Lobos are explosive with a lot of speed and rely on the big play. We are not your typical triple option team in the sense that we are usually in the pistol and work out of various formations. The past couple of years we haven't been good at throwing the ball and passed the ball out of necessity for the most part... if teams were able to shut down and the run and put us in obvious pass situations we struggled. This year is a little different as we have opened up the offense a little. Even though the stats don't necessarily reflect that (324 yards rushing per game and 151 passing per game) We have 2 Qb's that are pretty good and complement each other. Austin Apodaca and Lamar Jordan. Apodaca was the backup for most games last year but has started both games this year. He is an adequate runner and the better passer of the 2. Lamar Jordan is more of a running threat and ran for over 800 yards last year but he is not as good of a passer as Apodaca. For a team that runs the majority of the time, we found out that we do have some quality receivers over the past 2 games. I would assume that we have a speed advantage, but know that your players will be considerably bigger and stronger. I just read that our top running back may be out which is big for you guys, because he is a legit home run threat, and is dangerous in space. We use a ton of backs anyways, but he would have been the one to give the most fits.
On Defense we have some talent and make a lot of big plays, but we are inconsistent when it comes to giving up big plays. We are a big time blitz team that has the potential to produce tackles for loss (15 in 2 games which is 34th in the nation), sacks (8 in 2 games which is 10th in the nation), and force turnovers. We do well against QB's that are easily rattled. We have given up 142 yards a game rushing with a lot of those yards coming off QB scrambles and QB runs. We have give up 172 yards a game through the air, and again a lot of those have come from big plays. When we limit big plays the D is pretty solid, but if we don't it can lead to a lot of points. Example being last week against NMSU where we only gave up 307 yards (mostly from big plays) but gave up 32 points... some of that attributed to turnovers in our own territory, but stopping teams in those situations is what great defenses do. Week 1 we gave up 21 points to SD and once again they all came from big plays- Runs of 55 and 42 by their QB and a 41 yard TD pass. Otherwise their offense didn't do much. In my opinion our D is much better than perception would suggest and is capable of winning games for us. Based off our history the big play will be key for you guys.
Overall I am hoping for a good game and that we are competitive. Looking forward to seeing how the game plays out!
The spread on the game does not surprise me as you are in rebuilding mode and we are hopefully past that point and on the rise. I don't think we are as bad as last weeks score might suggest. Anybody who watched can tell you we were the better team most of the game and NMSU got some unbelievable breaks at the end. It's a big rivalry game too which can obviously have a big impact. I also don't think you guys are as bad as your loss to Washington might suggest either... It was your first game with a new coach, on the road, and Washington is one of the best teams in the country in my opinion.
On offense the Lobos are explosive with a lot of speed and rely on the big play. We are not your typical triple option team in the sense that we are usually in the pistol and work out of various formations. The past couple of years we haven't been good at throwing the ball and passed the ball out of necessity for the most part... if teams were able to shut down and the run and put us in obvious pass situations we struggled. This year is a little different as we have opened up the offense a little. Even though the stats don't necessarily reflect that (324 yards rushing per game and 151 passing per game) We have 2 Qb's that are pretty good and complement each other. Austin Apodaca and Lamar Jordan. Apodaca was the backup for most games last year but has started both games this year. He is an adequate runner and the better passer of the 2. Lamar Jordan is more of a running threat and ran for over 800 yards last year but he is not as good of a passer as Apodaca. For a team that runs the majority of the time, we found out that we do have some quality receivers over the past 2 games. I would assume that we have a speed advantage, but know that your players will be considerably bigger and stronger. I just read that our top running back may be out which is big for you guys, because he is a legit home run threat, and is dangerous in space. We use a ton of backs anyways, but he would have been the one to give the most fits.
On Defense we have some talent and make a lot of big plays, but we are inconsistent when it comes to giving up big plays. We are a big time blitz team that has the potential to produce tackles for loss (15 in 2 games which is 34th in the nation), sacks (8 in 2 games which is 10th in the nation), and force turnovers. We do well against QB's that are easily rattled. We have given up 142 yards a game rushing with a lot of those yards coming off QB scrambles and QB runs. We have give up 172 yards a game through the air, and again a lot of those have come from big plays. When we limit big plays the D is pretty solid, but if we don't it can lead to a lot of points. Example being last week against NMSU where we only gave up 307 yards (mostly from big plays) but gave up 32 points... some of that attributed to turnovers in our own territory, but stopping teams in those situations is what great defenses do. Week 1 we gave up 21 points to SD and once again they all came from big plays- Runs of 55 and 42 by their QB and a 41 yard TD pass. Otherwise their offense didn't do much. In my opinion our D is much better than perception would suggest and is capable of winning games for us. Based off our history the big play will be key for you guys.
Overall I am hoping for a good game and that we are competitive. Looking forward to seeing how the game plays out!
Great post and analysis thank you.
On the first point. We think we have 2 QBs that may be "pretty good" but not great on P5 QB standards. Hoping we get to see our better running QB 2 more often really soon in some capacity.
On the second point, we could be in for a world of hurt if our #1 QB does not make better decisions than he did against Howard. Perhaps our coach will see what you see in put in one of our better running QBs.
Fairly good analysis. I've seen both of UNM's games this season. Their offense is similar to Howard's, but much better. However, UNM will be without #7 Gipson, who has 2 rushing TDs in each of their first two games as well as their leading tackler, MLB Dakota Cox which is the reason they faded in the second half (Cox left the game with UNM up 24-15 early in the second half and NMSU outscored UNM 17-7 in his absence). This is likely the reason the line jumped from -4 to -6 because they will be without two of their best players. If RU cannot win this game, we are looking a 1 or 2 win season in the face.
As dour as some might think I'm being about where our team is at today, I actually think we may improve enough over the course of the season to steal an unexpected win or two in the second half of the season. Based on observations and listening carefully to the coaches statements, I think the team and staff are still on the steep part of the learning curve. I think there's a lot more potential yet to be realized this season.
So I've upped my preseason prediction of 3-4 to 4-5.
I think this team can go bowling this year, but not with a loss this week to New Mexico. I'm not expecting to learn much after Iowa, Ohio State, and Michigan because RU really isn't in their class yet (as evidenced by the game in Washington who is in their class) and a win during this stretch will be a result of catching them napping. 2-4 facing Illinois, Minnesota, and Indiana should translate to 5-4 or 4-5 in my opinion. In my opinion, RU has a real chance to go 4-2 or 5-1 in the second half of the schedule.
- LB's will be tested
- must force TO's
- win ST's
- replace starting QB early IF he's not getting it done
- must force TO's
- win ST's
- replace starting QB early IF he's not getting it done
Agree. Pull out all the stops to win this game. Will not be surprised to see 3 QB's play again this week.
In terms of Won/Loss record this game is huge. Let's do whatever it takes to win. Go RU !
We should be able to beat these guys in a shootout provided Laviano is benched before the start of the 2nd quarter in favor of one of our better running QB backups.
NM maybe our only other win this season.
NM maybe our only other win this season.
It's tough to say game 3 of a coaches term as huge. But a victory will be very exciting.
I like Ash. Won't judge him for at least 2 years as a field coach. So a win is a big plus. A loss, just turn the page and be patient
I like Ash. Won't judge him for at least 2 years as a field coach. So a win is a big plus. A loss, just turn the page and be patient
Okay fine. You win. We're the best team in CFB and they are the worst. And we're going to win by at least two-dozen TDs.
I have some personal history with New Mexico. A friend of mine played Full Back for them mucho anos ago. His name was Al Leibowitz.Naturally he was referred to as "Lebo the Lobo".
Right. Which is why I said that "good" is a relative term. How about if I just say that they are good enough to beat us. Unlike, say, Howard who really never had any hope of beating us for any number of reasons.
The injuries they have may alter the math some and make the game a bit less of a challenge. But my point remains, which is that, IMO, this Ash-era team hasn't yet shown that we are ready to consider a team like New Mexico (good or bad as they may be) as a sure win. Feel free to disagree.
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