The UNM football team gets a reprieve of sorts this week as it travels to Salt Lake City, Utah, to open Mountain West Conference play against the University of Utah.
The Lobos' first three opponents all leaned toward passing the ball downfield against the mainly man-to-man coverage of the UNM defense.
And while the Utes (2-1) are no less competent at throwing the ball, they can boast a sharp running attack that may mean the Lobos (1-2) will need to turn out their most balanced defensive effort yet.
"I'm concerned about how the defense is going to handle a big, physical, pound-it-at-you team," UNM head coach Rocky Long said. "Nobody's ever tried to do that to us yet. They've got three or four really good running backs."
Utah's senior running back, Dameon Hunter, comes into the game averaging 109.3 yards per game, second only to UNM's Jarrod Baxter in the Mountain West. Hunter has run for back-to-back 100-yard games, including in last week's 28-26 win over Indiana University and on Sept. 8 when Hunter rushed for 104 yards against nationally ranked Oregon University.
In addition, the Lobos will have to contend with sophomore quarterback Lance Rice, who is averaging more than 225 yards passing per game and is completing 58 percent of his passes.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
During last year's match-up, a 10-3 UNM victory in Albuquerque, the Lobo defense held Rice to 185 passing yards. But, Long said, Rice is more confident this year.
"He's a lot more experienced and he seems a lot more comfortable," Long said. "He didn't throw the ball very well in their first game against Utah State (a 23-19 Utah win), but the last two games he's thrown the ball very, very well."
Long said the Utah passing game employs strategies that the Lobos have already seen this year - short, quick passes that have spelled doom at times for UNM defenders, due to their attacking style of play. He said that same philosophy will not change against the Utes.
"We're going to bring'em, we always bring'em," Long said. "And if we beat a blocker, we'll hit (Rice). If we don't beat a blocker, we won't."
Sophomore defensive end D.J. Renteria said UNM's defense is up for the challenge of playing against the physical Utah offensive line.
"Every week we come in with the mindset that we're not going to be dominated at all," Renteria said. "Our group is very good up front and it's going to be a battle."
The stout UNM defense has allowed only 81 rushing yards this season, which ranks second nationally in rushing defense. Similarly, it has yet to allow a rushing touchdown so far this year.
Meanwhile, the UNM offense has seemingly progressed as the season has gone on. After passing for only 52 yards in the Lobos' home opener against the University of Texas at El Paso, quarterback Rudy Caamano passed for 122 against Texas Tech University, and last week connected for 258 yards against Baylor University, including a 64-yard touchdown bomb to wide receiver Joe Manning.
The offense used new formations against Baylor, which Long said allowed for more extensive offensive production.
"In last week's game, we used what is called fly motion," Long said. "A wide receiver or (tailback) Javier (Hanson) would come full speed in motion. Sometimes he'd get the ball and sometimes he wouldn't. Sometimes he'd be a decoy and Jarrod would get the ball."
Long also lauded the improving UNM passing game.
"I thought the wide receivers went out and got the deep ball much better against Baylor," Long said. "And I thought Rudy threw the ball very well - he gave the receivers a chance. That's a positive sign."
Caamano is not short on confidence going into this weekend's game, despite the Lobos' overtime loss to Baylor last week.
"Confidence, I don't think, has ever been a problem," Caamano said. "I think we're pretty confident as a group and we think that eventually, things are going to turn around. So hopefully this is the week."
