The UNM football team will finally get to dust the mud off its cleats this weekend when it travels to Waco, Texas, for a showdown with Baylor University.
While the game does not have "marquee match-up" written all over it, the outcome is important for the Lobos, as it is their last non-conference game. Last week's game against New Mexico State University was rescheduled for Nov. 24.
UNM has not won on the road since last season's 29-23 upset of the Air Force Academy and has lost three straight on the road dating back to last season.
Meanwhile, Baylor has won only five home games in the last four years, including a 24-3 victory over Arkansas State University Sept. 8 to begin its 2001 campaign.
The Lobos are 1-1 on the year following an impressive 26-6 win over the University of Texas at El Paso Sept. 1 and a 42-30 road loss to Texas Tech University, which may have exposed some deficiency in the team's pass defense. The Red Raiders torched the UNM secondary for 365 passing yards, and with Baylor running an offense similar to Tech's, the UNM defense could be tested downfield once again.
"Their offense is brand new, they put it in for spring ball," UNM head coach Rocky Long said. "This year they're a spread offense, a lot like Texas Tech. We've got one film on them and 80 plays."
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Long said since the Lobos have one more game under their belts than the Bears, it could be beneficial.
"I think it's a plus that they've played only one game and we've played two," Long said. "With the week off, it kind of makes it like the first game of the year for them. The negative is that they've got two films to watch on us."
Baylor, of the Big 12 conference, didn't exactly torch Arkansas State with the passing game, logging 192 yards against the perennial Sun Belt Conference doormat. But they did notch 175 rushing yards, while the Lobos have allowed an average of 4.5 yards per game, which leads the NCAA in rushing defense.
"It's not Oklahoma or Texas Tech's offense, it's distinctly different in a lot of ways," Baylor head coach Kevin Steele said of his team's offensive philosophy. "Namely, in our first game we were 59 percent run and 41 percent pass, so that in itself tells you that. In this league we feel like we have to run the football effectively."
Long said defending Baylor will provide a challenge.
"If we blitz, they're going to throw it a lot because they don't have the people to cover," Long said. "Arkansas State played them soft and they ran the ball. Unless they scare us out of it, it's hard to run the ball against us in spread offenses because we put enough guys up in there, blitzing, that it's hard to block us."
While the Lobos' passing woes are well documented, they have seen stability in the backfield with workhorse fullback Jarrod Baxter averaging 145 yards per game.
Long said the Lobos will need a balanced offensive effort to win, including threatening the Bears with the passing game that hasn't been very potent this year.
"They're physical up front, so they're hard to block," Long said. "They put a lot of guys on the line of scrimmage and they play a lot of man coverage. It means we've got to be able to beat them once in a while or you've got to be more physical than them and run it whether they're up there or not."
After Baylor, the Lobos have two conference games on the road before returning home for a game against Brigham Young University Oct. 13.
Long said he feels the Lobos' performance during the next few weeks will be telling.
"I think it's very difficult to win on the road, starting the league schedule off two weeks on the road in places like Utah and Wyoming," Long said. "If we can start it off well, we've got five out of six games at home after that. So there's a silver lining in everything, but that means you've got to play well on the road."
Saturday's game time is set for 6 p.m. Central time and can be heard on 770-KOB AM. The game will not be televised.
