The good news: Last year, UNM beat Colorado State 29-27 in its only win of the season.
The bad news: This year, the Rams, 2-6, are improved.
The Lobos, 0-7 and searching for their first win, travel to Fort Collins, Colo., on Saturday.
Head coach Mike Locksley said UNM is coming off its strongest performances of the year, a 30-20 loss to San Diego State at University Stadium.
“I think our guys expect to get the best from Colorado State,” Locksley said. “Colorado State is a program like ours. They are playing young players and young quarterbacks. But they have found some ways to get wins and get some success.”
Saturday’s game marks the 58th meeting between the two teams, and UNM won three of the last four matches. Arguably, if there is ever a chance for the Lobos to seal a win, this could be it.
In three of the teams’ last four meetings, the game came down to a last-second field goal.
Not focusing on the past, CSU head coach Steve Fairchild said the Lobos are more cohesive than they’ve been all season.
“There is no question that New Mexico flashes in a lot of areas,” Fairchild said. “They remind me of kind of like we were prior to the UNLV game, and they were about ready to put it all together. So, we’re going to have to have a great week and perform at a high level to win on Saturday.”
UNM will be without running back Demond Dennis’ services. Locksley announced at his weekly news conference that the sophomore was dismissed because of academic problems. He was the Lobos’ leading rusher through seven games and ran for a career-high 133 yards against CSU last year.
Locksley said the brunt of the work falls on tailbacks Kasey Carrier and James Wright.
“We have to prepare ourselves for a physical game on both sides of the ball,” he said. “But after watching the tape, I’d say that James is one of the players that I think has come the furthest from the football standpoint. He’s a guy that you have watched practice the last few weeks, you’ll see why he was able to play the way he has the last couple of weeks.”
In the Lobos’ last two games, Wright carried the ball 22 times for 109 yards.
But the downside is that UNM hasn’t won a road game in Fort Collins since 2006. The Lobos look to break their 13-road-game losing streak.
Locksley said the Rams will be looking to avenge last season’s loss.
“We’re going to be able to find a way to get this thing going,” he said.
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