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The UNM football team goes on the road again to face Air Force on Saturday in a battle of two of the top rushing teams in the nation.
The Falcons rank second in the country in running the football, averaging 363 yards per game, and have the third-ranked running back in senior Cody Getz, who has 928 rushing yards to go along with eight touchdowns.
First-year UNM head coach Bob Davie said he’s always been impressed with the way Air Force competes on the gridiron.
“You talk about maximizing your talent — they are a very well-coached football team,” he said. “I have tremendous respect for what they do.”
The Falcons rank third in passing efficiency with a mark of 175.6, and Davie said Air Force’s offense is difficult to slow down because of the threat of play-action.
“They’re a true triple option core team; they start with the triple option, but they’ve expanded so much that they’ve expanded to their personnel,” he said. “That’s the thing that’s impressive.
That’s the thing we haven’t been able to get. They’ve been able to get the big home run off the play action off of the triple option. When they throw it, something good happens. They don’t throw it often — but when they do, some guy is running down the field wide open.”
UNM senior linebacker Joe Stoner said the defense has to keep its eyes on the ball and not overplay the Falcons’ triple option attack.
“It’s pretty simple: we have to play our responsibilities,” he said. “If you have the quarterback, take the quarterback; if you have the dive, tackle the dive; if you have the pitch, tackle the pitch. We just have to make sure we’re looking at the right place all the time.”
The Lobos are seventh in the country in rushing, grinding out 280.3 yards per game, and have the 25th most productive running back in junior Kasey Carrier, who has averaged 105 yards per game.
UNM (4-3, 1-1 MWC) is on its first two-game winning streak since 2008 and its first two-game road winning streak since 2007. If the Lobos manage to defeat the Falcons, it will be the first time since 2007 that UNM has defeated back-to-back MWC opponents.
Freshman quarterback Cole Gautsche is not expected to play in Saturday’s game due to concussion symptoms, but senior signal caller B.R. Holbrook, who has a sore knee, said the team won’t change its offensive strategy with Gautsche injured.
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“We’re going to do the same thing we’re going to do,” Holbrook said. “It’s all about execution, and that’s what we’re going to do.”
“It’s good, no problems,” he said about his knee, “just a few bumps and bruises, nothing major.”
Statistically, the Lobos and the Falcons (3-3, 4-3) are virtually the same, ranking 82nd and 85th in total defense. But Davie said the numbers are deceiving because Air Force has played more snaps on defense than UNM.
“They are a 3-4 defense,” he said. “They slant and angle and drop eight in coverage a lot, but I don’t think that affects. They’re a team that is schematic like their offense — they are looking for any advantage they can get.”
Football
at Air Force
Saturday
5 p.m.
ROOT Sports
DirecTV channel 683
Comcast channel 261
Dish channel 414
