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A battle of two rebuilding sub-.500 teams doesn’t usually make for an important football game, but don’t tell that to first-year UNM head coach Bob Davie.
“They’re (Colorado State) trying to get their program established, and make no doubt about it, it’s a big football game,” he said at his final weekly press conference of the 2012 season on Tuesday.
UNM faces CSU on Saturday in both teams’ season finale. The Lobos stand 4-8, 1-6 MWC and are on a five-game losing streak, while Colorado State is 3-8, 2-5 and has won two of its last four games after starting the year 1-6.
First-year CSU head coach Jim McElwain said he’s impressed by the way Davie has turned around the Lobo football program.
“This will be a game versus a team that has done an amazing job. You watch how New Mexico is playing under coach Davie,” McElwain said. “I really am looking forward to Saturday’s game.”
UNM has the fourth-best rushing attack in the nation, averaging 314.9 yards per game. Junior running back Kasey Carrier has tallied 1,410 rushing yards, and is 41 yards away from breaking the UNM all-time season single mark set by DonTrell Moore in 2003.
“It does mean something to me; just coming from what we’ve been doing in the past, it means a lot,” Carrier said. “But it starts up front with the offensive lineman because they’ve come a long way as a unit.”
Davie said the offensive line is the main reason for the team’s rushing success.
“Throwing the ball isn’t really an option,” he said, “and not only are you not doing it in a new scheme, you’re doing it with guys who didn’t have a whole lot of success running the football, you’re doing it in front of a whole ball park that knows you’re running the football.”
The Rams rank 104th in the nation in rushing defense, allowing an average of 208.4 yards per game. CSU gave up a season-high 459 rushing yards in a 42-21 loss at Air Force on Sept. 29, but McElwain said the team has defended the run better since that game.
“One of the things our guys have done is taking to heart what it means to do your job and be responsible for your assignment and your discipline of playing it,” he said. “The attack we’re seeing this week causes you to make sure you’re sound and disciplined. This is a great challenge because they’re doing a great job on offense.”
CSU counters with a two-headed rushing attack with junior Chris Nwoke and freshman Donnell Alexander combining to average 124.5 yards per game.
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Davie said the toughest part about facing the Rams will be their home-field advantage.
“The biggest thing that concerns me is that they’ve been so good at home — they’ve won two Mountain West games at home,” he said.
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