QBs essential to offense as Lobos face UNLV

sports@dailylobo.com
@ThomasRomeroS

The offense of the New Mexico football team has been inconsistent thus far in the season, and it all begins and ends with the quarterback position.

Head coach Bob Davie said he’s not sure who will start at quarterback this Saturday when UNM hosts UNLV at University Stadium, but that both sophomore Cole Gautsche and junior Clayton Mitchem will see playing time. Both Gautsche and Mitchem said they don’t mind splitting reps with each other.

“I think it all depends on what we really feel the highest percentage of our plan needs to be against them,” Davie said. “I’m not trying to escape the issue at all, but I don’t know if it really matters. UNLV is preparing for both of them (Gautsche and Mitchem) and they know they’re going to see both of them.”

During the Lobo game at Pittsburgh on Sept. 14, UNM’s offense differentiated greatly before and after halftime. In the first half, with Mitchem as quarterback, the Lobos had just 59 yards of total offense on 30 plays. For the second half, Davie put in Gautsche at the helm after the Lobos’ first drive of the half stalled. With Gautsche in, UNM started to move the ball effectively down the field and finished with 211 yards on 39 snaps.

Mitchem said it’s a difficult transition from a zone read offense to the Lobos’ triple option offense, and that’s one reason why he hasn’t been as effective running the offense as Gautsche has been at times.

“Cole has had more reps than I’ve had,” Mitchem said. “I’ve never ran triple option my whole life. I just ran simple zone reads my whole life. When it comes to the triple option, I just got to go through my reads instead of reacting.”

UNM (1-2) will be greeted at homecoming by UNLV (2-2), who’s coming off two consecutive victories for the first time since 2008. The Lobos have a losing record in their homecoming games at 42-43-3 all-time.

Last year in Las Vegas, Nev., the Rebels blew out the Lobos 35-7. Davie said the loss was one of the worst the team suffered last season.
“To say it was our worst performance is a little bit disrespectful to UNLV,” Davie said. “They pounded us last year, but it was our most disappointing performance. That was a brutal feeling up there and I think some of our players remember.”

Through the first two and a half games of this season, the Rebels were a struggling football team that had been outscored 130-36 and were looking to start 0-3. But down 21-0 at halftime against Central Michigan, UNLV inserted backup quarterback Caleb Herring.

Herring then engineered a 21-point comeback for the Rebels, winning 31-21 over the Chippewas. Then during the following game versus Western Illinois, UNLV dominated 38-7. Herring would have the highest quarterback rating in the Mountain West Conference at 167.56 but he doesn’t have enough passing attempts to qualify.

Davie said the Rebels have changed their offense a bit, and have moved to more of a zone read, one-back team.

“He (Herring) has a quick release, he’s quick as a runner, he’s athletic obviously. He was a wide receiver last year as well as being the backup quarterback last year,” Davie said. “Since that point (against Central Michigan) he’s provided the spark. It’s interesting because that’s why you never know with the quarterback until they get in there and play.”

After a rough first couple of games, the Rebels’ defense has straightened itself out, allowing 14 points the past two games. UNLV’s pass defense has been one of the best in the nation, ranking 10th overall just 146.5 yards per game.

“They’re big and they like to bring a lot of pressure,” Mitchem said. “They’re really physical and like to come off the ball hard and they don’t take anybody lightly.”

Injury report

On Tuesday, Davie said sophomore kick returner Chase Clayton and senior center Dillon Farrell will likely play against UNLV.

UNM’s kickoff return hasn’t missed a beat with Clayton out.

Sophomore wide receiver Carlos Wiggins has taken over admirably for Clayton with a return average of 35.2 yards per attempt, which ranks him seventh in the country.

“Clayton and Carlos are going to back there for kickoffs and that should cause some problems for opposing teams,” Davie said.

Football vs. UNLV
Saturday
6 p.m.
University Stadium