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The quarterback situation for the New Mexico football team is the murkiest it’s been all season.
UNM’s top two quarterbacks, sophomore Cole Gautsche and junior Clayton Mitchem, are battling injuries. Gautsche suffered a right knee injury in the waning minutes of Saturday’s game at Wyoming.
Mitchem was held out of the Saturday’s game due to concussion-like symptoms because of a hit he took against New Mexico State on Oct. 5.
Head coach Bob Davie said health will be the deciding factor in whether or not Gautsche and Mitchem play.
“By the end of the week we’ll be able to tell more. It’s based on health,” he said. “If Cole’s healthy enough — I think everyone sees that Cole should be the one out there for us.”
Gautsche had one of the best passing days of his career at Wyoming. He finished the day completing 11 of 21 passes for 156 yards with one score and one interception.
If neither are able to play, redshirt junior David Vega will be the one calling the signals on Saturday versus Utah State (3-4, 2-1 Mountain West Conference). Vega led a late touchdown drive in UNM’s 38-31 loss at Wyoming.
Utah State starting freshman QB
On Monday, Utah State announced that freshman quarterback Darell Garretson will start versus UNM (2-4, 0-2 MWC) on Saturday.
Last Saturday at Boise State, Garretson split time with junior quarterback Craig Harrison in a 34-23 loss. Garretson completed 9 of 14 passes for 116 yards and one touchdown.
The two signal-callers were playing in place of injured junior starting quarterback Chuckie Keeton, who suffered a season-ending knee injury versus BYU on Oct. 4 in a 31-14 loss.
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“He (Garretson) struggled a little bit with the first couple of series, but I thought he gained composure and played well down the stretch,” first-year Aggies head coach Matt Wells said.
Keeton was a Heisman Trophy hopeful this upcoming season after leading Utah State to an 11-2 record and a 41-15 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl victory over Toledo last Dec. 15. It was Utah State’s second bowl win in school history.
Before his season ended prematurely, Keeton, a dynamic dual-threat quarterback, had completed 69.4 percent of his passes for 1,388 yards and 18 scores. He also ran for 241 yards on 55 attempts with two touchdowns.
Skaer honored
UNM senior punter Ben Skaer earned his second College Football Performance Awards National Punter of the Week honorable mention thanks to his performance at Wyoming on Saturday.
Skaer averaged 51.2 yards on five punts with a net average of 46.2 yards per attempt.
As a team, the Lobos rank second in the country in net punting average at 43.6 yards per punt. Skaer averages 46.7 yards per punt and would be sixth in the nation, but he is one punt short of the minimum number of punts needed to qualify.
On Aug. 31, versus the University of Texas-San Antonio, Skaer was rewarded with his first honorable mention.
Stat Sheet
The Lobos are no longer the No. 1 rushing team in the country.
That honor now belongs to Army with a 352.3 yards per game average, but UNM ranks second, averaging 349.3 yards per contest.
The Lobos have 23 rushing touchdowns on the year, which places them third in the nation in that category.
Sophomore wide receiver Carlos Wiggins has been a threat on kickoff return all season. Wiggins is No. 2 in the country in kick return average with a 33.4 yards per return. Against Wyoming, Wiggins averaged 38 yards on two kick returns.
On Saturday, UNM became the final team in the Football Bowl Subdivision to throw an interception and is tied for first in fewest interceptions thrown.
UNM is also tied for second in the nation for penalties per game at three.
