sports@dailylobo.com
@ThomasRomeroS
On Monday, head coach Bob Davie announced to the team that sophomore quarterback Cole Gautsche and senior running back Kasey Carrier will miss the remainder of the season due to concussion symptoms.
Gautsche and Carrier have accounted for almost 60 percent of the Lobos’ total yards of offense.
Davie said they both showed signs of concussions after receiving hits to the head during UNM’s 66-42 loss to Colorado State. Neither Gautsche nor Carrier played in the second half of the loss.
“They (the players) have so much respect for those two kids,” Davie said. “I think just the reality of how fast it gets taken away from you, even though those guys had a chance to play for the majority of the season.”
This marks the third time in Gautsche’s two-year career that concussion symptoms have forced him to miss time. Earlier this year, he sat out at UTEP after sustaining an injury in the season-opener versus UTSA, and last season he didn’t play at Air Force after getting hurt at Hawaii.
For the season, Gautsche finishes with 777 yards rushing and 639 yards passing. He threw for seven touchdowns, ran for eight.
Davie said the staff is going to go back and research if Gautsche received any concussions during high school, and look back at the diagnoses Gautsche’s had at UNM.
“Cole’s a very important guy. More importantly than all that is Cole,” Davie said. “Obviously everyone is concerned. His style of play and his style of player that he is. It kept me awake last night thinking about that just for him. Just about how much he’s contributed to this program and the kind of kid he is.”
The only time Carrier missed significant time in his career came in 2011 when he sat out the year due to an irritating ankle/knee injury. Since then he’s been one of the most productive backs in UNM’s history.
After three years of being a backup, Carrier exploded on the scene last year with a school record 1,469 on 255 attempts. Carrier rushed for 1,122 yards on 189 attempts this season.
If Carrier doesn’t return, he will finish fifth in UNM’s all-time rushing list with 3,233 yards on 609 carries for a 5.3 yards per carry average. He could have passed Winslow Oliver (3,332) for fourth on the all-time rushing list.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
“I think the reality hit Kasey when I said ‘You’ve carried it for the last time here at UNM’ I could hear him on the phone, he was one the phone, he got a little choked up,” Davie said.
Junior signal-caller Clayton Mitchem will now take over under center. Mitchem isn’t as effective running the triple option offense as Gautsche, but the Lobos did show they can run it efficiently without the threat of the triple option against CSU.
At running back, the Lobos have plenty of depth. Junior tailback Crusoe Gongbay and sophomore Jhurell Pressley have rushed for a combined 638 yards on 85 carries, a 7.5-yard average. Freshman Teriyon Gipson has shown glimpses of his potential, rushing for 138 yards on 21 attempts with four scores.
The Lobos (3-7, 1-5 Mountain West Conference) finish the season at No. 15 Fresno State then travel to Boise State for the regular season finale.
Backup linebackers David Orvick and Tevin Newman will also miss the last two games, Davie said.
Of the Lobos’ 4,384 total yards of offense, 2,538 of those yards belong to Gautsche and Carrier.
Lobos-Broncos now on ESPN2
On Monday, ESPN announced that UNM’s regular season finale at Boise State on Nov. 30 will be aired on ESPN2.
This will be the first time the Lobos have played on ESPN2 since 2005. UNM lost 35-25 to CSU on Oct. 25, 2005 and beat UNLV 24-22 a week later.
The game will be the fourth UNM game that ESPN broadcasts on its family of networks this season.
UNM will receive a $500,000 bonus because of the terms under the Mountain West Conference TV package.
