New Mexico football’s Jake Rothschiller earned the respect of his teammates, who named him to the leadership counsel and one of the team captains heading into the season. Now the Mountain West has recognized him for his accomplishments this week on the field.
Rothschiller, a senior safety, may be smaller in stature at 5-8, 181 pounds, but played a big role in helping create separation between New Mexico and Abilene Christian on the way to a 38-14 victory in the season opener.
He received Mountain West Defensive Player of the Week honors and seemed humbled to earn the distinction.
“It’s a huge honor and my first time being recognized as Mountain West Defensive Player of the Week,” Rothschiller said. “It’s just a huge honor — huge blessing.”
The safety said head coach Bob Davie told the players before the game to “cut it loose” and not to be afraid to make a mistake.
In the third quarter, Abilene Christian faced a third and long situation when Rothschiller sacked the quarterback and forced a fumble. The offense converted that turnover into three points and made it a three-possession game at 24-7.
Later in the game, he pretty much removed all doubt as to which team would win the game — picking off a pass and returning it 91 yards for a defensive touchdown.
“It was kind of funny, because I got to the 50-yard line and thought, ‘Is this really happening?’” he said. “But it just fell into my lap, and I had to do what I had to do.”
His interception return was the sixth-longest in school history and pretty much put things out of reach, making the score 38-7 in the early stages of the fourth quarter.
Abilene Christian was held to just eight total rushing yards as Rothschiller and company seemed to find a rhythm. He helped account for two of his teams three forced turnovers and ended the night with a career-high eight tackles.
The team also stopped prevented Abilene Christian from scoring on nine consecutive drives before surrendering a late touchdown.
New Mexico will face off against in-state rival New Mexico State in its next game on Sept. 9 at 6 p.m.
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Robert Maler is the sports editor for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers basketball, football and tennis. He can be contacted at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @robert_maler.
