The New Mexico Lobos have a challenge coming up.
The Lobos will travel to Norman, Okla. to face off against the 24th-ranked Oklahoma Sooners this Saturday, and to say it will be tough would be an understatement. The Sooners are coming off of a 17-10 loss to the Michigan Wolverines and are undoubtedly looking to get right.
New Mexico, on the other hand, just broke program records in their dominant 70-7 victory over the Mercyhurst Lakers and are looking to make a statement against one of college football’s best. While the Lobos are not favored to win this game, there are a few things New Mexico will need to do to have a chance to upset the Sooners.
Running the football efficiently
Whether it's Scottre Humphrey, Kiefer Sibley or anybody else for that matter, it has been proven through the first two weeks of the season that the ground game has been efficient for the Lobos and a driving force for the offense's success. The effectiveness of the Lobos rushing attack, in turn, helps take pressure off of both Lobo quarterbacks and helps open the offense up.
This Lobo ground game will now face an Oklahoma defense that is allowing 3.3 yards per carry and 132 rushing yards per game this season. In the two games the Sooners have played so far, the opposing team's quarterback has been the leading rusher in both.
While the Sooners’ run defense is solid, it is still important for the Lobos to find a way to run the ball efficiently against this team. If the Lobos cannot execute in the run game, it may spell trouble for the team.
Quarterbacks stepping up when it matters
While the ground game has been spectacular for the Lobos through the first two weeks, their quarterback play — through the air at least — has only been okay. Luke Moga and Toa Fa’avae have not been bad by any means, but they haven’t been great either.
Both quarterbacks combine for only 332 yards and 4 touchdowns passing through the first two weeks. In comparison, Sooners quarterback John Mateer has 420 yards passing and the same amount of touchdowns.
While Moga and Fa’avae have not had to make big time throws yet, there will most likely be a time or multiple times throughout this game where they will need to. The pair of quarterbacks making explosive throws may be a pivotal part to the Lobos’ path to upsetting the Sooners.
Until Saturday rolls around, the question of can Moga and Fa’avae make the big throws when it matters looms large.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
Continuing the defensive dominance
Throughout the first two weeks, the Lobo defense has put on a clinic, holding both of their opponents to 14 points combined, and forcing a total of 8 turnovers throughout both games.
This very impressive defense is now facing an Oklahoma offense that was shut out in the first half last week and only scored 10 points in the entire game against Michigan. However, in week 1, Oklahoma did drop 51 points on another Mountain West team in the UTEP Miners.
No matter what version of the Sooner offense the Lobo defense may encounter on Saturday, they must sustain their physicality and dominance in order to have a chance at an upset.
With the game only a day away, all eyes will be on Jason Eck and his squad to pull off an invaluable win and improve to 3-0.
Rodney Prunty is the sports editor for the Daily Lobo. He can be contacted at sports@dailylobo.com or on X @rprunty05
