Coming off a big road win in Dallas Texas, New Mexico had a week off to focus on key issues in the team’s game. Head coach Yvonne Sanchez said the 63-58 victory over SMU was a pinnacle win for the Lobos early in the season.
By the time Saturday rolls around the fall semester – final exams and all – will come to a close.
After high school, the options that David Anaya had to continue his football career weren’t great. Anaya had offers from a few Division II schools and junior colleges, but he didn’t want to go to a small university. His goal was to go Division I and play among the country’s best athletes. That goal didn’t look promising, until UNM head coach Bob Davie decided to sit down and watch a tape of Anaya. Davie liked what he saw and contacted Anaya about coming to the University of New Mexico. The offer to play at UNM intrigued Anaya, and he decided that his best option was to walk-on to the program in 2012.
“Humbling” is the word men’s soccer head coach Jeremy Fishbein used to describe the two seniors who will receive their college degrees this semester. The two “interesting cats,” as Fishbein described them, are Josh Dye and Adrian Mora Delgado. “Those are two stable guys,” Fishbein said. “More than anything, they epitomize what a student-athlete is. It’s a bit humbling. They’re both engineering majors with 4.0 GPAs and they’re Division I athletes.”
Head coach Bob Davie won’t be a fan at the Gildan New Mexico Bowl this year. After weeks of speculation, it was officially announced on Sunday that New Mexico will participate in the New Mexico Bowl for the first time since 2007. UNM will face Arizona from the PAC-12 in University Stadium on Dec. 19.
New Mexico’s two-game slip came to a close after beating the SMU Mustangs 63-58 on Saturday night in Dallas, Texas. The first quarter was the start UNM needed, going up 15-8 after starting slow in the previous two contests. The hot first quarter didn’t correlate with the rest of the first half as New Mexico’s defense appeared to hit a brick wall in the second quarter. The Lobos were outscored 24-15 in that period, finding themselves in a 32-30 hole at the half.
No. 11 Purdue limited New Mexico to less than 60 points for the first time this season in a 70-58 loss Saturday afternoon in West Lafayette, Indiana. Prior to Saturday UNM (5-2) had scored 75 points or more through its first six games, but ran into Boilermaker squad who had yet to lose.
New Mexico’s schedule so far has seen more guard-oriented rosters with not much size. Saturday’s opponent, Purdue, will be much bigger. The No. 11 Boilermakers’s starting lineup includes 6-foot-8 forward Vince Edwards, 6-9 forward Caleb Swanigan and 7-2 center Isaac Hays.
Courtney Frerichs had a tough decision to make. With one year of eligibility left in her cross country career, Frerichs could either stay at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and complete a second undergraduate degree, or she could leave her home state and finish her collegiate career elsewhere.
The Lobos haven’t lost back-to-back games in nearly 11 months. On Wednesday night, that came to a close in a 70-62 loss against UTEP. After falling to Duquesne in a 78-69 4th quarter let down, the Lobos responded with a sluggish first half in El Paso. It was the first time the Lobos dropped consecutive games since opening conference play with losses to Fresno State on December 31, 2014 and to Colorado State on January 3, 2015.
Focus and defense are on New Mexico’s mind as the team ventures across the state boarder to take on undefeated UTEP on Wednesday night. Head coach Yvonne Sanchez said the team is going to play with a big chip on its shoulder as the team heads to El Paso, Texas to take on the undefeated Miners. The Lobos are coming off a bitter 78-69 loss in the title game of UNM’s annual Thanksgiving tournament.
For a half New Mexico resolved its recent shooting difficulties, but second-half struggles against the press caused some at WisePies Arena to hold their breath. The Lobos completed nearly 60 percent through the first 20 minutes in a 91-75 victory over Oral Roberts Tuesday night, bolstered with successful 3-pointers in transition.
Even with a winning season and a bowl bid secured, only four New Mexico players earned All-Mountain West honors, tying for the lowest total in the conference. Wide receiver Carlos Wiggins had the highest award by being named to Second Team All-Mountain West. Linebacker Dakota Cox, defensive lineman Nik D’Avanzo and offensive lineman Eden Mahina were all honorable mentions.
After looking at the game tape, New Mexico head coach Craig Neal pulled back a bit on his statements following last Wednesday’s win over Nicholls State. After the Lobos won 75-63 – a game much closer than many thought it should have been – Neal said that his team lacked energy and that many guys haven’t really bought into the expectations he sets for the program. On Tuesday, Neal said the game tape showed the team didn’t play that poorly. Part of what got Neal so upset that night stems from the high expectations he has for his players, he said.
Tying a program record is going to turn some heads for anyone, but the way Skye Gullatt ended her career as a Lobo received conference attention. For the week of Nov. 24-28, Gullatt received Mountain West Defensive Player of the Week honors for her performance against Air Force in the final game of the 2015 campaign. Gullatt put together nine blocking assists, a solo block, and a dig in the final game of her collegiate career.
Jhurell Pressley said he saw just one thing on his two early touchdown runs against Air Force Saturday night. “Green grass,” he said. “Green grass.” Well, technically, it’s field turf. But when Pressley rattles off two early TD runs of 50-plus yards, it’s still grass to him.
New Mexico secured its first winning season in almost a decade on Saturday at University Stadium. Several big plays and three key turnovers propelled UNM to a 47-35 upset over Mountain Division champion Air Force. The Lobos finish the regular season 7-5 (5-3 Mountain West) and will play in their first bowl game since 2007.
Emotions ran high for New Mexico in a physical 78-69 loss to Duquesne in the UNM Thanksgiving Tournament final Saturday night. The blistering fans roared “high school refs” on numerous occasions throughout the championship contest.
Irreplaceable.That’s the main word head coach Bob Davie used when describing this year’s senior class for New Mexico. It’s hard to find another word as appropriate because of what those seniors had to endure earlier in their careers.
On nights where New Mexico’s offense needs a spark, UNM turns to its defense to get the job done. The Lobos started off slow in the 70-48 win over Southern Utah on Friday night, but as head coach Yvonne Sanchez switched to a pressure style of defense, the Lobos picked things up.
Solutions by The State News
