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The Santa Fe New Mexican
Lobos head to the Bay Area for long-lost win against SJSU
- Story byThe Santa Fe New Mexican
- Lobos head to the Bay Area for long-lost win against SJSU
The only thing coach Jason Eck wants for spooky season is to escape the Bay Area with a win.
All Eric Olen wants is to rip open his kids' candy stash and get to work.
As for Amy Eagan, she's willing go to to whatever lengths she can to get a charge out of her players.
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The University of New Mexico coaches are going all in for Halloween this weekend. Eck and the Lobos football team visits San Jose State on Saturday afternoon looking to beat the Spartans for the first time since 1969, having lost seven times and tied once in that 57-year span.
At stake is UNM's spot atop the Mountain West and its place among the G6 hopefuls for the College Football Playoff. The initial CFP rankings come out Tuesday night and Eck's crew — assuming it snaps that Bay Area dry spell — is expected to be jostling for the top spot with Boise State and Oregon State.
The Lobos will again be without star linebacker Jaxton Eck. His damaged right shoulder will keep him out at least three more weeks, potentially four. The defense seems to be getting along just fine without him as the unit leads the country in scoring defense (11.3 per game) and is among the country's stingiest in yards allowed and rushing.
The Lobos had their biggest win of the season last week, beating North Dakota State, 21-16, in a nationally televised game that showcased the fans' growing love for the team and Jason Eck's dominant defense. The main concern now, Eck said, is avoiding the kind of letdown that has wrecked so many highly ranked teams this season.
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"I think it's easy just to point out in college football this year how many teams already had really good wins and then flopped the next week," Eck said.
Off to its best start in 29 years, UNM is still undefeated at home and has won nine straight games in Mountain West play.
But, really, there are bigger issues at hand behind the scenes. Eck said this is the first time his wife will not be on a road trip since he arrived at New Mexico. The couple have five kids and the youngest three are still very much into the whole Halloween thing.
He said he's taking the bah-humbug approach to costumes this year and won't wear one. No need with the family not around, he said.
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Olen, he's doing his part. With the men's basketball team set to open its season Monday night against Utah Tech in The Pit, the final order of business for the preseason is pounding the pavement in his neighborhood in search of candy.
For the fifth or sixth year in a row, he said, he'll wear the same skeleton outfit he's had since he was still in San Diego. His kids? A vampire and a bat.
"Yeah, a lot of Halloween energy with us," he said.
His go-to treat? Sour is best, but it's having an open mind that really pays of.
"I'm pretty versatile with the candy that I'll eat," he said. "I'm good with all of it."
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While both of Olen's kids are in grade school — the prime age for trick-o-treating, it should be noted — Eagan will take her talents into the team room for Saturday's practice. The first-year Lobos women's hoops coach said Friday she was headed to a local costume shop to find the scariest outfit she could. When she walks into film study to meet with her team after Saturday's workout, she's going for the jump scare.
"Anything to make it scary," she said — adding that her treat of choice is candy corn.
Eagan will make her Lobos debut Monday in a rare 11 a.m. tipoff against Seattle. It's billed as a field trip getaway for kids around the Albuquerque area and UNM is bracing for a loud and large crowd of kids hoping to see the Lobos do their thing.
NOTES
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Scheduling quirk: The UNM football team played (and lost) to San Jose State in the Bay Area last year. Typically conference teams alternate home sites each year but in an attempt to avoid having both New Mexico State and UTEP on the road in the same season, former UNM athletic director Fern Lovo had the UTEP game moved to Albuquerque. To ensure the Lobos got a regional rival at home and one on the road that's close enough to take a bus.
The Mountain West was then forced to move one of the Lobos' home games, and San Jose State was the only logical pick. The Spartans will be in Albuquerque next fall.
Rewriting the books: A win Saturday would be UNM's 16th since the start of last season, which would tie the school record for Ws over a two-season span. What's more, Eck's 15 wins is the most for a Lobos coach in his first 20 games with the program, one more than Marv Levy and Bub Henry.
