Story by
The Santa Fe New Mexican
Lobos put home streak on line against Miners
- Story byThe Santa Fe New Mexican
- Lobos put home streak on line against Miners
ALBUQUERQUE — It didn't take long for Lobos fans to get accustomed to a little success on the football field.
Last year's 9-4 record has been answered by winning three of the first four games heading into Saturday's Mountain West opener against UTEP at University Stadium. All of a sudden, UNM is one of the teams to beat in the conference and has already been thrown into the mix for a potential College Football Playoff run.
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UNM officials are expecting the public to respond accordingly. As of Friday afternoon, more than 25,000 tickets had been sold and judging by the usual influx of walk-up fans on game day, a crowd of 30,000 or more could be on hand to watch the Lobos try to extend their home winning streak to 10 — easily the longest in the history of University Stadium.
But not so fast, says Lobos coach Jason Eck.
It was only last year that his team started 0-2 in Mountain West play and needed a late-season surge to kickstart the feelings that have washed over the program since.
UTEP, Eck said, is not to be taken lightly, despite what the Miners' record says. They've lost on the road at Oklahoma and Michigan and were beaten at home last week by Oregon State.
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"You know, I think a lot of teams in our league might be 1-3 if they had their schedule," Eck said. "You certainly just can't look at scores."
The big news out of Lobos camp the last couple weeks isn't the team's defense. The unit ranks 15th in the country in total defense and rushing.
Instead, it had everything to do with the quarterbacks. Toa Fa'avae won the starting job prior to last week's game at New Mexico State and will remain there until he plays his way out of it.
The coaching staff used the first three games to audition for the role, thinking the determining factor would be who the better passer was. Luke Moga appeared to be the steadier of the two, but neither QB stood out until the staff huddled up and decided one of them had to rise to the top.
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They gave it to Fa'avae not based on his arm but his legs. He was the more explosive runner in those first three games, showing a penchant for scrambling out of the pocket and making things happen downfield. He managed to complete a solid 10 of 17 passes against NMSU, but the Lobos' passing offense is averaging just 155.5 yards through the air, ranking 128th in all of the FBS.
Eck said the inaccuracy isn't all on Fa'avae's shoulders. He said his receivers ran a few routes incorrectly in the New Mexico State game, which forced either errant throws or put the quarterback on the run with improvised plays.
To that end, the staff knows changing Fa'avae's quarterback style isn't going to happen overnight. A product of an option offense at California's De La Salle High School, he trained himself to stay inbounds on designed runs, as well as to absorb hits and even seek out contact. In the college game where the opposition is considerably heavier, stronger and faster, changing his approach is as much about his own safety as it is the team's long-term stability.
"We gotta coach him up on things," Eck said. "It'll be a process. I don't think he's going to turn into Tom Brady and be perfect with slides overnight or anything."
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NOTES
Hello again: This marks the first time New Mexico and UTEP have met as conference rivals since 1998 when they were both in the Western Athletic Conference. This is the third time the Lobos and Miners have been conference rivals, having had previous stops together in the Border and WAC.
UNM left the WAC in 1999 when the Mountain West first started.
It's been a while: The Lobos haven't blocked a punt in 6,182 days, or not since Halloween Day during the 2009 season. Every other team in the country has blocked at least one punt since 2016.
What a difference a year makes: The Lobos have not turned the ball over once this season. They are plus-14 in that category, having forced at least two in every game so far. Last year they had only 16 forced turnovers in 13 games — while coughing it up 23 times themselves.
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Home sweet home: Eck has never lost a game in Albuquerque, going 8-0. The Lobos' current home streak of nine straight dates back to Bronco Mendenhall's final game with UNM in the 2024 season.
The school record is 12, which ran from 1926-28. University Stadium wasn't opened until the 60s.
