New Mexico Lobos Preview 2022: Season Prediction, Breakdown, Key Games, Players
New Mexico Lobos Preview 2022: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead to the New Mexico season with what you need to know and keys to the season.
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New Mexico Lobos Preview
Head Coach: Danny Gonzales, 3rd year at New Mexico, 5-14
2021 Preview: Overall: 3-9, Conference: 1-7
Keys To The Season
Season Prediction, What Will Happen
New Mexico Top 10 Players | New Mexico Schedule
New Mexico Lobos Preview 2022
It’s taking a little while to get this all going.
Danny Gonzales had a massive rebuild to do for a program that failed to win more than three games for three straight years and after a big 9-4 2016, and then he got thrown into 2020.
The Lobos battled hard through an 0-5 start, pulled off two wins to close out the season to give everyone a little hope, and then came the 2-0 start to 2021 and …
(cue sad trombone)
The offense fell off a cliff. The Lobos didn’t come up with more than 17 points over the last ten games, only hit 14 points twice, and it was a world of ugly.
This year’s team has enough new parts to potentially be better on offense, and the defense – Gonzales’s forte – gets back eight starters and should start to be a factor.
The program has been through tough times before – three straight 1-11 seasons from 2009 to 2011 were rough – but on the plus side there are no expectations whatsoever. The Lobos will be an afterthought in the Mountain West, and they can just turn it loose.
At least that sounds good for …
New Mexico Lobos Preview 2022: Offense
The offense had a rough time. It finished dead last in the nation overall averaging 235 yards per game, and it was dead last in scoring averaging 12 yards per outing.
How bad was the O? It was a whopping 23 yards per game worse than Colorado, and it was 3.4 points per game worse than UConn. So where to begin?
There needs to be some semblance of a steady running game. One of the few bright spots was freshman Aaron Dumas, who ran for 658 yards and close to five yards per carry, and … he’s now off to Washington. No. 2 back Bobby Cole is off in the transfer portal, putting the pressure on Nathaniel Jones, the No. 2 back in 2020 who was out all of last year.
The offensive line has to do its part, but there’s plenty of reworking to be done with just two starters back – losing left tackle Cade Briggs to Texas Tech hurts. There’s decent size but no developed depth whatsoever.
And the quarterback is … ? Isaiah Chavez did what he could in mainly a backup role behind Terry Wilson, but he wasn’t able to turn it loose for an offense that threw everyone it could find at the position. In comes Miles Kendrick from Kansas to try fixing the glitch – he’s got Big 12 experience and can run a bit.
The receivers could be a plus if the quarterbacks can get them the ball. Leading receiver Luke Wysong is back, but he made just 23 catches for 228 yards.
TE Trace Bruckler led the team with three TDs, and on the was from Arizona State is Geordon Porter adding a much-needed deep threat to the mix.
New Mexico Lobos Preview 2022: Defense
The defense did what it could considering there wasn’t any help whatsoever from the offense. Even with being put in bad position after bad position, and having to carry the team, it managed to finish fourth in the Mountain West in total defense, but it couldn’t hold up.
The Lobo defense allowed 54 points in the fourth quarters of games. The Lobo offense scored 50 points in the second half. Fortunately …
Defensive coordinator Rocky Long’s D is going to be strong. This was a relatively young group, and now the D has a tackling machine in Tavian Combs at the Lobo position in the secondary along with Ronald Wilson coming off a 54-stop season. The star, though, is veteran Jerrick Reed, a former JUCO transfer who led the Lobos with 89 stops.
In all, four starters are expected back in the defensive backfield, but they could use some help from more of a pass rush.
Leading sacker Joey Noble is done, but the line has quickness and is one of the few areas on the team with some real depth. There’s not a ton of bulk, but Bryce Santana has just enough size to hold up more on the nose.
The linebackers didn’t make enough plays in the 3-3-5, but there’s plenty of experience in place. Syaire Riley, Cody Moon, and Ray Leutele combined for 125 tackles – they’ll be a positive.
Keys To The Season
Season Prediction, What Will Happen
New Mexico Top 10 Players | New Mexico Schedule
New Mexico Lobos: Keys To The Season, Top Game, Top Transfer, Fun Stats NEXT
New Mexico Lobos: Keys To The Season, Top Game, Top Transfer, Fun Stats
New Mexico Lobos: Key To The 2022 Offense
Find a passing game.
This will be a theme over the next few blurbs – the Lobos have to find someone who can throw a forward pass. Check that – it has to find someone who can complete a forward pass for more than a few yards.
It wasn’t great, but there was some semblance of a passing attack when Terry Wilson was under center. Once he was done – 4-of-20 against Colorado State for 16 yards with two picks.
It doesn’t have to be anything special – the Lobos hit 10-of-11 passes in the win over Wyoming. Soon after they completed 4-of-15 passes in the losses to Fresno State and Boise State.
There were four touchdown passes over the last ten games. Four. That’s got to change fast, and …
New Mexico Lobos: Key To The 2022 Defense
There have GOT to be more takeaways.
The offense still isn’t going to be the Los Angeles Rams with the firepower. Unfortunately it should be up to the defense to start doing even more to keep the team in games, and that starts with forcing more big things and giving the O some breaks.
The Lobos managed 14 takeaways last year, but seven of them came in the first four games. Not surprisingly, the five in the first two were a big deal in the two wins, and the two against Wyoming played a huge role in the 14-3 win.
New Mexico was 3-1 when it came up with multiple takeaways and 0-8 when it didn’t. The D came up with 13 in seven games in 2020 – it’s possible to crank up the pressure.
New Mexico Lobos: Key Player To The 2022 Season
QB Isaiah Chavez, Soph.
Five Lobos threw at least ten passes last yearend seven threw two or more. Terry Wilson was the main man and at least got the passing game going a wee bit before getting knocked out for the year. Nothing worked after that.
Chavez can run a bit, and he’s accurate, but he didn’t do anything deep and only threw for 161 yards and two scores. However, he qualifies as a veteran presence for the attack unless New Mexico finds something in …
New Mexico Lobos: Key Transfer
QB Miles Kendrick, Sr.
The 5-10, 205-pound veteran is used to being in the mix for the gig. He saw plenty of time at Kansas, but he was always in and out of the lineup finishing his three years with 853 passing yards and nine scores along with 105 rushing yards and a score. If nothing else, he’s a decent No. 2 option.
New Mexico Key Game To The 2022 Season
UTEP, Sept. 17
New Mexico should be able to beat Maine to start the season, and it’ll probably have issues with Boise State a week later. The UTEP game is one of those moments to see just how far off the team is from being competitive – the Miners won 20-13 last year.
Lose, and with a road game at LSU to follow it’ll be an ugly start to the season before going to UNLV. Win, and with New Mexico State still on the slate there’s still a shot at getting to three wins by midseason.
New Mexico Lobos: 2021 Fun Stats
– New Mexico scoring: 146 – Opponents 2nd quarter scoring: 142
– Fumbles: New Mexico 22 (lost 12) – Opponents 11 (lost 4)
– Red Zone Scores: Opponents 36-of-40 (90%) – New Mexico 16-of-26 (62%)
Offense, Defense Breakdown
Season Prediction, What Will Happen
New Mexico Top 10 Players | New Mexico Schedule
New Mexico Lobos Season Prediction, What Will Happen NEXT
New Mexico Lobos Season Prediction, What Will Happen
There’s no way the offense can be that bad again, and it won’t be.
It might not have anything great that it can rely on quite yet, but it’ll be just a bit more functional. It might not seem like much, but merely not being the worst offense in America will make a big difference.
As long as the O can be merely okay at times, the defensive coordinator Rocky Long’s defense will take care of the rest.
However …
Set The New Mexico Lobos Regular Season Win Total At … 4
It’s going to take a few major upsets to get anywhere close to six wins.
Maine isn’t a given to open things up, but that has to be a win, UTEP has to be a win, and the date at New Mexico State should be enough for a decent base. Take care of Wyoming for a third year in a row, and it should be the program’s best season in years. But there’s a problem.
New Mexico will almost certainly be a double-digit underdog in each of the last five games – Fresno State, at Utah State, at Air Force, San Diego State, at Colorado State.
Three wins should be a given, but four would be an achievable baby step forward.
Offense, Defense Breakdown | Keys To The Season
New Mexico Top 10 Players | New Mexico Schedule
