New Mexico Bowl: Arizona Wildcats vs New Mexico Lobos TV Info, Predictions and More
By Gabe Encinas
We’re approaching the first bowl game of the season, with New Mexico and Arizona renewing an old rivalry in The New Mexico Bowl.
The New Mexico Bowl is the first bowl game of the season with the New Mexico Lobos (7-5) hosting the Arizona Wildcats (6-6), rekindling an old rivalry for the battle of Kit Carson’s Rifle.
The two teams haven’t played since 2008, and the Lobos have a current two-game winning streak, but Arizona leads the overall series 43-20-3, stemming since the year 1908.
This is a tale of two teams that finished opposite of expectations. New Mexico was selected to finish second to last in the Mountain West Conference, and last in their respective Mountain Division. Although Arizona was projected to finish 7th in the Pac-12, they were just coming off a Pac-12 South Championship in 2014.
Arizona had a disappointing season considering the expectations of last year, and with no bye week, along with a bevy of injuries stemming from fall camp, the Wildcats were hindered on both sides of the ball. A quarterback controversy with Anu Solomon and Jerrard Randall led to a stagnant offense at times, Arizona’s featured back Nick Wilson missed some time battling injuries, and the offensive line had a lot of issues.
On defense, Arizona was forced to play a converted receiver and two true freshmen in the secondary and they lost senior linebacker Cody Ippolito to an ACL tear before the season even began. To make things worse, their consensus All-American linebacker, Scooby Wright, was hurt in the opening drive of their first game vs. UTSA with a meniscus tear.
He admits he came back too early vs. UCLA, where he got hurt again, holding him out for the rest of the season. But after sitting since week four of the regular season, Wright is slated to make a return in what is likely his last game as an Arizona Wildcat.
- Date: Saturday December 19, 2015
- Time: 2:00 PM Eastern
- Location: Albuquerque, New Mexico
- TV Channel: ESPN
- Live Stream: WatchESPN
- Spread: Arizona -10.0
Keys to Victory
When you look at New Mexico, the first thing you’ll notice is their triple option attack, led by head coach Bob Davie. Their offense averages 246.6 yards on the ground, which is good for 9th in the nation. They have two strong backs in Jhurell Pressley and Teriyon Gipson, who missed a part of this season due to a meniscus tear.
But in an option heavy offense, you can expect the passing game to be virtually non-existent. New Mexico used two quarterbacks this season in sophomore Lamar Jordan and junior Austin Apodaca. Together they combined for five touchdowns and 11 interceptions. The Lobos average only 131 yards through the air per game, which ranks them 122nd in the nation.
There might not be a lot of defense played in this game either. Arizona’s 3-3-5 defense didn’t work this year without Wright and was No. 106 in the nation, allowing more than 35 points per game. While that might be attributed to the pace of play in the Pac-12, and Arizona’s low time of possession due to their rapid offense, their defense just hasn’t been good enough.
While New Mexico might have only give up 27 points a game in the Mountain West, their defense was suspect at best. Their rush defense ranked No. 97 in the nation, allowing teams to rush for almost 200 yards a game. And their passing defense isn’t much better, ranked No. 87, giving up nearly 250 yards through the air. Junior linebacker Dakota Cox is the anchor on defense, and he’s going to have a busy keeping his defense up to pace with this Arizona offense.
Prediction
This game could end quickly. We know that New Mexico will be running the ball, and Arizona will likely run the ball a lot as well, to keep the ball out away from the Lobos.
Arizona’s defense will be able to contain the option, and limit the big plays, but the Lobos are going to get their yards. But what leads me to believe that Arizona will win, and cover the spread, is the fact that New Mexico has no sense of defense.
Although Arizona has been stagnant on offense, you can believe that Rodriguez will be ready to go, with a team that will have had 33 days to rest for their final game.