New Mexico Football: Bob Davie or not, Lobos must improve

Bob Davie is on the hot seat as he enters his seventh season as the head coach of New Mexico. Can he save his job with the Lobos in 2018?

Off the field, Bob Davie has increasingly come under heat for alleged physical assault of players, the stonewalling of sexual assault investigations, and proliferation of racist comments. Davie was suspended throughout the spring, and New Mexico defensive coordinator Kevin Cosgrove took over as acting head coach.

Even without the investigation and the suspension, Davie would still enter the 2018 season on the hot seat. After showing promise in 2015 and 2016 with back-to-back bowl appearances and winning seasons both years, New Mexico backslid in 2017. The Lobos finished 3-9, losing their last seven games in a row to close out the campaign.

Over the course of the year, New Mexico’s best unit was special teams. The Lobos ranked fourth nationally in kickoff return defense, a symptom partially of a small sample size. They also ranked sixth in the FBS in net punting, as Corey Bojorquez averaged 47.3 yards per punt. That gave every possible advantage to the defense, but it alone could not stave off the losing streak.

To turn things back around in 2018, New Mexico needs to rely less on its special teams. That means more efficient offense and a defense that gets the ball back reliably for that offense. Let’s look at both units before digging into the 2018 schedule for the Lobos.