Lobos to face No. 5 Badgers
ALBUQUERQUE — Bucky Badger doesn’t lose at home.
Not to anyone outside the Big Ten, that is.
Ranked fifth in this week’s media poll, the mighty Wisconsin football team has won 40 straight games against nonconference teams at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison. They’ll look to make it 41 on Saturday when the University of New Mexico travels more than 1,200 miles to take on a team that many believe will be part of the College Football Playoff a few months from now.
The Lobos are coming off a seasonopening win at home against unheralded Incarnate Word. The offense did amass nearly 700 yards, but the defense was less than spectacular. The unit gave up 30 points and more yardage than anyone on the South Campus is comfortable with.
“Well the elephant in the room is, I know what you’re thinking,” said UNM head coach Bob Davie. “Incarnate Word to Wisconsin, right? Incarnate Word with 560 yards and now you’re going to Madison, Wisconsin. Well that narrative is pretty accurate right there. That is the reality of what this is.”
One of Davie’s few connections to Badger nation is a letter Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez wrote to him shortly after he was named UNM’s head coach seven years ago. The former football coach at Wisconsin, Alvarez passed along some advice in a note that Davie keeps hanging on the wall outside the Lobos’ coaching staff meeting room.
It reads: “Make sure the blinds are
closed before you go into the field.”
“In other words, he realized what kind of situation this would be going forward,” Davie said. “He went into Wisconsin when they hadn’t won many games, and the point is, don’t let ’em see you flinch.”
In this case, flinching is almost expected. The Badgers have a Heisman Trophy candidate in running back Jonathan Taylor and a first-round draft prospect in quarterback Alex Hornibrook. They both play behind a beefy offensive line that usually sends one or two players to the NFL every year.
There is hope, however. Mountain West rivals Utah State and UNLV had recent trips to Top 25 powerhouse programs and nearly pulled off upsets; Utah State falling on the road at Michigan State and UNLV remained close to USC until the fourth quarter.
“All that wishing, hoping, wanting; we went to Texas A&M last year wishing, hoping and wanting and we got embarrassed. Embarrassed,” Davie said. “So I said here’s the reality now: That all sounds good; that’s all a great concept. But if we don’t improve dramatically individually — not dramatically [as a team] — if we don’t improve step by step, the same thing that happened at A&M last year is going to happen again.”
GAME NOTES
Ranked foes: Wisconsin actually dropped one spot to No. 5 in this week’s Associated Press poll, but the Badgers jumped a spot to No. 6 in the coaches’ poll.
This is the first time in eight years UNM has faced a team in the top five, but it’s just the fifth time in school history it has played a team ranked this high. UNN has faced a No. 1 just once, losing 51-0 to Army in 1950.
In its history, UNM is 6-51 against ranked opponents and have dropped their last 16 games against top 25 teams. The Lobos are 2-17 all-time on the road. The last win against anyone in the top 25 was 2003 when they upset No. 23 Utah.
Air Davie: The Lobos had seven passing plays of 30 or more yards in last week’s opener. They had 10 in a dozen games last season and have not had more than 16 in any season since 2010.
Next level: Two players from last year’s team made opening day rosters in the NFL. Both are kickers. Placekicker Jason Sanders was a seventh-round pick by the Miami Dolphins and won the starting job this preseason, while punter Corey Bojorquez survived getting cut by the New England Patriots only to be signed by the Buffalo Bills and win the starting job there.
That doubles UNM’s list of players in the league as Glover Quin enters his 10th season as a safety with the Detroit Lions and Byron Bell is in his seventh season as an offensive lineman with the Green Bay Packers. Running back Jhurrel Pressley was signed as a practice squad player with the New York Giants.
For the birds: Twitter is the squeaky wheel of social media, but according to UNM’s sports information director, the only head coaches in the FBS who do not own an account are Davie, Wisconsin’s Paul Chryst, Alabama’s Nick Saban, Cal’s Justin Wilcox and Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz.
It makes Saturday’s game a rare tweet-free zone on the sidelines.
Infirmary: Wide receiver Q’ Drennan is out indefinitely after dislocating his hip in the season opener. Davie didn’t rule out his return for later in the year, but said he is not available for the foreseeable future.
Also out is senior safety Bijon Parker. He battled a pulled groin muscle for most of the preseason but started against Incarnate Word. He lasted just one series before pulling the other groin muscle. Davie lists him as doubtful for Wisconsin. The biggest loss is backup quarterback Coltin Gerhart. The senior had a sprained foot in last week’s game, then aggravated it on a quarterback sneak that resulted in a second half touchdown. Davie ruled him out for Saturday.