Nov. 6—For the first time in nearly a decade, New Mexico is going bowling.
But there are still questions about this program — albeit different ones from what Lobo fans are normally accustomed to, at least at this time of year.
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Here’s my attempt to answer some of them, with answers including (but not limited to) UNM’s recruiting efforts, Mountain West Championship scenarios and more in this UNM football mailbag:
If there is a three-way tie between Boise State, UNM, and SDSU, which two teams compete in the MWC championship game?
— Lobo via X
Let’s assume UNM wins out and all three teams finish the season at 6-2. If Boise State and New Mexico both beat San Diego State, it’d be (I believe) a rematch between the Broncos and Lobos at Albertsons Stadium; Boise State would get the nod to host because of its head-to-head win over UNM.
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But if the Aztecs beat Boise State, lost to UNM and dropped another game to either Hawaii or San Jose State to get to two conference losses?
“In the mini round robin, (Boise State, SDSU and UNM) would all be 1-1 against each other and it would go to a composite average of selected predictive and results-based computer metrics on Nov. 30,” Mountain West spokesperson Javan Hedlund wrote in response to a question from the Journal. “The top two teams in those metrics would be in the game and then we would use the head-to-head to determine the host.
“Therefore, it’s hard to say what two teams are at the top of the composite average of selected predictive and results-based computer metrics at this time.”
Which bowl game do you see them going to?
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— ErnieG
Unless UNM wins the Mountain West Championship — and we’ll get to that shortly — the Lobos will almost assuredly be in the Dec. 27 Isleta New Mexico Bowl. It makes far too much sense for all parties, especially given the alternatives.
Why? UNM is an obvious boon for attendance: Three of the five New Mexico Bowl crowds to surpass 30,000 fans were games the Lobos played in. The other two were games featuring New Mexico State (30,822) and BYU (32,424), one of the best traveling fanbases in all of college sports.
It also saves UNM from some of the logistical and scheduling hassles that come with bowl travel. And I don’t think Eck will mind playing close to home during the holidays.
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“I think for where we are right now, not having been in a bowl game (until) this year, it would be awesome for the program,” he said Tuesday. “And, you know, I think we’d have a ton of fans here … That would be a great deal. And we’ll have to be creative to do stuff around that if we’re in that bowl game, to make it special and fun to our players.”
If UNM runs the table including MWC championship game what is the best bowl they could get into?
— Lobo via X
The LA Bowl (Dec. 13) is the best a Mountain West team not in the College Football Playoff can do, so UNM would play for a historic 11th win at SoFi Stadium in that case.
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Other than (winning) the MW championship game, are the Lobos locked into the New Mexico Bowl?
— Sean Kenny via X
No. The Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, Hawaii Bowl, Snoop Dogg Arizona Bowl (and maybe the Rate Bowl) could try to invite them. I just don’t see that happening, though.
How is (running back Scottre Humphrey’s) attitude holding up (without) getting any carries? It’s a shame there aren’t more balls to go around as I think he is also a great player.
— Eric Hutchins via X
It’s been a few weeks since I last talked to Humphrey (347 yards, five touchdowns), but everything I’ve seen shows me he’s plenty engaged even as he’s taken a bit of a backseat to Damon Bankston. I’ll be the first to admit I didn’t expect UNM to be this successful without Humphrey playing an outsized role — I don’t think I’m the only one, either — but I think Humphrey’s done a nice job showing real buy-in through this stretch.
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“Seeing (Bankston) do what he’s doing, it’s wonderful to see. I’m happy for him,” Humphrey said Oct. 15. “And we just gotta be better as a RB room so we can all get as many carries as possible.”
Two Wisconsin alums are in the running for coach of the year in the MWC. What did Jason Eck and Sean Lewis (and Jim Leonard and Paul Chryst) learn from (former Wisconsin coach) Barry Alvarez and their time playing for him?
— Matthew Chunk via X
Love this question. I don’t know how good I am on the Leonard and Chryst front, but Eck’s referenced a few of the things he’s learned under Alvarez since he’s been hired, namely the importance of defense and special teams on the road.
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“Alvarez used to always say it: When you go on the road, you gotta pack your kicking game — he used to always say kicking game, not special teams — (and) your defense,” Eck said in September. “And I think even when he was a player and he said that, I really didn’t totally understand it. But it’s easier to play those units on the road.”
Lewis is a little bit more interesting. Unlike Eck, he played only two seasons under Alvarez at Wisconsin. And he’s made his name running a very different offense from what you might associate with that of a former Badger; I actually mentioned that Lewis went to Wisconsin in a Mountain West Media Days availability with Nevada’s Jeff Choate, and he corroborated that sentiment.
“I don’t think he necessarily fits in that mold,” Choate chuckled in July.
(Alvarez doesn’t either.)
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“When I talk to coach Alvarez he tells me to turn in my alumni card,” Lewis said after he was hired by Kent State in 2019. “Playing (at Wisconsin) was a blast. It’s a different brand of ball that, especially in today’s age of college football, is an acquired taste. But it’s something that shaped me and shaped my philosophies.”
