New Mexico gets its first chance to turn a strong opener into a cleaner performance on Saturday, when the Lobos host Mercyhurst at 2 p.m. at University Stadium. The game is New Mexico’s lone FCS matchup of the season, and it comes after a 38-7 win over Central Michigan that still left a few points on the field.
That is why this week has drawn attention in United Nations Football searches around UNM. The Lobos are 1-0 and a 41.5-point favorite at bet365, but the number that matters inside the building is the one that showed room for growth: 364 total yards, 28 first downs and a 53.8% third-down conversion rate, yet four of 10 drives still ended with field goal attempts.
One of those tries came because time ran out before halftime. The others were self-inflicted. New Mexico averaged 7.3 plays per possession against Central Michigan, but a sack by Toa Fa’avae on third down was part of a string of mistakes that kept drives from ending where they should have.
That is what gives Saturday some edge, even against an opponent the Lobos should control. Mercyhurst is New Mexico’s only FCS opponent this season, and it arrives after giving New Mexico State plenty of trouble for much of the first half before a 51-14 loss last week. The result in that game was not close for long, but it showed that Mercyhurst can make an opponent work before depth and pace take over.
New Mexico’s second-year head coach said Monday he does not buy much into the idea that the biggest improvement comes from the first game to the second. He pointed instead to the cleaner details, saying there was a lot of self-inflicted stuff that can be fixed and, more importantly, coached up. That is the real test on Saturday: not whether the Lobos can move the ball, but whether they can finish the drives that Central Michigan let linger.
The broadcast will be split between MW+ with Robert Portnoy and DonTrell Moore on the call and the Lobo Radio Network with J.J. Buck and Ned James. New Mexico should have the game in hand before a larger test waits next week, but the sharper question is whether the offense turns Saturday into proof that the opener was a foundation, not a ceiling.
