Opponents have slung 258 passes against the University of New Mexico football team’s defense so far this season.
Just one has been intercepted by the Lobos.
That’s the fewest by any of the 130 teams competing in the NCAA’s Football Bowl Subdivision.
Small wonder, perhaps, that Lobos’ head coach Bob Davie acknowledged at Tuesday’s press conference, “I don’t even want to look at the (pass defense) statistics. I know without looking what those statistics are.”
For the team that calls Dreamland Stadium in Albuquerque home, the 2-5 (0-3 Mountain West) start is taking on the potential of another nightmarish season as the University of Hawaii tries to crash Saturday’s homecoming.
It is a far cry from when the Rainbow Warriors last glimpsed the Lobos in 2016. Back then, Davie, the one-time Notre Dame head coach and ESPN commentator, was deemed a savior for the football program.
The 28-21 victory over UH that season put the Lobos on track to a 9-4 finish and consecutive winning seasons for the first time in 10 years. It was the peak of a five-year Davie rebuild after his predecessor, Mike Locksley, had bottomed out with three consecutive 1-11 seasons.
But 3-9 seasons in 2017 and ’18, a 30-day suspension of Davie before last season and declining attendance have placed him on every “coaches hot seat” list. It would cost UNM $880,604 to buy him out, USA Today reported.
The school suspended him after a Chicago law firm’s report recommended “strong action” but failed to conclude that football coaches or staff had obstructed criminal investigations or misconduct cases involving players. The firm said steps were necessary to ensure the school didn’t tolerate sexual harassment or physical abuse in the future.
This season started ominously when Davie was taken to the hospital from the stadium after what a school statement termed a “serious medical incident” following the season-opening victory over Sam Houston State.
Davie sat out the next game against Notre Dame and has led the Lobos ever since. But it has been a weekly struggle, especially on defense. Which is why Davie is hoping Saturday’s game turns into a full-on offensive shootout.
That’s been the only way the Lobos have been able to win to date, outlasting Sam Houston State of the FCS, 39-31, and, then holding off New Mexico State, 55-52.
Oddsmakers say Davie might get some of what he is looking for, pegging the over-under line on total points in this one at 70 since the Lobos are giving up an average of 36.6 points per game and UH has been tagged for 36 per outing.
New Mexico ranks 122nd in scoring defense. UH, in the wake of being torched for a combined 116 points over the last two games against Boise State and Air Force, is 120th.
“It is a game that, on paper, looks like there (are) going to be some points in this game, obviously,” Davie said. “Offensively we’ve got to move the ball, we’ve got to score some points.”
Probably a lot more since the Lobos are No. 130 in passing yardage defense, surrendering 348 yards per game and opponents are completing 64 percent of their passes.
Which might be another reason why Davie isn’t tempted to look at the stats as the ’Bows, the republic’s No. 3 passing team (359 yards per game), come to town.
Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.
