San Diego State challenges New Mexico this week. UNM hasn’t seen a bowl game since they won the New Mexico Bowl in 2007. San Diego State made the trip to New Orleans in 2011.
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San Diego State
The Azteks are no stranger to bowl play. They lost their one appearance in the New Orleans Bowl to ULL. But in 2010 they sunk Navy in the Poinsettia Bowl in front of a very friendly home crowd. They lost that same bowl in 2012 to BYU and rebounded in 2013 with a win over Buffalo in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. San Diego is off to a 2-3 start and looking for a win against the Aggies. San Diego lost in a close battle at UNC, took a big hit at Oregon and dropped a game to Mountain West foe Fresno State.
New Mexico Lobos
Fellow West Division foe New Mexico is off to a similar start with San Diego. Their 2-3 record shows wins against the Sun Belt’s New Mexico State and C-USA’s Texas-San Antonio. The Lobos dropped games against Texas-El Paso, Arizona State and rival Fresno State. They are losing by an average of 17 points per game and winning by an average of 7.5 per game. The Lobos haven’t seen post season play since the New Mexico Bowl in 2007 and are ready to reverse course this season so they can add a 12th bowl to their history.
Who to Watch
Even though New Mexico ranks near the bottom in passing yards they are a top 5 team in rushing yards. Look for the Lobos to keep the ball on the ground against San Diego. New Mexico’s Jhurell Pressley and Crusoe Gongbay both have over 350 years each and combine for 7 touchdowns. Jhurell has a 77 yard TD under his belt as well. Add Cole Gautsche and Teriyon Gipson and you have almost 500 more yards rushing and 3 more touchdowns.
San Diego will respond in kind with Donnel Pumphrey. We talked about him here when he set up the Azteks for a win over UNC. He has carried 99 times and racked up over 560 yards and 9 touchdowns. The team has only 13 touchdowns total this season and Donnel Pumphrey has 9 to his credit! This game will be won on the ground rushing.
Game Day
New Mexico is the host for this Friday night game. University Stadium located in the ABQ holds nearly 39,000 fans for this game played under the lights. ESPNU will broadcast this game with a kick off time of 9:30 ET. Follow along with other games from around the Sun Belt and Mountain West Conferences by following us on Twitter or liking us on Facebook.
