The New Mexico Lobos will be facing a full strength Arizona Wildcats who are getting back starting quarterback Anu Solomon and one of the best linebackers in the country in Scooby Wright. Solomon has been out with a concussion while Wright is recovering from a foot injury.
Solomon has played most of the year for the Wildcats and sat out 52-37 loss against Arizona State with his concussion. His numbers this year are not what they were last season when he threw for 3,793 yards and 28 touchdowns, and this year he has only thrown for 2,338 and 18 touchdowns.
Wright was the 2014 Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, Bronko Nagurski Trophy and Chuck Bednarik winner, but in 2015 he has played in just a pair of games. He missed part of their season-opener and then the next two games with a knee injury. He then came back against UCLA but then injured his foot and has been out ever since that Sept. 26 game.
This will pose big challenges for New Mexico and if Wright is unrestricted he could be a big key player to watch in this game to see how well he plays against the Lobos unique run-option attack. Wright is a great athlete but he hasn't played in nearly three months and there might some rust, but an athlete of his caliber has the ability to come back and ready to go.
As for the Lobos seeing Solomon under center, that could be an issue since New Mexico's pass defense which is giving up 237 yards per game and nearly two touchdown passes per game.
This matchup just got a lot harder for the Lobos who are in their first bowl game since 2007.