Lobo Pack Football: Boise State Preview

What:

New Mexico Lobos vs. Boise State Broncos

Where:

Albertsons Stadium in Boise, ID

When:

Saturday November 20^th, 2021, at 7:00 pm Mountain Time

Coverage:

The game will be broadcasted on Fox Sports 1 and on the radio side it will be the Lobo Sports Radio Network. If you are in Albuquerque, the Lobo Sports Radio Network can be found at 770 AM/96.3 FM KKOB.

Series:

Boise State leads the series 10-1. New Mexico’s only win came in 2015, a 31-24 decision in Boise. Last time these two played BSU won 42-9 in 2019.

Breakdown:

The New Mexico Lobos will pay the Boise State Broncos a visit on Saturday night looking to snap a two-game losing streak and looking for their second ever victory over the Broncos.

New Mexico lost last week to the Fresno State Bulldogs by a final of 34-7. That loss dropped them to 3-7 on the season and 1-5 in Mountain West Conference play. The loss also eliminated the Lobos from postseason contention.

Boise State comes into this one on a three-game winning streak. The Broncos defeated Wyoming last week by a final of 23-13. That win moved Boise State to 6-4 on the season and 4-2 in the MWC.

With a win the Broncos would keep their slim MWC Championship Game hopes alive. They will need some help in the final weeks of the season in order to make the game, though.

What the Lobos do on offense:

One thing is for sure after the last three games for UNM: there is no passing threat.

In the last four games the passing yards in each have been 16, 112, 36 and 34 yards. The game in which the Lobos threw for 112 yards, they won.

With that said, expect a lot of running from a team that played 18 true freshmen in last week’s game.

Aaron Dumas carried 23 times against Fresno State for 143 yards and a touchdown. He was named the Mountain West Conference Freshman of the Week. Expect him to get another big workload in this game.

What will Boise State do:

The Broncos have been mostly balanced the last three games during their winning streak. In last week’s game against Wyoming, the Broncos threw for 225 passing yards and had 160 yards on the ground.

The Lobos haven’t yielded 100 yards rushing on defense the last two weeks. So, one should expect the Broncos to pass a little more this week, especially early to try to put this game out of reach.

Hank Bachmeier is the Broncos quarterback. He’s only thrown four interceptions all season. He is the epitome of taking care of the ball.

Bachmeier will be looking for Khalil Shakir the most in the passing game. He had eight catches for 83 yards.

Final Thoughts and Prediction:

The Lobos have a lot of injuries and a lot of inexperience. That does not bode well going up against a team like Boise State.

Even though the Broncos aren’t in a typical year of dominance in the Mountain West, they can still get it done. Balance has been the name of their game lately and I fully expect the same in this contest.

The Lobos are getting much needed experience for their players right now, which will be huge one to two years down the road.

I expect the Broncos to win this win handily. I’ll take Broncos-38 Lobos-10.