Lobos Pack: Fresno State Game Preview and Prediction

What:

Fresno State Bulldogs vs. New Mexico Lobos

Where:

University Stadium in Albuquerque, NM

When:

Saturday, October 22^nd, 2022, at 4:30 p.m. Mountain Time

Coverage:

The game will be broadcasted on Fox Sports 2. On the radio waves it will be carried on the Lobo Sports Radio Network, 96.3 FM/770 AM in Albuquerque.

Series:

This will be 20^th meeting of the series. Fresno State owns a 14-5 edge in the series. Last season the Bulldogs rode a 300-yard passing day from Jake Haener to a 34-7 win.

Breakdown:

The New Mexico Lobos will be looking to break a four-game losing streak when they play host to the Fresno State Bulldogs on Saturday evening in Albuquerque.

The Lobos enter the Mountain West Conference tilt with a 2-5 record overall and 0-2 in the conference. Last week, the Lobos lost to in-state rival New Mexico State by a final score of 21-9.

Fresno State is 2-4 on the season and 1-1 in the MWC. Last week the Bulldogs pulled out a 17-10 squeaker over San Jose State. That win ended a four-game losing skid for Fresno State and was the team’s first win over an FBS program this season.

What to watch for:

The Lobos broke in a new offensive coordinator last week in Heath Ridenour. It did not prove too much better than before on the field. The Lobos posted just 269 yards of offense against NMSU, their third lowest total on the season.

The Lobos drove deep into NMSU territory on three occasions, but had to settle for field goals each time. And in today’s college football, field goals will not cut it.

It will be interesting to see what kind of offense the Lobos will throw out at the Bulldogs this weekend.

Jake Haener was lost for the season with an injury sustained against USC. Since then, Logan Fife has taken over and has slowly gotten better over the last several weeks, culminating in a 230-yard passing performance last week against San Jose State.

Expect Fife to have even more of the playbook at his disposal in this week’s game as he settles into the offense.

Crazy Stats:

It has been since 1989 that the Lobos have defeated Fresno State in Albuquerque. In 1989, the President was the late George H.W. Bush, in his first year in office; the average price of gas in Albuquerque was 0.65; the governor of the state was Garrey Carruthers; current UNM head coach Danny Gonzales was 13 years old.

Fresno State loves to see the UNM defense, apparently. In 12 of the last 13 games against the Lobos, Fresno State has scored 30 points, or more. In that 13^th game, the Bulldogs racked up 28 points. In fact, just twice in the 19 previous meetings have the Bulldogs scored less than 20 points in a game against New Mexico.

Final Thoughts and Prediction:

New Mexico is mired in a four-game skid, and during that time, I have picked them to win three of those contests. I feel as though I might be responsible for some bad-juju around the program. So, this week, I will go against what my gut tells me, and will go by my mind. The Lobos offense is still a huge question mark, even with a new coordinator. Fresno State has slowly gotten better week by week with Fife at the helm, which has opened up their running game once again with Jordan Mims.

I expect more of the same on both of those fronts, so I will choose the Bulldogs to win in Albuquerque, 24-17.