Utah Utes @ New Mexico Lobos Football Preview

When previewing a matchup between a team considered to be the 14th-best group of collegiate football players in the nation and (on the other hand) a team that has been outscored 124-17 in its two contests to date, one is left unable to evade using blunt language while making the assessment. So be it.

The Lobos just aren't that good. While both of their blowout losses have been delivered by the hands of quality teams, Oregon coaches were telling their second-stringers to go easy on the kids from the desert five minutes into the third quarter of the Ducks' 72-0 blowout of New Mexico.

To be fair, the Lobos lost two games by three points and one by five last year. Yet, one still finds it hard to imagine New Mexico making much of an improvement on last year’s 1-11 campaign, even while considering the fact that UNM plays last year’s lone victim - Colorado State - on October 30. The idea of New Mexico beating Utah this weekend is low on the list of possibilities to be considered in the world of college football. It's already clear that after enduring drubbings at the hands of both Oregon and then Texas Tech (the Red Raiders went into Albuquerque and won by a comfortable 52-17 margin), New Mexico is already playing itself more than opponents. The Lobos simply have to improve and raise their own standards; they really can't worry about any of the upper-tier teams who play them at this point.

These are two teams on opposite ends of the Division I-A (FBS) spectrum. Utah, having finished last season ranked 18th in both polls, has quickly risen to 14th after starting the season unranked. Following a thrilling overtime win over Pittsburgh on Sept. 2, quarterback Terrance Cain - Utah’s starter for much of last season - started in relief of Jordan Wynn last weekend, due to Wynn's injured thumb. Cain and the Utes blew past UNLV by 28 points, and without a challenging squad on the horizon for at least a month they don’t figure to look past this week’s game in Albuquerque. 

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Whoever starts at quarterback for Utah, no one is expecting the Utes' offense to have any difficulty moving the ball against a Lobo defense currently allowing 55 points per game (the team allows 62 points per game, but Oregon scored two touchdowns on kick returns, so the defense has given up an average of "only" 55 points). Assuming the Lobos don’t give up too many big plays Utah’s two-pronged rushing attack - Eddie Wide and Matt Asiata - should combine for over 35 carries. Look for either Cain or Wynn to pass only on third down or as a change of pace.

The Utah defense has come up big when it has counted in 2010. Freshmen Brian Blechen’s interception of Pitt quarterback Tino Sunseri on the first play of overtime is what enabled the Utes to pull that heavily-hyped game out of the fire. Expect Utah's defense to come up with many more high-impact plays against New Mexico.

Unlike the Pittsburgh game, just don't expect this particular contest to go down to the wire... or even the fourth quarter.

By: Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer