Arizona should be able to continue the trend of New Mexico allowing big running plays in the season opener on Saturday. Montana State shredded New Mexico for nine runs over 10 yards, three over 20 yards, two over 30 yards and a late 93-yard touchdown run that helped Montana State earn a late comeback win.
Montana State had eight runs of 15 yards or more on Saturday. The Bobcats ran 47 times for 362 yards and three touchdowns. Adam Jones carried the ball 17 times for 167 yards, including a 93-yard touchdown run. Scottre Humphrey had 19 carries for 140 yards and a touchdown. Quarterback Tommy Mellott rushed nine times for 30 yards and also scored a touchdown.
Humphrey had four carries for 15 yards or more. Jones’ only carry for over 15 yards was the 93-yard TD, but that was critical in the Montana State comeback. Even without the 93-yard run, Jones’ other 16 carries were for 74 yards, a 4.625 yards per carry average. Mellott had two runs of 15 or more yards.
Even third-team Montana State running back Ty McCullough contributed a 19-yard run and finished with two carries for 25 yards. The big plays on the ground by Montana State continued a trend of New Mexico allowing big running plays during the 2023 season. New Mexico was 80th nationally in 2023 allowing 64 runs of 10 or more yards.
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montana state just came back from a 17-0 deficit, ran for (362) yards w/ a (7.7) yards per rush average, & beat fbs new mexico. 567 total yards & 6-12 on 3rd down. what a win, man.
fcs football is special. this is what it’s all about.
That is over five runs per game of 10 or more yards. New Mexico finished 72nd in 2023 with 16 runs of 20 or more yards. Arizona running backs Jacorey Croskey-Merritt and Quali Conley should be able to exploit New Mexico. Croskey-Merritt was 14th nationally in 2023 with 39 runs or 10 or more yards and 15th with 12 runs or 20 or more yards.
As the second-team running back at San Jose State in 2023, Conley had 24 runs of 10 or more yards, eight of 20 or more and five or 30 or more. Croskey-Merritt played for New Mexico in 2023. New Mexico has a new coaching staff led by former BYU and Virginia head coach Bronco Mendenhall.
New Mexico defensive coordinator Tony Reflett was at Vanderbilt the last two seasons after previously coaching under Mendenhall at BYU and Virginia. Vanderbilt was about as porous as New Mexico allowing big runs in 2023. The Commodores allowed 61 runs of 10 or more yards and were 113th allowing 23 runs of 20 or more yards.
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Arizona head coach Brent Brennan and running backs coach Alonzo Carter mentored one of the most explosive rushing offenses nationally in 2023. San Jose State was 16th with 84 runs of 10 or more yards and had 29 runs of 20 or more, 14 of 30 or more, eight of 40 or more and four of 50 or more.
dark. Next. New Mexico’s week 1 performance means Arizona should run wild. New Mexico’s week 1 performance means Arizona should run wild
Based on how the New Mexico defense played versus Montana State on Saturday and how they performed in 2023, Arizona should have a big day on the ground in any measure. New Mexico cannot load the box versus Arizona because of the presence of quarterback Noah Fifita and wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan.
With nearly 20 percent of the conference’s men’s basketball games in the books, the top teams in the Mountain West have already separated themselves.
New Mexico (12-3, 4-0), Utah State (12-3, 4-0) and UNLV (9-5, 3-0) are all undefeated in conference play. Boise State (11-4, 3-1), Colorado State (8-6, 2-1) and San Diego State (9-3, 2-1) have just one MWC loss.
The Broncos, who were picked to win the MWC in the preseason coaches poll, dropped their first home game of the season Saturday afternoon to San Diego State, 76-68. Boise State had won five straight game overall entering the showdown with the Aztecs.
After beginning conference play with victories over three of the MWC’s weakest teams in Air Force (3-11, 0-3), San Jose State (7-9, 0-4) and Wyoming (9-6, 2-2), the Broncos are now in a tough portion of their schedule.
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Boise State hosts UNLV at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday night before traveling to Utah State on Saturday. The Broncos then return home to face Wyoming as a tuneup for road matchups with New Mexico and Colorado State.
“We won’t look that far ahead,” Broncos head coach Leon Rice said after the San Diego State loss. “I always tell our guys that our issues are our issues until we solve them. This time of the year, you’re still solving issues and figuring stuff out. And new ones can pop up.”
Utah State has been the story of the MWC this season.
Picked to finish sixth in the preseason coaches poll under first-year head coach Jared Calhoun, the Aggies have been perfect outside of a mid-December home loss to Big West leader UC San Diego (13-2). Utah State’s biggest margin of victory in MWC play was Saturday’s 89-83 win over Fresno State (4-11, 0-4), a game in which the Aggies trailed by 17 points in the first half.
Friday night, Junior Joseph hit an overtime buzzer-beater against Nevada (8-7, 0-4) to keep New Mexico’s perfect MWC record intact. The Lobos boast an early-season win over UCLA but sit way down at No. 70 in the NET Rankings, trailing Utah State (No. 29), San Diego State (35), Boise State (57) and Nevada (64) among MWC teams.
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San Diego State and Utah State were the only MWC representatives in the latest NCAA Tournament projection by ESPN’s Joe Lunardi.
While sitting at 3-0 in conference play, UNLV has yet to face a team with a MWC victory. The Rebels own wins over Air Force, Fresno State and San Jose State.
The Aztecs bounced back from a Dec. 28 home loss to Utah State — also on a buzzer-beater — with a big road victory at Boise State. San Diego State is the top MWC team in KenPom at No. 34, followed by Utah State (No. 48), Nevada (58), Boise State (60) and New Mexico (65).
“They are a great defensive team. Not a good defensive team, a great one,” Rice said of the Aztecs, who check in at No. 13 in KenPom’s defensive rating. “I think they’re protecting the paint maybe better than — I mean they always do a good job of it — but this team has really stepped it up there.”
PORTLAES, New Mexico (KFDA) – Eastern New Mexico basketball each fall to the Lubbock Christian Chaps by six on Friday.
On the Women’s side, the Greyhounds lost to the #20 Lady Chaps by a score of 59-53.
After the first 10 minutes of play, the Lady Chaps held an early 14-8 lead.
They followed that up with 14 more points in the second quarter, while they Greyhounds scored 13 of their own, going into halftime with a 28-21 lead.
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After the break, the Greyhounds got to work on both sides of the ball, forcing several turnovers and converting down low, taking the lead after the third and heading into the final frame up 40-38.
The Lady Chaps saved their best basketball for last, scoring the most by any team in all four quarters (21) and stealing the win on the road.
Ishauna Hunter finished with a game-high 20 points to go along with six rebounds and three steals.
Julieta Ceja played a key piece in the rotation, finishing with an 11 point, 12 rebound double-double in her 26 total minutes.
The Greyhounds are now 10-2 on the year, 5-1 in the Lone Star Conference, and will complete their homestand tomorrow against the Midwestern State Mustangs.
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Eastern New Mexico vs. Lubbock Christian WBB(KFDA)
On the Men’s side, they got off to a hot start but ultimately found themselves behind at the end with a final score of 77-71.
Treyvon Byrd was the star of the first half for the Greyhounds, scoring the first nine points by himself.
After the first 20 minutes of play, both teams were knotted at 32.
Chaps’ Ethan Duncan came to life in the second half, and helped lead Lubbock Christian to 45 points in the last 20 minutes, while the defense allowed 39.
Eastern New Mexico vs. Lubbock Christian MBB(KFDA)
Byrd finished with a team-high 24 points, 6 rebounds and four assists.
Jaden Clarke got going as well, shooting 7-14 from the field to finish with 19 points, with four rebounds and one steal.
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A double-double from Jose Murillo (14 pts, 10 reb) kept the Greyhounds going as well.
They too are back in action tomorrow afternoon against the Midwestern State Mustangs.
LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) — Christian Cook had 19 points in New Mexico State’s 78-48 win against Louisiana Tech on Saturday night.
Cook shot 7 for 11, including 5 for 6 from beyond the arc for the Aggies (9-6, 2-0 Conference USA). Robert Carpenter scored 16 points and added six rebounds. Peter Filipovity shot 5 of 9 from the field and 5 of 6 from the free-throw line to finish with 15 points, while adding eight rebounds.
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The Bulldogs (11-4, 0-2) were led by Sean Elkinton, who posted 12 points. Amaree Abram added 10 points for Louisiana Tech.
New Mexico State took the lead with 13:31 left in the first half and did not relinquish it. Carpenter led his team in scoring with 14 points in the first half to help put them up 44-19 at the break. New Mexico State pulled away with an 8-0 run in the second half to extend a 24-point lead to 32 points.
New Mexico State’s next game is Saturday against UTEP on the road, and Louisiana Tech hosts Florida International on Thursday.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
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