If Air Power have been to fall in an upset Saturday, anticipate one acquainted identify to play a key half in it on the opposite facet.
Roderick John Lengthy Jr., higher generally known as Rocky Lengthy and now serving as New Mexico’s defensive coordinator, is accustomed to bringing disappointment to the Falcons.
The Lobos go to Falcon Stadium at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.
As head coach at New Mexico from 1998-2008, Lengthy went 5-6 (.454 successful share) in opposition to Air Power. In all different years, the Lobos are 9-19 (.321) within the sequence. New Mexico has performed in 13 bowl video games in its historical past, 5 of these got here beneath Lengthy.
Then Lengthy went to San Diego State, the place as the top coach he went 7-0 in opposition to coach Troy Calhoun’s Air Power groups.
“I additionally don’t know if there’s been a extra impactful particular person on this league,” Calhoun stated. “Not simply soccer, however past, too.”
Calhoun referenced this week’s reviews that San Diego State may quickly depart the Mountain West and be part of the Pac-12 when elaborating on Lengthy’s affect for the Aztecs.
“San Diego State as a college – a college – may need a possibility, they usually deserve it, actual, actual quickly to be in a league that positively alters the college,” Calhoun stated. “You return and also you look why, gollee, that was an enormous a part of it. Simply the extent of play and the expertise degree and the consistency and the assumption that was generated, and no one drove that greater than he did.”
Lengthy resigned from San Diego State after the 2020 season and joined the employees at New Mexico beneath his former participant, Danny Gonzales.
The Lobos (2-7, 0-5 Mountain West) are a large number on offense this season and made a change at offensive coordinator final month, however the protection has stored it in video games. The overall protection ranks thirty first nationally, giving up 343.9 yards per sport. They’ve given up the thirty seventh fewest passing yards (208.8 per sport), 53rd fewest dashing yards (135.1) and are No. 58 in scoring protection (25.1 factors per sport).
And this says nothing of the issue in making ready for them, as Lengthy regularly mixes up the appears he provides offenses.
“New Mexico’s protection is bizarre,” Air Power tight finish Caleb Rillos stated. “They run quite a lot of issues. Often with different groups we’ve performed this yr they run one or two fronts. New Mexico runs the whole lot, you by no means know what you’re going to get.”
Air Power is favored by 21.5 factors within the matchup and has defeated New Mexico 4 instances in a row, all by 20-plus factors. The Lobos haven’t gained at Falcon Stadium since 2000 (a crew coached by Lengthy with Gonzales as a graduate assistant).
However the Lobos, caught in a six-game shedding streak, have been inside two touchdowns late within the sport with 4 of their previous 5 opponents earlier than self-inflicted errors have torpedoed their possibilities.
“We’ve bought to have a turning level in our program that we discover a strategy to win a kind of video games and begin some momentum,” Gonzales stated.
Few have a greater understanding of the best way to make that occur in opposition to Air Power than Rocky Lengthy.
Winningest coaches
The all-time leaders in Mountain West wins (convention video games solely) amongst coaches within the league that opened play in 1999.
1. Rocky Lengthy, UNM/SDSU 86
2. Troy Calhoun, Air Power 69
3. Gary Patterson, TCU 48
4. Bryan Harsin, Boise State 45
5. Bronco Mendenhall, BYU 39
*Lengthy is now the defensive coordinator at New Mexico
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