New Mexico Football Preview, Best Players, Top Transfers, Season Prediction, Win Total 2024

New Mexico College Football Preview 2024

What else are you going to do if you’re still a relatively young, successful football coach?

Bronco Mendenhall took a few years off after doing a decent job at Virginia - 36-38 in six seasons, three bowl games, and good runs in each season after a 2-10 start - following a fantastic 11 years at BYU.

New Mexico will take some work, but it’s doable.

It seems like a very, very long time ago, but in the 2000s, Rocky Long came up with seven straight winning seasons. Bob Davie won 16 games and went to two bowls in 2015 and 2016, and ...

There’s been a lot of misery lately outside of that.

Since Long’s final year in 2008 until last season, New Mexico enjoyed just those two winning campaigns under Davie. It failed to win more than four games in all 14 of those other years and didn’t win more than two Mountain West games in any of those losing seasons.

There was hope, though, last year. The offense perked up, the team was far more competitive than it was in the past, and ...

Yeah, it’ll take a lot of work, especially on the lines. But Mendenhall and his staff might just turn this around fast.

New Mexico Football Preview 2024: Offense

- The offense worked. New Mexico scored 327 points last season, which might not seem like a ton in the modern day, but those were the most points scored since 2016 and things were a whole lot better after not getting to 200 in the previous two years.

Former BYU quarterback Jason Beck spent last year as the Syracuse offensive coordinator, and now he’ll try to keep the balance going with enough good skill players to be okay and …

- The entire offensive line is coming in from the transfer portal. All five starters are upperclassmen, a few of the key backups are coming through the portal, and it all has to come together fast.

Center Jawaun Singletary (Georgia) should be one of the best of the bunch early on, and the bulk on the inside - particularly 332-pound Wallace Unamba from Florida Atlantic - should be blast away early on.

Leading rusher Jacory Croskey-Merritt is gone after running for 1,190 yards and 17 scores, but Andrew Henry and Arizona State transfer Javen Jacobs should rip off yards and chunks. The ground game will also get plenty of help from …

- Devon Dampier is an X factor of a quarterback. He got in a little work last year as a backup in the mix and threw for 525 yards and six scores with no picks, and he finished third on the team in rushing. He’s perfect for this coaching staff.

Caleb Medford is back after leading the team with 551 receiving yards averaging over 18 yards per catch. The transfer portal and a slew of backups and untested parts will fill in the gaps with lots of speed.

New Mexico Football Preview 2024: Defense

- The offense might have been much better in 2023, but the defense took a big step back. There wasn’t any pass rush and the run defense was a problem. Worst of all, there weren’t any takeaways with just eight on the year.

Former Vanderbilt defensive coordinator Nick Howell was with Bronco Mendenhall at Virginia, and first things first …

- The pass rush. There were just 15 sacks on the season and few of the Lobos who generated any pressure are back. Like the offensive line, the defensive front is almost all from the transfer portal.

USC transfer De’jon Benton has to hold things down on the nose, and Devin Brandt-Epps (Old Dominion) and Okoko Olorunfunmi (Weber State) have to do everything possible to get behind the line.

Leading tackler Alec Moreno is gone from the linebacking corps - he’s at Kansas State now - but Dimitri Johnson is a good hitter on the outside and 234-pound Mihalis Santorineos should be a statistical star in the middle.

- The secondary did what it could without a lick of help from the pass rush. No push into the backfield, no interceptions - there were just four, and three came from new UTSA Roadrunner Jermarius Lewis at one safety spot.

Getting CB Noah Avinger from San Diego State will help, and the tackling combination of Christian Ellis and Dereck Moore are back after combining for 107 tackles at safety.

Key To The New Mexico Football Season

Yes, the pass rush has to be a really, really big deal for New Mexico to improve, but …

STOP WITH THE PENALTIES.

There might be plenty of things for the new coaching staff to worry about, but stopping with the mistakes would be a great start. New Mexico got hit with a whopping 119 flags last season for 1,076 yards.

They were penalized double-digit times in seven games with 15 in losses to both San Jose State and Utah State.

New Mexico Key Player

Devin Brandt-Epps, DE Sr.
Or ANYONE who can get into the backfield. The 6-3, 292-pounder is more of a tackle than a pass rushing end, but in the 3-4 he needs to at least apply enough pressure to matter. He made 84 tackles with three sacks and ten tackles for loss at Old Dominion over the last three seasons.

New Mexico Football Top Transfer, Biggest Transfer Loss

Top Transfer In: Noah Avinger, CB Jr.
The 6-1, 175-pounder missed all of last year, but in the first two seasons at San Diego State he made 51 tackles with two picks and five broken up passes. He should come in and instantly be New Mexico’s best corner - if everything goes according to plan.

Top Transfer Out: Jacory Croskey-Merritt, RB Sr.
One of the breakthrough stars in the Mountain West last season, he ripped off yards in big chunks. He finished with 1,190 yards and 17 scores, closing out with 209 yards against Fresno State and 233 yards against Utah State. Now he’s at Arizona.

New Mexico Key Game

Wyoming, Nov. 2
New Mexico lost the last two in the series, but won the two before that. This year, Wyoming is a home oasis in a run of three road games in four weeks. With a winnable game at San Diego State coming up next, there’s a chance to start November well with a win over the Cowboys.

10 Best New Mexico Football Players

1. Caleb Medford, WR Jr.
2. Devon Dampier, QB Soph.
3. De’jon Benton, DT Sr.
4. Andrew Henry, RB Sr.
5. Christian Ellis, S Soph.
6. Noah Avinger, CB Jr.
7. Jawaun Singletary, C Sr.
8. Devin Brandt-Epps, DE Sr.
9. Aaron Rodriguez, P Sr.
10. Dimitri Johnson, LB Sr.

New Mexico 2023 Fun Stats

- Time of Possession: New Mexico 32:32, Opponents 27:29

- Penalties: New Mexico 119 for 1,076 yards, Opponents 95 for 888 yards

- Total Offense: New Mexico 4,927 yards, Opponents 4,898 yards

New Mexico Football 2024 Win Total Prediction: What to Expect This Season

It’ll be a rocky start, but there are just enough winnable games to at least get to the four wins of last season. Improve on the mistakes, lessen the penalties, and generate more takeaways, and the opportunities will be there to …

Nah, this will be a little rough, but New Mexico will be fun.

There’s no Boise State or UNLV to face, and the Lobos miss Oregon State and get Washington State at home.

The early paycheck dates at Arizona and Auburn will be rough, and hosting Fresno State to open the Mountain West won’t be easy, but going to New Mexico State is gettable and dates against San Diego State and Hawaii on the road will be possible.

But where will New Mexico be favored? It probably won’t be all season after starting at home against Montana State.

Set The New Mexico Win Total At … 3.5

Likely Wins: Montana State

50/50 Games: Air Force, at Colorado State, Fresno State, at Hawaii, at New Mexico State, at San Diego State, at Utah State, Washington State, Wyoming

Likely Losses: at Arizona, at Auburn

2024 New Mexico Football Schedule

Aug 24 Montana State
Aug 31 at Arizona
Sept 7 OPEN DATE
Sept 14 at Auburn
Sept 21 Fresno State
Sept 28 at New Mexico State
Oct 5 OPEN DATE
Oct 12 Air Force
Oct 19 at Utah State
Oct 26 at Colorado State
Nov 2 Wyoming
Nov 9 at San Diego State
Nov 16 Washington State
Nov 23 OPEN DATE
Nov 30 at Hawaii
Missing: Boise State, Nevada, San Jose State, UNLV, (Oregon State)