Lobos raise curtain on 2022 season Saturday
Aug. 31—A quick check of the calendar shows November is still a ways off.
Between now and then, the University of New Mexico football team will have played eight games and firmly set the tone for how Year Three of the Danny Gonzales era will be remembered. The journey starts with Saturday's season opener, a home game against Maine in which UNM is a 10-point favorite.
Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. at University Stadium, the first of three straight home games.
Following Tuesday's practice, Gonzales was asked if this year's Lobos would be entertaining or exciting. He sidestepped it with the agility of a running back breaking a long one.
"I think they're going to be excited to play and I think they're going to be a team that the community can be proud of," he said. "They're going to play their tails off. They're going to play physical football the way it's supposed to be played."
The Lobos will throw the ball 25 to 35 times a game, he said. They'll play hard, hit even harder and continue to lay the foundation for what Gonzales sees as a bright future.
Getting the team to stay healthy and withstand the grind of a season that includes games against LSU, Boise State and Air Force has been a priority in the past few months. Players have spent countless hours in the weight room, Gonzales said.
"You see a Lobo player laying on the field, it's going to be because he's almost dead, not because he's hurt," he said. "I mean, if they can get off the field they're going to get off the field. They've proven that."
Aside from that, Gonzales is looking for momentum — from his team, from his marketing department and particularly from his fans. A crowd of about 20,000 is expected for Saturday's game. As of Tuesday, roughly 6,300 season tickets had been sold. A win over the Black Bears would serve as a jumping-off point for a Sept. 9 visit from Boise State on national television.
In preparation for both games, UNM has done a number of things to increase attendance. They've promoted a QR code on campus that students can scan with a smartphone and purchase tickets. They've moved the student section from the direct sunlight in the west grandstand to the space behind the north end zone.
They've also cut down the iconic cottonwood tree that long dominated the scene in the southeast corner of the stadium, a tree that became one of the most populated spots on game days when high temperatures and direct sunlight made life miserable in the cheap seats.
"There's not many stadiums in the country that have trees inside of them, so enjoy the beauty that we have," Gonzales said, pointing to a handful of pines that still stand in the southwest corner.
UNM has tried to make it easier for fans to tailgate on game days, adding tents to entertain kids before kickoff. It's done to drum up business for a program that averaged better than 35,000 fans when Gonzales was an assistant coach 15 years ago but more recently has seen most home dates struggle to reach half that.
"We're still in the process of giving people a reason to come," he said. "Now [if] we have success the first two weeks I will be highly, highly disappointed — and I will say it right now, people can crucify me — I will be highly disappointed in the city of Albuquerque if the game against UTEP [Sept. 17] isn't sold out. Very disappointed."
It all circled back to that question about how his team would be perceived when fans start filing in this weekend.
"You know what's exciting?" Gonzales said. "Winning's exciting, so ask that question again in November."
