Texas A&M Football: Schedule Preview – New Mexico

This the first article in a series previewing the 2023 football opponents for Texas A&M Football.

It’s only May, but Texas A&M football fans everywhere are anxiously awaiting kickoff against the New Mexico Lobos on September 3. As often happens in college football, the Aggies begin with a warm-up game against a weak nonconference opponent to start off the season. Now, that didn’t work out great for them last season—not that New Mexico is on the same level as App State, however. The Aggies should feel much more comfortable for a whole litany of reasons against the Lobos.

The 2022 season was even more inauspicious for the Lobos than it was for the Aggies. New Mexico finished with a whopping 2-10 record, notching wins over FCS Maine and a moribund UTEP program. They suffered losses to (inhales) Boise State, LSU, UNLV, Wyoming, New Mexico State (!!!), Fresno State, Utah State, Air Force, San Diego State, and Colorado State. The closest they got in any of these losses was 11 points in a 31-20 loss to Wyoming. Not to put too fine a point on it, but they are not a good team.

Texas A&M Football Matchup History vs. New Mexico

There’s not a whole lot of history to speak of between these two schools—only five matchups in total. Texas A&M football, as one might expect, has come out of each game victorious. The most notable matchup in recent history between these two schools was a narrow escape by the Aggies in Albuquerque in 2008 (the Aggies’ worst season in recent memory—yes, even including last year), where Texas A&M eked out a 28-22 victory. This was the only one of the five matchups hosted by the Lobos—clearly a testament to their fierce home field advantage.

The first meeting between Texas A&M football and New Mexico football was in 1926, where the Aggies, under Dana X. Bible, emerged with a 63-0 victory. This was the largest margin of victory in the series so far. Their next meeting didn’t happen for 82 years and was the aforementioned scare in Albuquerque. 2009 saw a return trip to College Station for the Lobos, who were vanquished by a 41-6 mark. In 2017, led by Kevin Sumlin in his final year, Texas A&M football beat New Mexico 55-14. In 2021, Zach Calzada dazzled us all with a long pass to Demond Demas against the Lobos in a hookup between players that, despite being on the team only one year ago, feel like they have been gone for forever. Maybe it’s because that 2022 season aged me so much. In any case, the Aggies won 34-0 despite UNM notching 3 sacks and 6 TFL, an amount that, at the time, felt obscene for Texas A&M to allow against a program of the Lobos’ caliber. In light of victories against Alabama in which future #3 overall draft picks registered not even a single QB hit that were yet to come, however, that memory was pretty much erased.

Texas A&M Football Matchups against New Mexico

It’s hard to look at these rosters and see a position group where the Aggies don’t  have the advantage in this game. For example, the Lobos averaged 4.92 yards per pass attempt and 3.4 yards per rushing attempt last season. Their yards per game total was only 228.1, with 3.9 yards per play. On the defensive side, they allowed 7.60 yards per pass attempt and 4.1 yards per rush, with a total yardage allowed per game of 360.2 (5.5 YPP). The fact that these marks that came largely against Mountain West competition makes them look even worse.

The Lobos forced 18 turnovers last year, tied for 69th in the country with a whole slew of teams. Surprisingly, they had a positive margin for the year, only turning it over 14 times themselves. This +4 margin was good for T-38th in the country. The Aggies, for comparison, were -1 on the year (forcing 16 and losing 17, including a whopping 11 lost fumbles). Taking care of the ball is always vital, and, while it didn’t translate to wins for the Lobos last year, if they take care of the ball and turn the Aggies over, they could make things uncomfortable.

One area where the Aggies could have the most outsized advantage is their defensive line against the Lobo offensive line. UNM is coming off a year where they ranked fifth-worst in the nation in sacks allowed, giving up 3.58 per game. We all expect the Texas A&M defensive line to take a huge step forward in 2023, and this first game would be a great place to show out and establish themselves.

Texas A&M Football vs New Mexico Prediction

This one is a pretty easy win prediction. The Aggies should not have trouble with New Mexico. The real question is whether the Aggies cover!

37.5 points? Sure, why not? Petrino shows off in his first game calling plays. Evan Stewart puts up 300 yards. Walter Nolen gets 5 sacks. I don’t know, it’s 100 days until the season. I can predict whatever I want.

Let’s go with Texas A&M Football winning 64-0 at least. Set a new record! Sorry Dana X. Bible!

Next week we’ll cover Miami.