Saturday storylines: Senior Night looms for these 19 Lobos

For New Mexico football, it’s year one of a rebuild — or maybe just build — well underway. The early returns bear that out.

For a handful of seniors, it’s one last year; the end of a run with the Lobos, whether it was one season or five.

“It’s definitely gonna hit me,” punter Aaron Rodriguez said on Wednesday.

As part of its home finale against No. 19 Washington State, UNM will honor 19 seniors on Saturday:

• Defensive linemen Bryce Santana, Devin Brandt-Epps, Kyler Drake, Garrison Walker, Antoineo Harris Jr. and Ja’Shon Lowery;
• Offensive linemen Baraka Beckett, Tavien Ford and Jacob Wood;
• Tight ends Isaiah Sillemon, Jackson Epes and Vincent Santos;
• Linebackers Dimitri Johnson and Leonardo Gallegos;
• Cornerbacks Noa Pola-Gates and Cam Watts;
• Quarterback Justin Holaday;
• Running back Jaylen Morgan;
• and Rodriguez, the punter.

Some will have the option to return, a byproduct of COVID and redshirt years. Others — such as Beckett, Rodriguez and Santana — won’t as their eligibility is on the brink of being exhausted.

For those who can’t return, how do they treat those disconnected realities — the start vs. the end?

“Some people would use the word rebuild,” said Beckett, a Campbell transfer starting at left guard for the Lobos. “I wouldn’t. In this day and age of college football, you could get a bunch of transfers in — you got a lot of transfers that come in on their final year of eligibility.

“So with guys like that, you can’t really call it a full rebuild like it was in the past. I’ve always had a lot of faith in this team and our ability to win now. You can just look around: We have the guys, we have the quarterback and, I mean, (when) you got a quarterback, you can win any game.”

Few have had to balance more this season than Rodriguez, enrolled in his first level with UNM College of Nursing. Even with that workload, he said he was proud to be part of the beginning of something new, and believes the future is bright for the program.

“For us to lay the groundwork, what kind of culture this program is gonna have going forward, that we can be a part of that,” he said, “(it’s) great. I realized very early like, ‘man, I’m really happy to have gotten to be a part of this (for) one year.’ I wish I could have had more (time) with this staff, but just have to soak it in as much as possible.”

As for Santana? The Los Lunas native said it’s not so much a rebuild as it is a “transition.”

“I like to think of it like (it’s) me and all the other seniors setting the standard for the next classes to come,” he said, “and I think we’re doing a pretty good job doing that right now, to be honest. We showed what it’s like to work hard and really, we’re playing our hearts out every week.”

And for one more night at University Stadium, they have that opportunity.

Ranked and riled

Entering Saturday, UNM is 4-26 all-time against ranked opponents at home. You’d have to go back 30 years to find the last time the Lobos did get a win in that situation — UNM pulled out a 23-21 shocker against No. 8 Utah on Nov. 5, 1994, one of the more memorable days inside the confines of University Stadium.

Overall, the Lobos are 6-61 against ranked opponents. For a program — and a head coach — that often eschews anything but the game itself, players said they’re embracing the opportunity to go up against a ranked foe on their home turf.

“(Bronco Mendenhall) has issued to us that, you know, it’s the real deal … There’s no other better opportunity than to play a ranked team, play a good team,” quarterback Devon Dampier said Tuesday. “Competition is what I (play) for, so just having that opportunity to play and allow our team to move on going forward is all I can ask for.”

Bowl or bust?

Washington State head coach Jake Dickert didn’t shy away from what he saw when he started watching UNM.

“You can tell they’re hungry,” Dickert said. “You can tell the way they play. They’re playing hard, right? That was (the) difference (between) maybe some of the other teams that we’ve played in those type of positions.

“I mean, these guys, they want to do something. Going to a bowl game after not being very successful the last (few) years is a huge step in what they’re trying to build down there. And obviously us coming in as a ranked football team, we’re going to get their best, and our best will be required.”

Hungry indeed. With last week’s 21-16 win over San Diego State, UNM is 4-6 and still playing for the postseason with two games to go. ESPN Football Power Index gives the Lobos a 5.1% chance to win out — slim odds, but odds nonetheless.

“We gotta go out and give it everything we got so we can make it three more,” safety Christian Ellis said Tuesday. It’s just about not getting too … Just go out there and, you know, embrace the moment. Like, good players, we step up to the plate when it comes down to crunch time like this when you got something to lose.

“That just adds to the fight.”