UNM football: UNM is headed to Las Vegas. Everything you need to know about New Mexico-UNLV

Who: New Mexico (5-3, 2-2) vs. UNLV (6-1, 2-1)

When and where: 1 p.m. Saturday at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

How to watch/listen: Altitude, a Colorado-based regional sports network, will carry UNM-UNLV with Matt Neverett (play-by-play) and Caleb Herring (analyst) on the call. For those who don’t have Altitude, themw.com will stream the same broadcast online.

Robert Portnoy (play-by-play) and DonTrell Moore (analyst) will also broadcast UNM-UNLV via radio on the Lobo Radio Network (770 AM/96.3 FM).

Who’s favored: UNLV is a 4-point favorite over UNM, per DraftKings. The over/under is set at 61.5 points.

Top storyline(s): A bowl bid is on the line for the Lobos come Saturday. Taking care of that would make this season a true success — at least to Jason Eck.

“We were 5-7 last year. You don’t wanna come into a job and have the same record and be worse than they were the year before,” UNM’s first-year head coach said in a news conference Tuesday. “You gotta show improvement. I talked about going to a bowl (and) to me, this was a failure of a season if we didn’t go to a bowl game.”

Whether they lock up a bowl bid Saturday or in the coming weeks, the Lobos are definitely improved from last year. But after dropping games at Boise State and San Jose State, it remains a question: Can UNM not just hang with, but beat some of the best teams in the conference?

Saturday will provide an answer, whether it’s positive for UNM or not.

“We kind of learned our last two times on the road, playing against the teams who were picked first and third (in the Mountain West), we weren’t good enough,” Eck said. “So we gotta find out if we’ve gotten better and how much we’ve improved. Because now we’re gonna go play the team that’s second place in the conference, and was picked second.”

UNLV also enters Saturday with the top scoring offense (37.4 points per game) in the league, posting a season-high 51 points against Air Force on Oct. 11. But the Rebels have paired it with the conference’s second-worst scoring defense (33.4 points per game), giving up a season-high 56 points against Boise State on Oct. 18. Could the Lobos be in for a shootout?

“Their worst scoring output of the year is (31) points,” Eck said. “So I think it’s tough to say, ‘alright, we’re gonna try to win this game 14-10,’ you know. We gotta make sure we’re scoring on offense and we certainly can’t be far behind in the turnover margin.”

Rebels to watch: Quarterback Anthony Colandrea has been excellent for the Rebels this season, completing 127 of 190 passes for 1,618 yards, 12 touchdowns and four interceptions. With 410 yards and four touchdowns, the 6-foot, 201-pound Virginia transfer also represents the second straight dual-threat quarterback UNM will face, albeit with a slightly different skill set.

“He’s really fast, faster than (Utah State quarterback Bryson Barnes) … if you’re gonna spy Colandrea for him scrambling, it better not be a defensive lineman,” Eck said. “Because I don’t think a defensive lineman can catch him. He’s really, really fast.”

Preseason All-Mountain West running back Jai’Den Thomas has also been just as good as advertised, rushing for 615 yards and seven touchdowns on a team that’s averaging 208.43 yards on the ground. “Thomas may be the best back we’ve played all year,” Eck added.

And while UNLV’s defense has been much-maligned as a unit, the Rebels still brought in plenty of talent from Power Four and fellow Group of Six programs. Keep an eye out for South Florida transfer safety Aamaris Brown (31 total tackles, four interceptions) come Saturday.

Lobos to watch: In wins over Nevada and Utah State, UNM has allowed 98.5 rushing yards per game. If the Lobos are to keep that trend against a UNLV team that’s been exceptional on the ground, they’ll need strong performances from defensive linemen like Brian Booker, Jalen McIver, Gabe Lopez and Okiki Olorunfunmi.

The Rebels have also allowed the most explosive rushing plays (20) of any Mountain West team this season. That bodes well for running back Damon Bankston; the Weber State transfer has accounted for four explosives on the ground this season.

What happened the last time these teams played: Wide receiver Ricky White scored on the Rebels’ first offensive play, quarterback Jayden Maiava threw for 247 yards and UNLV rang up five first half touchdowns on its way to a 56-14 win over UNM on Nov. 4, 2023.

That loss marked the third-straight for UNM against UNLV; quarterback Sheriron Jones threw four touchdowns as the Lobos beat the Rebels 50-14 on Oct. 6, 2018, the last win for UNM in the series.