College Football is underway! After months of anticipation, the 2024 season is officially here as the No. 21 Arizona Football team takes on rival New Mexico to begin the year.
Returning to the gridiron after a successful 2023 campaign, the Wildcats enter the season with plenty of pre-season hype, and overall we should be in store for an exciting matchup!
Coming in, Arizona is considered the considerable favorite here, and the Wildcats should have several advantages at a lot of key positions. However, while Arizona is the favorite, this is still a game that the Wildcats cannot overlook.
Upsets do happen in College Football, so the Wildcats will need to focus and execute as a lot will be dependent on keeping Noah Fifita upright and getting this offense into a rhythm early. Should the Wildcats do that, this game shouldn't be all that close.
Getting to Know the details about Arizona Football’s opponent, the New Mexico Lobos.
Team: New Mexico Lobos
Conference: Mountain West Conference
Current Record: 0–1 (0–0)
Head Coach: Bronco Mendenhall enters his 1st season as head coach at New Mexico after taking over for previous head coach Danny Gonzales (now at Arizona).
Entering his 18th as a head coach, Mendenhall returns to the gridiron after previously making stints at BYU (2005-15) and Virginia (2016-21). Overall, Mendenhall is 135–82 as a head coach with 14 bowl appearances. So far, he is 0-1 as head coach with the Lobos.
2023 Record: Finishing the 2023 season with a 4–8 (2–6) record, the Lobos had a bit of a disappointing year as they with a 44-41 double-overtime loss against Utah State to finish the season.