New Mexico’s Offense Comes Alive In Win Over Tennessee Tech
Lobos get a dominant win, 56-10
Contact/Follow @MWCwire
Hopkins throws for 4 TDs, Croskey-Merritt “Bill” runs for 3 TDs as Lobos thumps Tennessee Tech ends skid.
Keys to the win:
Well, just a week after the Texas A&M Aggies defeated the UNM Lobos 52-10, the Lobos would get to dominate another team themselves.
The Lobos crushed FCS Tennessee Tech 56-10 to end a 10-game losing skid dating back to their win over UTEP 27-10 on Sept 17, 2022
Head Coach Danny Gonzales’s decision to bring in an established offensive coordinator in Bryant Vincent is starting to show in offensive output.
Overall, the Lobos totaled 587 yards in the game, with a near-even split of 291 passing and 296 rushing.
Running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt had a career day with a career-high 162 yards and a career-high three touchdowns.
Dylan Hopkins was just about as efficient as possible as the Lobos ended a 10-game losing streak in resounding style with a 56-10 win over Tennessee Tech in front of UNM’s best season-opening crowd in five years.
Dylan Hopkins has joined some of the great Lobo QBs in history with a 4 TD performance tonight (tied for 2nd all-time), including Jeremy Leach, Graham Leigh, Casey Kelly, and others.
For his performance, Hopkins was listed as the Moutain West Conference player of the week in his first outing at home as a Lobo.
Dylan Hopkin’s pass to Medford was one of several accurate throws by, who was 13-for-17 for 273 yards and four touchdowns.
Croskey-Merritt, who goes by “Bill,” had two big runs, racing in from 48 yards in the first quarter and then surpassing it with a 55-yard burst on UNM’s opening drive of the second half. In between, he punched in a 1-yard run after Caleb Medford pulled in a 49-yard pass to the 1-foot line despite being held on the play. Merritt had never scored three touchdowns in any game while at Alabama State.
Tennessee Tech drove the field’s length and tacked on a 37-yard field goal to make it 28-10 at the break. Tech opened the half with the ball, but UNM pitched a three-and-out, and after taking over at its 38-yard line, Croskey-Merritt put up his third touchdown of the game. That three-and-out was the beginning of a stellar half of defense in which UNM allowed just 76 yards of offense on 33 plays.
UNM made it 42-10 on the legs of local product Dorian Lewis, who rushed three times for 49 yards with an impressive 16-yard run per carry before Hopkins hit DJ Washington for 16 yards for Washington’s first Division I score. Hopkins then capped off his night with a 46-yard touchdown pass to Kaydin Pope.
Player of the Game:
While Quarterback Hopkins and running back Croskey-Merritt would get much-deserved accolades for the offensive output the Lobos had, over 587 total offense, one would have to give the entire offensive line coached by UAB transfer coach Cam Blankenship of the Lobos credit.
The offensive line included JC Davis, Teedo Stafford, CJ James, Ise Matautia, DJ Wingfield, and starting tight ends Connor Witthoft and Trace Bruckler.
The trifecta UAB transfers of Coach Bryant Vincent, Dylan Hopkins, and Cam Blankenship have been massive for the Lobo football.
It reminds me of the first year Rocky Long came back in the day (1998) and installed the 3-3-5 defense and its impact on the league. It is very similar, minus transfers, of course.
Next Up:
Danny Gonzales Lobos will head to a matchup in Albuquerque to play their instate rivals, the New Mexico State Aggies, for a wild west shootout if history is an indicator.
