Davie pumps life into Lobos

Making a bowl would have been unthinkable before the season.

But here is New Mexico, a team in position with a 4-5 record, a program that entered the season with one victory in each of the previous three years.

Here, too, are the Lobos with a first-year coach, Bob Davie, who left the cushy life as a college football analyst to take on one of the nation's more demanding reclamations projects.

Davie's job is far from finished, but he spent the offseason wondering if "by November, we would have enough players to even put a team on the field."

"When all the dust settles, all I want to be able to say this first year in the program is that we did improve, that we developed a foundation moving forward," Davie said this week. "We're in a position to do that."

New Mexico was a mess when Davie took over. Previous coach Mike Locksley was a disaster almost from the moment he walked in the door, the center of discord off the field and the overseer of poor play on it.

Locksley was fired four games into last season, and the Lobos then took a chance on a coach who spent 10 years in the broadcast booth.

Davie coached before at history-rich Notre Dame, arguably still the biggest name in the sport.

Hiring Davie, 58, was still a gamble, given his time away from the game. He insisted he learned so much from traveling the country watching games, and that apparently is true.

He took the New Mexico job with a firm plan to remake the offense from a spread option into one in the image of Air Force's triple option with plenty of UNR's zone read thrown into the mix.

"They've had a complete style change," UNLV coach Bobby Hauck said. "They've got people that can run this offense effectively, and they've got a more veteran team. They've grown those guys up.

"They've done a nice job of getting those guys going in the right direction."

The rebuilt offense has helped the Lobos claim the Mountain West Conference's second-best running game entering Saturday's 1 p.m. game against UNLV at Sam Boyd Stadium.

New Mexico averages 302.7 yards rushing, with Kasey Carrier second nationally with a 138-yard average. He set school and conference records with 338 yards Oct. 20 at Air Force.

The schedule also played a role in the Lobos' improvement. Their victories came against Southern, New Mexico State, Texas State and Hawaii.

But New Mexico also pushed Boise State before losing 32-29, and on Saturday took a 21-0 lead over Fresno State before losing 49-32.

The Lobos, however, are down to second-string quarterback Cole Gautsche, a freshman who also has been banged up. Carrier and wide receiver Lamaar Thomas might be called on to run the wildcat against UNLV.

Largely because of a hit from a three-year NCAA probation, the Lobos are thin with 75 scholarship players. They signed 68 players from 2009 to 2011, but eight never made it to campus and only 35 remain.

So knowing that reality is why Davie brushed off a question about possibly making a bowl this season.

"We know what we are," he said. "We know what it's going to take. I told our players when we were 4-3 after Hawaii that we will be the underdog in every game that's left on our schedule.

"We've won four. It'll be a tremendous challenge to win five."

That may be true, but it doesn't change the positive tone Davie has brought to what was a lifeless program.

"When we started the season, I really felt like if we could establish an identity, if we could be in a position to improve as the season went on, then I would consider that a success," Davie said. "There are still four weeks to play. We still have to continue to improve, but I do feel from the standpoint of identity, what our players understand our philosophy to be, our players buying into our philosophy, I've been really encouraged.

"It's exciting. I think we've established a pretty good plan and a pretty good identity that will give us a chance to build this program."

Contact reporter Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2914. Follow him on Twitter: @markanderson65.