The Arizona Wildcats travel to Branch Field to face the New Mexico Lobos Saturday in the New Mexico Bowl. The Wildcats struggled this season, only managing a 6-6 record, and head coach Rich Rodriguez will look for his team to bounce back after ending the season with a loss to in-state rival Arizona State. New Mexico ended their season strong, winning three of their last four games, and head coach Bob Davie will look for his program to get a signature win over a Pac-12 team on Saturday.
The Lobos are playing on their home field in their bowl game matchup, and quarterback Lamar Jordan will look to lead his team to a victory over the Wildcats on Saturday. Davie has played two quarterbacks this season, and both Jordan and Austin Apodaca have struggled to move the ball in the air. Jordan has thrown for 935 yards, but he has only thrown four touchdowns to six interceptions. Jordan is a dual threat at quarterback though, as he is the team's third leading rusher with 672 rushing yards and six touchdowns.
The Lobos run a heavy ground game, and senior running back Jhurell Pressley leads the team with 846 yards and 11 touchdowns. Pressley is coming off his strongest performance of the year over Air Force, in which he rushed for 170 yards on just 17 carries and scored three touchdowns. Pressley is the lead back for the Lobos, but junior running back Teriyon Gipson is likely to get plenty of touches as well Saturday as he can change the tempo out of New Mexico's backfield. Gipson has rushed for 766 yards and scored six touchdowns for the Lobos this season.
While Davie will look to establish the Lobos' dominating ground game, Arizona star linebacker Scooby Wright is expected to make his return to the field after dealing with multiple injuries this season. Wright is expected to enter the 2016 NFL Draft, but the junior linebacker has only played in two games this year. In 2014, Wright was considered one of the best linebackers in college football, as he recorded 164 total tackles with 31 tackles for a loss. NFL evaluators will watch Wright closely on Saturday, as NFL teams will want to see if the talented linebacker can return to his old form.
The Wildcats offense is lead by sophomore quarterback Anu Solomon, who has been cleared to play after passing the concussion protocol. Solomon missed the regular season-finale against the Sun Devils, and the Wildcats quarterback is eager to end the 2015 season with a win. Solomon has thrown for 2,338 yards with 18 touchdowns to four interceptions this year, and he can tear defenses apart with his arm. The Wildcats sophomore quarterback can also take off on his feet and has rushed for 186 yards with two rushing touchdowns.
Solomon will look to target star wide receiver Cayleb Jones Saturday afternoon, as the junior wide out leads the team in receptions and receiving yards. Jones has caught 51 passes for 722 yards and has scored four touchdowns. The 6-foot-3, 215 pound receiver is difficult for any defense to cover, and the Lobos secondary will have their hands full with him on Saturday.
The New Mexico Bowl looks to be an interesting matchup between two offenses that can score points quickly. The game starts at 2 p.m. Eastern time, and you can watch the live broadcast here. To listen to the Wildcats' radio broadcast, click here, and for the Lobos' radio broadcast, go here.
