Arizona @ New Mexico preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 13, 2008 ) Arizona 28, New Mexico 36

GILDAN NEW MEXICO BOWL STORYLINES

1. Many figured the Gildan New Mexico Bowl would represent the final appearance at Arizona for coach Rich Rodriguez, but he eliminated that distraction by announcing he'll be with the Wildcats beyond the Dec. 19 matchup against New Mexico in Albuquerque. Rodriguez reportedly turned down an offer to coach at South Carolina in the days after the Wildcats lost their regular-season finale to in-state rival Arizona State. The loss was the fourth in the final five games for Arizona, which posted its only victory - and only quality win of the season - in that span against then-No. 10 Utah.

2. The Wildcats were picked to finish fourth in the six-team South Division of the Pac-12 and placed fifth, a result that can be blamed on injuries to key personnel, as well as instability at the quarterback position. Anu Solomon gained a lot of experience and produced decent numbers while starting all 14 games as a freshman last season but never was the same after taking a hard hit in the fourth game this campaign against UCLA. He missed the following contest versus Stanford and threw seven touchdown passes and four interceptions in his next six appearances before sitting out the game against Arizona State with another concussion.

3. New Mexico can thank running back Jhurell Pressley for securing its first winning season since 2007, and he figures to get a heavy workload against an Arizona defense that ranked in the bottom half of the Pac-12 against the run this season. Pressley rushed for a career-high 170 yards and scored three touchdowns in a 47-35 victory over Air Force in the regular-season finale on Nov. 28, representing approximately 20 percent of his season total. Pressley posted two other 100-yard rushing efforts this year, quarterback Lamar Jordan had two and backup running back Teriyon Gipson registered one, with all three having touchdown runs of at least 70 yards.

TV: 2 p.m. ET, ESPN. LINE: Arizona -10

ABOUT ARIZONA (6-6, 3-6 Pac-12): Nick Wilson has been dealing with his own injury woes as last season's leading rusher sat out three of the final six games with knee and foot injuries while amassing a total of 42 rushing yards in the other three. The four-week layoff between the Arizona State game and the New Mexico Bowl hopefully will get Wilson running like his old self, the one who rushed for at least 100 yards in 10 of his first 17 games with the Wildcats. Another player who's expected to return for the bowl game is middle linebacker - and last season's Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year - Scooby Wright III, who missed 10 of the 12 regular-season contests with knee and foot injuries but has been practicing in full.

ABOUT NEW MEXICO (7-5, 5-3 Mountain West): The Lobos, who finished second behind Air Force in the Mountain Division of the Mountain West Conference, have two common opponents with Arizona as they lost to Arizona State 34-10 on Sept. 18 and dropped a 35-17 decision on Oct. 10 to Nevada - a team the Wildcats beat 44-20 a month earlier. Jordan is not much of a threat through the air, as he's thrown less than 10 passes in each of his last four games, but can do damage with his legs, rushing for a touchdown in each of the last three contests. He has a favorite target in Dameon Gamblin, though the receiver has gone mostly unused over the second half of the season - making nine of his team-high 33 catches in the last six games.



PREDICTION: Arizona 38, New Mexico 27