Saturday Storylines: Arizona-New Mexico reunion, a look at the Lobos, new in-game tech, more

Five storylines for No. 21 Arizona's season-opening matchup with New Mexico at Arizona Stadium on Saturday. 

When Arizona and New Mexico meet in Tucson on Saturday, it'll be a reunion of sorts for several parties.

Three former Lobos from last year's squad will square off against New Mexico: running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt, offensive lineman Shancco Matautia and UA linebackers coach and special teams coordinator Danny Gonzales, who was the head coach at UNM for four seasons before his tenure in Albuquerque ended after last season. New Mexico's new coach is Bronco Mendenhall, formerly of Virginia and BYU. While he was in Provo, Utah, Mendenhall's BYU teams faced Arizona three straight years from 2006-08.

Following a four-year career at Alabama State, Croskey-Merritt transferred to New Mexico, where he posted 1,190 yards and 17 rushing touchdowns — the latter number ranked fifth in FBS. Croskey-Merritt transferred to Arizona in the summer. Croskey-Merritt joined Ole Miss transfer Kedrick Reescano and San Jose State transfer Quali Conley as newbies to bolster the UA running backs room. Croskey-Merritt is a projected starter for Saturday night. 

"That kid is so special," Fifita said. "He's an All-American for a reason.

"We understand this is a personal game for him, but at the end of the day, we've been telling him all week that we have his back and to not make it more than it is. It's just another football game. We're looking forward to being on the same team as him and let him do his thing." 

Arizona head coach Brent Brennan's message to Croskey-Merritt: “‘Don’t let it be about you. Let it be about this team, and that’s really what it’s about anyway.’"

Brennan added: "Jacory is in a good headspace and he’s excited to play."

Arizona defensive coordinator Duane Akina said Gonzales "has a great reputation as a football coach in the coaching community" and is "a great addition" to Brennan's staff. 

"Somebody I can bounce some ideas off of with the front," Akina said of Gonzales. "We're very similar in being aggressive defensively." 

For New Mexico, Tucson native and former Canyon del Oro offensive lineman Sa'Kylee Woodard will reunite with former Dorado and UA walk-on running back Kayden Luke less than a year after the two led CDO to an undefeated record and Class 4A state championship. 

One of New Mexico's starting defensive backs, Noah Avinger, was a standout at Servite High School in Anaheim, California, where he was teammates with Fifita, UA wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan, linebacker Jacob Manu, tight end Keyan Burnett and Matautia. The six Servite alumni will share the field at Arizona Stadium.

"These are guys we grew up with and went through a lot of adversity with growing up," Fifita said. "It's special to see a lot of people live out their dreams." 

Avinger led the Lobos last week with 14 tackles and a fumble return for a touchdown. 

"He's a special player, and you saw what he can do last week," Fifita said. "He's not scared to hit." 

Avinger, a former San Diego State Aztec, was one of 29 transfer portal additions for the Lobos this last recruiting cycle. The Wildcats added 32 transfers from other FBS, FCS and junior college programs, including eight defensive linemen. Arizona will have an entirely new defensive line, while New Mexico's projected starting offensive line is an all-transfer lineup.  

"I know they'll have that team ready to go," said Arizona offensive coordinator Dino Babers. "I know they're doing everything they can possibly do to put their best foot forward. Those guys are good coaches, those players are good, tough players and we're excited and looking forward to our contest coming up here on Saturday." 

Lobos insider dishes on UNM

Leading up to No. 21 Arizona's season opener against New Mexico, Lobos beat writer Sean Reider of the Albuquerque Journal joined ESPN Tucson's "Spears and Ali" to provide insight on UNM football. 

Here are some questions from that interview:

New Mexico quarterback Devon Dampier, a former Scottsdale Saguaro High School standout, played his first game as the full-time starter on Saturday, completing 18 of 26 passes for 172 yards and a touchdown while rushing for 34 yards and a touchdown. How do you think he looked?

A: "Last year, Devon was a true dual-threat, but he only ran it three times on Saturday. He scrambled when he needed to do, but there weren't a whole lot of designed runs besides the naked bootleg. It was a wayward day passing for him. He sailed a couple of throws, but he's a guy who throws it hard, he's very athletic, very quick. He's a good package, but still developing clearly. He took some strides from the experience he got last year." 

Who are Croskey-Merritt's replacements?

A: "The main guy at this point is Iowa State transfer Eli Sanders. He was Iowa State's second-leading rusher last year. He had 87 yards on Saturday and he looked good. It became apparent during fall camp that there was going to be a little bit of a lean towards Sanders. ... He was quite good honestly. There were some good chunk runs, where if he shook a tackle, it would've been a touchdown." 

What does New Mexico have to do be competitive against Arizona?

A: "I don't know if I totally know for sure. The last time New Mexico played a (Power 4) team was Texas A&M last year and they actually gave Texas A&M a good run for about one drive. They ran the ball on them OK for the rest of the day, but they were no match for them defensively. I'm really curious to see how they match up with Arizona's offense in terms of physicality and talent standpoint. Bronco Mendenhall, at BYU, had better talent than what he has right now. But at the same time, he went to Nebraska to win. I believe they beat Texas as well. They played up in a sense, and I'm curious to see if anything can happen. The opening spread right now is 31 points and I think that's fair right now." 

How do you reflect on Gonzales' time at New Mexico?

A: "It's hard to talk about the end without talking about the beginning. He took over a roster that was devoid of talent. There were some OK players, but he didn't inherit — for comparison, Brent Brennan inherited a pretty good roster (at Arizona) and added to it. Not only the roster, but then COVID hit, and they had to play all of their games in Las Vegas.

"The lasting legacy of Danny was he was able to field pretty good defenses and that was his calling card. He was able to field pretty good defenses throughout his tenure, but last year was his worst."

Will New Mexico have to rely on the transfer portal every year to stay competitive?

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A: "They still want to have the developmental approach that he had at Virginia and BYU. I still think that's possible to a certain degree. This year's interesting because their entire offensive line is all transfers. They redid the running backs room, they redid the back end of the quarterback room and redid the secondary through the transfer portal. I wouldn't say the transfer portal is counterintuitive to the developmental approach, but it definitely makes that approach a little harder." 

McAlister 'was just different'

Arizona currently has a T-Mac. In the late 1990s, the Wildcats' star player was "Chris Mac," or Chris McAlister, who will be the honorary captain on Saturday.

In three seasons at Arizona from 1996-98, McAlister carved out one of the best defensive careers in UA history. McAlister, a UA Sports Hall of Famer, was a three-time All-Pac-10 selection and All-American in ’98. The cornerback from Los Angeles helped Arizona to a Holiday Bowl to end the Wildcats' 12-1 season in 1998, the best season in program history.

McAlister's 18 career interceptions at Arizona ranks third in program history behind Chuck Cecil (21) and Jackie Wallace (20). 

When Brennan was a graduate assistant at Hawaii in 1998, his introduction to McAlister was when Arizona beat the Rainbow Warriors, and McAlister "housed the opening kickoff 104 yards," Brennan said with a laugh. 

"I just remember watching him run down the field. He was so impressive," Brennan said. "We're excited to have him back. Obviously a legendary Wildcat, a great person and great NFL player. Any time we can get our former players to come back, we want them here." 

McAlister "was just different," said current UA defensive coordinator Duane Akina, who coached the UA during McAlister's time in Tucson. 

"The common thread with all of the great ones I coached, it wasn't height or it wasn't speed, it's the competitive spirit — and nobody was more competitive than Chris," Akina said.

Akina compiled footage of the best defensive backs he mentored at Arizona, Texas and Stanford, called "gold reels." 

"Many times, I'll just take the individual's best one-on-ones, where he wins every single time. I just took Chris' whole spring going into his senior year, every rep he had," Akina said. "It's Dennis Northcutt, it's Jeremy McDaniel, these are NFL players that he's locking up. ... That's what made him elite."

McAlister became the 10th overall pick in the 1999 NFL Draft and won one Super Bowl with the Baltimore Ravens, which had one of the best defenses in NFL history. McAlister was an All-Pro selection in 2003. In 11 seasons as an NFL player, mostly with the Ravens, McAlister recorded 431 tackles, 137 pass deflections, 26 interceptions and seven touchdowns. 

McAlister "changed the game as a dominant corner," Akina said.

Added Akina: "He's fun and we had a real close relationship while he was here." 

Wildcats debut coach-to-player helmets 

Arizona's season opener will have new elements that were added to college football this season: the two-minute warning at the end of the second and fourth quarters, along with coach-to-player communication in helmets and the use of Microsoft Windows tablets. 

Each team is allowed to have one offensive and defensive player on the field with a coach-to-player communication helmet, which is marked with a green dot decal. Coaches are allowed to talk to players to signal plays until the 15-second mark on the play clock. Quarterback Noah Fifita and other QBs will don the specialized helmet, while linebacker Jacob Manu and safety Gunner Maldonado are the defensive players responsible for signaling play-calls.

Maldonado "got a crack at it" during one of the last scrimmages of training camp.

"After the technical difficulties, it was cool," he said. "It was cool being able to have a coach give you pointers of what they're seeing up top. I'm curious to see how it feels in a loud stadium, but we'll see." 

Arizona "stars" (nickel backs) coach Brett Arce, who spent the last three seasons as a defensive analyst, will be the coach communicating to players. 

"He has a great grasp for the whole defense, so rather than me being on that, I trust Brett to give information," said defensive coordinator Duane Akina. "'Hey, it's third-and-long, deepen your alignments.' ... He's a natural fit for it. If I have to, I'll get on, but I prefer to remove myself from some of that. I have a lot of confidence in him."

Manu said Arce "telling me little tips, formations and personnels, stuff like that is a big help."

Linebackers coach and special teams coordinator Danny Gonzales said earlier this month that Arizona still plans to signal plays from the sideline on defense. The coach-to-player communication will be a useful tool in college football, but it'll be put to the test for Arizona in two weeks, when it faces Kansas State in Manhattan. 

Said Manu: "I feel like I talk to the defense already without the mic so it won't be a problem there."

Wildcats and Lobos renew old rivalry

Saturday will mark the 68th overall meeting between Arizona and New Mexico, which started in 1908. The Wildcats lead the all-time head-to-head series with a 44-20-3 record. Arizona and New Mexico were longtime conference foes in the Border Conference and WAC.

The last time Arizona faced New Mexico was in 2015 for the Gildan New Mexico Bowl, which was star linebacker Scooby Wright’s last game with the Wildcats, a season after he earned All-American and Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year honors, in addition to the multiple national awards. Arizona lost the previous two regular-season matchups in 2007 and ’08 under former head coach Mike Stoops. The last time Arizona beat the Lobos in the regular season was in 1997 in Tucson.

Between 1938 and 1990, the winner of the Arizona-New Mexico football game would receive the Kit Carson rifle, a Springfield Model 1866 rifle that was named after the frontiersman and former U.S. Army officer. The trophy was discontinued before Arizona's battle with New Mexico in the 1997 Insight.com Bowl due to Kit's connection with violence towards Native Americans.

"We don't want anyone to feel uncomfortable with an antique gun being used as a game trophy," former Arizona athletic director Jim Livengood told the Tucson Citizen. "It's just not in the spirit of intercollegiate athletics."

Pop McKale, the namesake of McKale Center, had an 8-2-1 record against the Lobos — the most wins against New Mexico for an Arizona coach.