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UNM FOOTBALL 

New Mexico authors ‘dominating’ defensive performance against Central Michigan

Safety Austin Brawley believes Lobos' defense might be the best he's ever played on

Darren Agu, right, recorded one of three sacks UNM had in Saturday's win over Central Michigan. Agu's also forced Chippewas quarterback Jadyn Glasser to fumble.
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Over the last five seasons, Austin Brawley has played 1,415 career snaps. And for the majority of that count, New Mexico’s veteran safety has been a productive — if not key — member of five strong defenses. 

The 36 snaps he played Saturday night made him feel this one might be different.

“This … probably is the greatest defense I’ve played on in my career,” Brawley said.

UNM’s defense looked the part in a 38-7 shellacking of Central Michigan, wasting no time picking up from where it left off last season — and maybe even showed a little something more.

The Lobos (1-0) held the Chippewas to 149 total yards, a good night of work as is. But nearly half of that total was accrued on Central Michigan’s lone scoring drive — a 10-play, 75-yard jaunt against UNM’s backups late in the fourth quarter.

The first three quarters provided a more accurate picture: UNM limited Central Michigan to 61 yards through its first eight drives of the day — five of which were three and outs.

The Chippewas (0-1) converted just two third downs on 11 attempts.

“It was a really dominating performance,” Lobos coach Jason Eck said Saturday.

UNM also didn’t struggle to contain Central Michigan’s two dual-threat quarterbacks, Angel Flores and Jadyn Glasser. Both scrambled for only three yards, per Pro Football Focus (PFF), and averaged 1.38 yards per carry on the night.

Despite recording only three sacks, PFF also credited the Lobos with 14 pressures on the night. Eck said UNM was more conservative rushing Central Michigan’s quarterbacks due to their ability to run and the Chippewas’ tendencies on late downs.

“At times, we still wanted to be sound against the run on, you know, third-and-8,” he added. “Where some teams are really, really (pass-heavy) when you get that far, I think they were only like 62% (likely to pass) on third-and-long, which seems like a lot.

“But really, a lot of teams are like, 90% (likely to pass) on third-and-long.”

Two turnovers (an interception by defensive lineman Xavier Slayton, and a strip sack by defensive end Darren Agu that resulted in defensive tackle Jalen McIver’s fumble recovery) only added to UNM’s strong night.

Eck, however, wouldn’t have minded seeing a couple more.

“I gave Brawley a hard time because last year, he only (played) four games or whatever (because) of an injury,” Eck said. “He took advantage of all those interception opportunities. I thought he had about two interceptions (Saturday) he almost came down with.”

For his part, Brawley’s belief this defense might be the best he’s been a part of goes beyond the stats. UNM made a conscious effort over the offseason to bolster the depth of its defense from last year, already one of the best in the Mountain West.

Saturday, it looked like that effort paid off.

“We just have dudes that fly around,” Brawley said. “They’re invested in being (part of) a great defense. And if one player goes down, we have three players that are ready to go. I’ve never been on a team that had this much depth.”

Sean Reider covers college football and other sports for the Journal. You can reach him at sreider@abqjournal.com or via X at .