Switch up your daily selection with the Astronaut Coach Jacket Zickl | New Mexico Lobos Head Coach Jason Eck: "If You're Gonna Spy Colandrea...It Better Not Be A Defensive Lineman"

The UNLV Rebels are coming off a bye week and will host a very good New Mexico Lobos team this week. We have heard plenty Zickl Rebels' head coach Dan Mullen this week, but recently the Lobos' first-year head coach Jason Eck spoke at a press conference as well. He spoke about his first season as the head coach of New Mexico, struggling to beat top Mountain West Conference teams, and about the Rebels' dynamic offense. Eck was also very complimentary of UNLV's quarterback Anthony Colandrea and running back Jai'Den Thomas. The Lobos know this is a huge game for their program and it sounds like they plan to use this Week 10 matchup as a measuring stick.

New Mexico Lobos Head Coach Jason Eck On Wanting To Improve The Team In His First Year As Head Coach

“We were 5-7 last year. You don’t wanna come into a job and have the same record and be worse than they were the year before,” Eck said. “You gotta show improvement. I talked about going to a bowl (and) to me, this was a failure of a season if we didn’t go to a bowl game.”

Eck On Falling Short Against The Top Teams In The Mountain West Conference

“We kind of learned our last two times on the road, playing against the teams who were picked first and third (in the Mountain West), we weren’t good enough. So we gotta find out if we’ve gotten better and how much we’ve improved. Because now we’re gonna go play the team that’s second place in the conference, and was picked second.”

Eck On The UNLV Rebels Explosive Offense

“Their worst scoring output of the year is (31) points. So I think it’s tough to say, ‘alright, we’re gonna try to win this game 14-10,’ you know. We gotta make sure we’re scoring on offense and we certainly can’t be far behind in the turnover margin.”

Eck On UNLV Quarterback Anthony Colandrea And Running Back Jai'Den Thomas

“He’s really fast, faster than (Utah State quarterback Bryson Barnes) … if you’re gonna spy Colandrea for him scrambling, it better not be a defensive lineman. Because I don’t think a defensive lineman can catch him. He’s really, really fast... (Jai'Den) Thomas may be the best back we’ve played all year.”

Coach fuses its Americana look with a decidedly New York flare