Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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32 SEPT. 16, 2019 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY ANDREW MENTOCK W hen the 2019 Notre Dame versus New Mexico foot- ball game was announced in August 2015, Lobos head coach Bob Davie was on the brink of a career-defining turnaround. That season, the Lobos went 7-5 and participated in the New Mexico Bowl, where they lost to the Arizona Wildcats. It was the program's first winning season since 2007. But what made the turnaround even more amazing was that in each of the three seasons prior to Davie taking over in 2012, New Mexico won just a single game. The Lobos came back in 2016 with an even more impressive season, go- ing 9-4 and this time winning the New Mexico Bowl. Davie had earned plaudits for resurrecting his coaching career after getting fired from Notre Dame 15 years prior. But the resurgence didn't last for the coach. He followed up consecutive winning seasons with back-to-back 3-9 campaigns in 2017 and 2018. He was also suspended for 30 days in 2018 af- ter he was investigated for allegedly physically assaulting players, obstruct- ing a rape investigation, and frequently engaging in racist comments. At the start of the 2019 season, few coaches in all of college football sat on a hotter seat. To save his job, Albu- querque Journal assistant sports editor Last-Ditch Effort Former Notre Dame head coach Bob Davie looks to gain momentum and save his job with the Lobos Redshirt sophomore Tevaka Tuioti — who threw for 439 yards and five touchdowns in three starts last year — was the favorite to win the starting quarterback job for the Lobos, but after missing the majority of preseason camp due to personal reasons he did not play in the New Mexico's season opener. PHOTO COURTESY UNM COMMUNICATIONS