FACTS & STATS: Site: University Stadium (39,224) -- Albuquerque, New Mexico. Television: The Mtn. Home Record: UNLV 2-3, UNM 0-3. Away Record: UNLV 0-2, UNM 0-3. Neutral Record: UNLV 0-0, UNM 0-0. Conference Record: UNLV 0-3, UNM 0-2. Series Record: New Mexico leads, 9-7.

GAME NOTES: The New Mexico Lobos try once again to log their very first win of the 2009 campaign, as they host the UNLV Rebels in a Mountain West Conference showdown on Saturday evening at University Stadium in Albuquerque.

At this point in the season the Lobos have dropped all six contests and are now riding a 10-game slide dating back to last year. UNM last ended up on the winning side of a decision on October 18, 2008 in a 70-7 rout of San Diego State, which means the team currently has the third-longest losing streak in the country behind only Western Kentucky and Miami-Ohio. The Lobos had a bye following their loss to Wyoming (37-13) in Laramie on October 10th, but that didn't keep the program from making news as head coach Mike Locksley was suspended 10 days after an investigation into an altercation he had with one of his staff. Locksley has been banned from all team-related activities it will be assistant George Barlow, a defensive backs coach, who will serve as interim coach according to a press release.

As for the Rebels, they are currently tied with several programs for the eighth-longest slide in college football at four games. Last Saturday night, UNLV was defeated by nationally-ranked Utah in a 35-15 decision at Sam Boyd Stadium. At this point the Rebels have just a single victory over another member of the FBS this season, and that was a narrow 34-33 triumph over Hawaii in the middle of September.

Last season, the Rebels posted a 27-20 in the annual conference meeting, but it is UNM that maintains a 9-7 advantage in the all-time series nonetheless.

Were it not for the three field goals by Kyle Watson, the offense for the Rebels might not even have been heard from in the lopsided loss to Utah last weekend. Backup quarterback Mike Clausen was responsible for a two-yard touchdown pass to Phillip Payne, while Ryan Wolfe inched ever closer to establishing a new MWC career receiving mark with six catches for 50 yards. Omar Clayton managed to convert 23-of-44 passes for 223 yards, but was picked off twice, sacked three times and had his streak of 14 straight games with a TD pass snapped. Clayton has been all over the place with his lack of consistency this season, completing 62.4 percent of his attempts for better than 240 ypg and eight touchdowns, but with nine interceptions he tends to hurt the Rebels as much as he helps them. Clausen has thrown just 75 passes thus far, but his TD-to-INT ratio is much more favorable at 4-to-1. The team has to lean on those two signal-callers because the rushing attack just isn't there anymore, averaging a mere 107.1 ypg to rank seventh in the conference and 104th in the nation this week. Again, the bright spot for the Rebels is Wolfe who is now just three catches shy of the all-time MWC receptions mark set by J.R. Tolver of San Diego State at 262 back in 2002.

The Rebels had their hands full trying to stop Utah's Terrance Cain, who not only made good on 17-of-24 passes for 174 yards and two touchdowns, but he also ran for a third score in the contest. Even though the UNLV offense controlled the ball for almost 30 minutes through the first three quarters of action, the defense was left on the field for better than 10 minutes in a crucial fourth frame. On a positive note, the Rebels forced five Utah fumbles, yet the squad was able to recover only two of the loose balls. Turnover margin continues to be a sticking point with this program through the first seven games of the season as they rank second-to-last in the Mountain West and 107th in the country with minus-0.86 turnovers per contest. Both aspects of the defense, the schemes that try to stop the run and the pass, have been victimized this season to the point were the guys up front have allowed a whopping 207.6 ypg on the ground and the secondary has been guilty of giving up 247.1 ypg, numbers that rank the program 111th and 96th nationally, respectively.

With former head coach Rocky Long leaving the program at the conclusion of last season, New Mexico was bound to be a team in flux this year, but no one could have know the squad would be this poor. The scoring offense ranks 118th in the country with a mere 14.5 ppg and were it not for a minor outburst against Texas Tech in which the Lobos posted 28 points, the numbers would be even more bleak. A starter in all six games, Donovan Porterie has tried to get the group together by converting 60.3 percent of his pass attempts for 183 ypg, but his mere four touchdowns, against five interceptions, are a huge reason why UNM is second-to-last in the conference and 104th in the nation with a pass efficiency rating of 106.06 at the moment. If the Lobos were hoping to lean on their rushing attack that have been sadly disappointed due to the fact that they are averaging just 96 ypg and have posted only four rushing TDs on a total of 170 attempts. A good portion of the blame can be placed on an offensive line that has surrendered 3.67 sacks per outing, worst in the MWC and 116th in the nation this week.

As poor as the offense has been for the Lobos this season, the defense has been equally inept. Although, averaging 7.2 tackles for loss per game and two- and-a-half sacks per contest actually have the group ranked among the best in the Mountain West, yet those stats only take into account a small part of the defensive effort. In addition, a closer look inside those numbers show that New Mexico had its best efforts against non-conference opponents early on and versus the likes of Air Force and Wyoming they came up small. In fact, it was against those two MWC foes that UNM failed to log a single sack and combined for just seven TFLs. Like the Rebels, New Mexico has had real trouble with turnovers in 2009, ranking last in the conference and 108th in the country with minus-1.0 per game. The pass defense has permitted 258.8 ypg and has an efficiency rating of 154.55, which means it is worse than all but eight other programs in the FBS. In searching for a bright spot on the unit, look no further than Carmen Messina who has been squeezing every bit of energy out of himself in order to average 13.3 tackles per game to lead the nation.

Who knows what is in store for the Lobos in this game, and for the rest of the season for that matter. The UNM defense has been painfully poor this season and the offense has done little to distinguish itself, which is why UNLV has to be the favorite here simply by default.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: UNLV 33, New Mexico 20

Saturday, October 24th, 8:00 p.m. (et).