SAN ANTONIO -- The University of the Incarnate Word football team opens its 2018 season at New Mexico on Saturday night. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. (CT) at Dreamstyle Stadium in Albuquerque, N.M.
 
KICKOFF COVERAGE

• Saturday's game is on ESPN3. A live streaming link can be found on the schedule page at uiwcardinals.com/football.
• Live audio is available for all football games on Stretch Internet. A link can be found on the schedule page at uiwcardinals.com/football.
• Live stats can be found on the schedule page at uiwcardinals.com/football.

 
SEASON OPENERS FOR MORRIS
This is Eric Morris' first season-opening game as a collegiate head coach. As a college assistant coach, Morris was 7-1 in season openers. As an offensive coordinator at Texas Tech from 2013 to 2017, his Red Raiders were 5-0 in opening games. As an assistant at the University of Houston from 2010-11, his Cougars won both season openers. The only stumble occurred during his lone year as an assistant at Washington State, 2012, when the Cougars fell in their first game.
 
UIW OPENERS
This is UIW's 10th season of intercollegiate football. The Cardinals are 3-6 in season-opening games. UIW won its inaugural football game in 2009, 32-19, over Monterey Tech. The Cardinals won their season opener in 2012, 19-12 over Texas College, and in 2015, 18-16 over Texas A&M Kingsville.
 
TEXAS TIES
Eric Morris played his high school and collegiate football in Texas, at Shallowater High and Texas Tech University. He coached at Texas Tech and the University of Houston. His only two non-Texas football gigs were one year as a player for the Saskatchewan Rough Riders of the Canadian Football League and one year as an assistant coach at Washington State.
 
TEXAS TIES: ASSISTANT COACHES
Only one of Eric Morris' 11 position coaches/coordinators does not have a Texas background as either a player, coach, scholar, or native-born son.
 
NEW STAFF
The Cardinals have an all new staff filled with young coaches who have a ton of energy and passion. Throughout the spring, they worked to change the culture of the team and will look to take that momentum into the season.
 
SCOUTING THE OPPONENT

• The Lobos were 3-9 overall in 2017. They were led by Tyrone Owens, who rushed for 801 yards in 12 games. Owens is a redshirt senior in 2018.
• This will be Bob Davie's 12th opening game as a collegiate head coach. He is 8-3 in season-opening games.
• Bob Davie has Texas football ties. A native Pennsylvanian, Davie spent nine seasons in College Station coaching at Texas A&M. He was the outside linebackers' coach from 1985-88 and defensive coordinator from 1989-1993.

 
UIW VS. FBS OPPONENTS 
This will be the first season in which UIW plays two Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) opponents. After New Mexico, the Cardinals follow with a game at the North Texas on Sept. 8.
 
HIGH ALTITUDE ENCOUNTER
Dreamstyle Stadium sits at an altitude of 5,100 feet above sea level, the highest elevation at which a UIW team will have played a football game in program history. The previous maximum game day elevation was 4,100 feet against the UTEP in the Sun Bowl during the 2015 season. In 2011, the Cardinals played at West Texas A&M University in Canyon, Texas, at an altitude of 3,500 feet.
 
NO GRASS FOR THE CARDINAL GRIDDERS
With this summer's installation of new Field Turf at UIW's Gayle and Tom Benson Stadium, the Cardinals boast the newest artificial playing surface in the Southland Conference. All 11 of UIW's games this season will be played on synthetic turf. Saturday, the Cardinals challenge the Lobos on UNM's Field Turf at Dreamstyle Stadium.
 
UIW VS. THE MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE
This will be the second time that UIW has played a Mountain West Conference member in football. The Cardinals fell at Fresno State, 66-0, in the 2017 season opener (Sept. 2).
 
CHALLENGING ROAD AHEAD
UIW has a challenging schedule for the 2018 season. Four of UIW's 2017 opponents finished the season ranked: Sam Houston State (3), Central Arkansas (8), McNeese (18), and Nicholls (23). The Cardinals face these four opponents in consecutive games this season. Additionally, UIW takes on FBS opponents New Mexico and North Texas.
 
STRENGTH IN NUMBERS
When new UIW head football coach Eric Morris held spring football drills in March, he had a roster that numbered in the sixties. When fall drills began in August, those numbers had increased to 105. The new roster included a 20-player recruiting class announced on Feb. 7 (19 high school prospects and one transfer), plus numerous recruited and walk-on players who joined the team later.
 
MAKING THE GRADE
Since UIW head coach Eric Morris took charge of the Cardinal football team in December 2017, his student-athletes have increased the team GPA -- previously under a 2.5 -- through hard work and dedication. The emphasis that Morris and his assistant coaches placed on classroom attentiveness paid off in one semester. When spring semester grades arrived in late May, the team achieved a collective GPA of 3.2.
 
TEAM CAPTAINS
Five team captains, chosen by their fellow players, will provide leadership on and off of the field for the Cardinals this season. Center Tyler Preston from Georgetown and wide receiver Kody Edwards from Mesquite, both seniors, represent the offense. Senior linebacker Silas Stewart, from Wilmington, Delaware, and junior linebacker Mar'kel Cooks, from Irving, Texas, will lead the defense, while special teams members will look to senior kicker Cody Seidel, from Keller, Texas.