Bob Davie hospitalized after New Mexico opener
New Mexico coach Bob Davie was hospitalized after suffering what the university is calling an apparent “serious medical incident” following Saturday night’s 39-31 victory over Sam Houston State in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
“We ask that you keep the Davie family in your prayers,” athletic director Eddie Nunez said in a statement.
According to the Albuquerque Journal, the 64-year-old Davie several times during the game could be seen with his hands on his midsection and chest. At one point, the newspaper reported, Davie kneeled down during the action. A school athletic official told the Journal that Davie was experiencing chest pains.
The coach’s postgame media availability was canceled.
Davie’s wife, Joanne Davie, was seen in the ambulance’s front seat as it left for nearby University of New Mexico Hospital.
Nunez said the university will release more information as it becomes available.
Davie is just starting his eighth season at New Mexico. He coached at Notre Dame from 1997 through 2001, and worked for 10 years after that as a college football analyst for ESPN before returning to the sideline at New Mexico in 2012. He led the Lobos to a 9-4 record in 2016, but that’s been followed by back-to-back 3-9 seasons.
New Mexico got out to a 16-0 lead in the second quarter of Saturday’s season opener, scoring on four consecutive possessions. But the Bearkats took a 23-22 lead in the third, only to see the Lobos go ahead for good midway through the quarter.
Down eight, Sam Houston reached the Lobos’ 24 in the closing minute but got no farther.
New Mexico suspended Davie for 30 days without pay in February 2018, following multiple investigations into whether he and his coaching staff interfered with criminal investigations or misconduct cases involving players. The school didn’t conclude that Davie or his staff obstructed criminal investigation.
New Mexico next plays at No. 9 Notre Dame on Sept. 14.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.