The Lobo football team donned full pads for
Tuesday
afternoon's workout at Rocky Long Stadium, a fact that lead to some
nasty
collisions throughout the closing scrimmage period. The New
Mexico
offensive line known as "The Hitmen" honored its great tradition with
a strong performance today. Coach Jason Lenzmeier continued to
employ
different combinations of personnel throughout the day as the Lobos
search for
the 5 best linemen in the program and the most effective way to get
them all
onto the field at once.
Coach Lenz watches his Hitmen!
Junior transfer Ben Contreras (CC of San
Francisco)
saw more action at the Center position today allowing Jr. Erik Cook to
take up
the LG spot. It seems that the Lobo coaching staff would really
like to
be able to use Cook's size and strength at a position other than C if
at all
possible. Josh Taufalele (Jr., Foothill College) also rotated in
at RG
with Sr. Matt Streid. Sr. Sylvester Hatten and Fr. Byron Bell
have
remained constants at LT and RT
respectively and So. Mike Cannon is
also competing for time at LG when Cook is taking reps at C. This
competition may continue well into fall camp but seems to have been
healthy for
the unit as a whole as the players push one another and strive for
improvement.
The Hitmen delivered several punishing blocks that
allowed
the offense to have a great deal of success on the ground in today's
scrimmage. The highlight of the day involved Fr. RB James Wright
(Dallas,
TX) finding a hole up the middle and breaking free for a
50 TD
run. Wright appeared to be stopped after gaining the initial 8
yards
before contact but kept his extremely powerful legs churning (560 lbs.
in the
squat lift) all the way to paydirt. Later returning All-MWC RB
Rodney Ferguson ran around the left side on a stretch play, pushed a defender
to the
ground, and rumbled for a 40 yard gain. The entire offensive line
held
their blocks and Sylvester Hatten sealed the left side of the line
allowing
Ferguson to spring free into the second level of the defense where he
has
proven so dangerous. Wright was able to gain additional tough
yardage
throughout the afternoon by staying low and pumping his legs behind the
blocks
of Fr. Byron Bell who has been very impressive at RT. These two
Texas
products will be exciting to watch in years to come for fans of the
Cherry and
Silver.
In addition a few big plays were produced in the
passing
game as Jr. Daryl Jones and So. Bryant Williams both had nice
receptions from
Donovan Porterie. Jones sat down effectively in a dead spot in
the
defense, waited for the ball to be delivered, and made a nice move to
elude a
defender for a 30 yd. gain. Williams made a tremendous grab on a
ball
thrown behind him while receiving a punishing hit from So. CB Jerrell Miller as
the ball arrived. On one of the offense's two goal line
opportunities TE
Chris "all he does is catch touchdowns" Mark made a wide open TD
catch on a well designed play by Coach Dave Baldwin.
As we have come to expect the Lobo defense was its
usual
high effort, gang tackling self throughout the scrimmage and was solid
aside
from the few big plays that were surrendered. So. CB Jerome Jenkins made
a tremendous read on a screen pass to FB Matt Quillen and then
delivered a bone
jarring hit to the Sr. from Albuquerque.
The extremely tough Quillen
did not go down from the initial impact but was immediately met by a
swarm of
defenders to stop the play for no gain. S Mica Williams, a
redshirt
freshman from Lakeland, FL, was always around the
ball today
and has made the most of his increased practice reps as Blake Ligon is
out
while recovering from offseason shoulder surgery. Younger players
such as
Jenkins, Williams, and Bubba Forrest have turned in solid spring
workouts
making the future look bright for the UNM defensive backfield.
Click here
to listen to Matt Quillen
Offensive Player of the Practice:
OT
Byron Bell:
The decorated prep player from Greenville,
TX
(All-State Texas 4A) was back in action today
after
suffering a mild concussion Monday. Bell cleared a path for a
fellow
Texan, RB James Wright, on his big run during
today's
scrimmage as well as opened holes for Rodney Ferguson and Paul Baker. The
Lobo QB's were not threatened by any pass rush from the right side
during today's
action.
Defensive Player of the Practice:
S
Mica Williams. Williams, a redshirt freshman from
Lake Gibson HS in Lakeland, FL has been the starting
left wolf
safety this spring with Blake Ligon out. Williams may well have
played
his way in the defensive rotation as he has consistently found the ball
and
delivered strong, sure tackles. The emerging Florida
pipeline
that UNM has cultivated may pay some exciting dividends this season
with
Williams and fellow Floridian Herbert Felder looking tough on
defense.
505/575 Pride:
RB
Rodney Ferguson. Manzano graduate and senior
All-MWC performer Ferguson brought all his favorite moves with him to
practice
today. The punishing runner showed the ability to create yards
after
contact with his upper body strength as he pushed smaller defenders to
the
ground and also made use of his vision to find positive yardage on the
shotgun
direct snap play that was seen often last season. Ferguson looks
as
strong as ever and is poised to have another 1,000 + yard season on the
ground
with all the talented new Hitmen in front of him.