Let's Get Physical...

Lobos put on their shells... Full armor comes Friday! Still some spirited action and still we are trying to give away season tickets to deserving families!

The 2008 New Mexico Lobos donned half of their pads for the third practice of pre-season training camp on Wednesday afternoon - a look known as "shells" (helmets and shoulder pads).  As a result those in attendance were treated to the first live scrimmaging of training camp though players were instructed by the coaching staff to "stay up" and avoid tackling each other to the ground.  The shell equipment allowed for some hitting to take place and for a bit of aggression to be shown in the offensive and defensive clashes on the practice field.  As you will hear in Rudy C's interviews however all of this emotion is being shown by the players in the spirit of preparation for TCU.

Erik Cook says Got Syrup?

The first action of the practice session involved one-on-one drills, this time with running backs and tight ends being matched up against the Lobo linebacking corps.  All-MWC running back Rodney Ferguson continued to appear to be on the top of his game as he made a spectacular leaping catch against tight coverage by Fr. Spencer Merritt.  Sr. TE Mitch Straub battled fellow Sr. Zach Arnett in impressive fashion as well during this portion of practice.  Straub was a reliable target throughout spring camp and will provide Lobo QB Donovan Porterie with another solid set of hands over the middle this fall.
Mitch Straub snares one in front of Zach Arnett

Arnett comes back to bat one away!

7 on 7 drills were next on the agenda for UNM and lead to a few highlights.  DeAndre Wright made several impressive plays in coverage for the Lobo secondary and essentially took away the right side of the field from the offense.  Jr. Roland Bruno, New Mexico's most experienced returning WR, made several tough grabs over the middle from Porterie.  Throughout the spring and preseason camp thus far Bruno has proven to be the Lobos' most fearless receiver and should be able to make the types of catches in traffic that Marcus Smith and Travis Brown hauled in last season.

Fr. Lucas Reed with unbelievable effort!

Wednesday's workout ended with the first live scrimmaging of training camp thus far.  As I mentioned earlier the players were instructed not to go to the ground but that did not stop them from engaging in some spirited hitting and blocking.  Right away the Lobo defensive front established itself with a solid pass rush prompting Coach Baldwin to call upon his offensive line to "Play Faster!" 

"Set a tempo, we can't be playing catch-up" said Coach Baldwin as the scrimmage wore on. 

Fortunately Donovan Porterie was able to avoid some of the pressure applied by the Lobo defense and deliver some nice passes.  Screen passes to Rodney Ferguson and later to FB Matt Quillen were nicely executed and went for big gains.  Backup QB Brad Gruner, the redshirt freshman from Chandler, AZ, connected on a great deep slant to Sr. WR Jonathan Brooks for a nice gain as well.  Sr. DE Kevin Balogun caused some havoc in the backfield when he met RB Paul Baker almost immediately after the ball was handed off in one of the more spectacular defensive plays.  Tempers began to flare a bit as the live scrimmage drew to a close, a sign that each player on both sides of the ball is giving his absolute all for the pride of his unit and for the benefit of the team.  It was encouraging to see that any dispute on the playing field was immediately a non-issue once the players stepped off of the UNM practice turf and into the Tow Diehm facility.

#23 Terence Brown uses his blockers

Interview With A Diehard

Rudy C. interviews your favorite Lobo players and coaches... Today LB Herbert Felder and  RB Paul Baker

Click here to listen to  Felder
Click here to listen to Baker

Offensive Player of the Practice:

WR Roland Bruno.  The Jr. receiver from Beaumont, TX is the early leader of the UNM receiving corps and is doing whatever is asked of him on every single play.  Bruno is fearless and tough when a route across the middle of the field is required and has the athleticism to make an acrobatic sideline catch when needed. 

Defensive Player of the Practice:

CB DeAndre Wright.  The Sr. All-MWC cornerback did today what every cover corner dreams of - Wright completely shut down his side of the field and forced Donovan Porterie to look to deliver the ball elsewhere.  After his athletic pass breakup early in the workout Wright did not see another pass come his way for the duration of the practice.  There is no greater compliment that can be paid to a defensive back. 

505/575 Pride:

S Bubba Forrest.  Carlsbad native Bubba Forrest delivered a jarring hit on WR Bryant Williams during the live scrimmage today without even intending to do so.  One has to wonder what the result would've been had Forrest been in full pads and traveling at full speed.  The redshirt freshman has shown that there is plenty of young talent in the New Mexico defensive backfield and that the tradition of tough, physical defenders in the Cherry and Silver will continue.

Operation: Paint It RED!

 How much more positive coverage can we come up with on TheRedMenace.com? Seriously, I challenge any other media form to match us for positive coverage of Lobo football. So… for us to have people post more positive posts here, well that is like preaching to the choir. For the most part we are like-minded individuals, so how do we grow our numbers… How do we get more people excited about Lobo football?

 Well let’s take over someone else’s message board! Let’s find another “message board” paint it RED!

 So while looking at the entire media landscape, why not take over… The Albuquerque Journal? They have a huge message board that usually publishes ONE post a day, and that post is 9 times out of 10 negative towards UNM… So let’s paint that sucker RED!

 How do you win these family packs?

 Simple, e-mail the Journal at and write your positive thoughts to the Albuquerque Journal’s Sports Speak Up and to my personal e-mail address Talk up the Lobos, the stadium, and the upcoming season! In other words, Pain that sucker RED! Once I see your thoughts published and they are the same you sent me or posted on our message board and I will contact you to get those tickets! Remember I have 25 packages so get on it right away!

Tell your friends and family how to win these tickets! We want all 25 season packages to go and we want The Albuquerque Journal and the entire state to know that we are Lobo fans, plus we also want to see if the Journal has the integrity to post these positive posts!