The
Lobo football team was forced to take the 2008 Fan Photo Day scrimmage
inside to the climate controlled conditions at the Indoor Practice
Facility a.k.a. "The Rock Shop" due to rain in the Albuquerque area
Saturday afternoon. The nice crowd that
turned out witnessed a particularly hard hitting affair and another
strong performance by the UNM defense. The
Hitmen unveiled a
new starting 5 for the scrimmage with the lingering minor head injuries
to C Ben Contreras and LT Sylvester Hatten. The
first team lineup included: Sr. Matt Streid at LT, So. Mike Cannon at LG, Jr. Erik Cook at C., Jr. Josh
Taufalele at RG, and Fr. Byron Bell at RT.
The live scrimmage got underway with two strong
runs by Sr. All-MWC RB Rodney Ferguson. Ferguson
took a handoff from the shotgun on the first play and worked his way
nicely up the middle of the field, then ran behind Bell and Streid for
a gain of about 8 on second down. The Lobo
offense then opened up the passing attack with quick screen passes to
Sr. WR Jermaine McQueen and So. FB Josh Fussell. Jr.S
Frankie Baca brought down Fussell quickly after the catch and the Lobo
defense put a halt to the drive with sacks on the next two plays. Jr.
Lobo Clint McPeek and Fr. LB Carmen Messina combined to meet QB Donovan Porterie on the first play and fellow Lobo Ian Clark blitzed free on
the second play to touch Porterie in the backfield.
The second team offense did not fair any better
and quickly went 3 and out bringing the first team squad back onto the
field. Sr. Lobo Jake Bowe delivered a huge
hit on Sr. RB Paul Baker on the first play of the second possession by
the starting offense. Sr.
CB Glover Quin added a great diving pass breakup on the second play
through Porterie was able to find Sr. TE Mitch Straub for a first down
on third down. Straub went up and secured
the ball nicely in traffic to give the offense a fresh set of downs. Porterie rolled out to the right on the
subsequent first down pass attempt and was pressured greatly by Sr. DE
Kevin Balogun. Balogun showed great speed
for his size (6'4", 281 lbs.) and looks like he will be a force for the
defensive line this season. Porterie
was able to get one more first down on the series with a nice post
pattern to So. Chris Hernandez but the drive eventually stalled out
after a sack by Sr. LB Zach Arnett.
Neither
the first nor the second team offense were able to put any points on
the board until late in the scrimmage and the defense was the first
unit to get into the endzone on an interception returned for a
touchdown by Glover Quin. Quin shot in
front of
a pass intended for Hernandez on an out route and never looked back,
sprinting down the sideline for the score bringing the crowd to its
feet. The offense was able to respond only
with two field goal
attempts; but both suffered problems with bad snaps and were not
converted.
TE
Lucas Reed
After
the second FG attempt the offense began at about the 20 yard line of
the defense and Porterie was able to throw a fade into the corner of
the endzone for Hernandez. The sophomore
from
Las Cruces Mayfield made a fantastic catch against tight coverage from
All-MWC CB DeAndre Wright and brought the ball in for a score. Fr. Drew Zamora converted the extra point for UNM.
Later the defense continued its hard hitting
ways as Clint McPeek was responsible for several jarring collisions. One such hit on Fr. A.J. Butler caused the
young freshman's helmet to fly off. Later
as the younger players were rotated into the scrimmage Fr. CB Anthony Hooks delivered a fierce shot to So. QB Tate Smith.
Smith seemed to enjoy the shot and hopped back up quickly and
jogged toward the huddle. Even
though Smith is a QB and cannot normally be hit he had committed to
running the football on this particular play and thus opened himself up
for contact.
At
the conclusion of the scrimmage New Mexico's younger QB's including
B.R. Holbrook and Jonathan Mader directed drives of their own though
none resulted in touchdowns. The Fan Photo
Day scrimmage would have resulted in a 7-7 tie had it been scored as a
real game. The
Lobo defense again was tough today but there were bright spots shown by
the offense including the great touchdown reception by Hernandez and
the tough running of Rodney Ferguson.
Next up: Two
practices Monday (6-8 am and 7-9 pm) both are open to the public.
Rudy C.
with Coach Dave Baldwin
Offensive Player of the Practice:
WR Chris Hernandez. Hernandez
is establishing himself as the go to receiver for Donovan Porterie,
especially in redzone situations. Hernandez
made tough catches on post routes today, followed his blockers nicely
on a screen, and of course delivered the offense their lone touchdown
of the day with his great reception vs. DeAndre Wright.
Defensive Player of the Practice:
CB Glover Quin. The
Sr. from Summit, MS is poised to surprise many of the teams in the MWC
that did not see him perform last season due to injury.
Quin
has been a tough hitter and blanket cover corner throughout camp and
today showed how dangerous he can be with the ball in his hands. Expect this Lobo defense to put some points of
its own on the scoreboard this year.
505/575 Pride:
Lobo Ian Clark. Albuquerque's
Clark (Highland High) is bigger and stronger than ever and has not lost
any of his speed and quickness as he showed on his blitzes today. Clark
got into the backfield instantly on his sack, one of 8 for the defense
today, and brings a great mix of talents to the defense and special
teams. Clark looks to be ready to excel
this season both from his Lobo position and as UNM's punt returner.