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UNM football: Lobos know backup quarterbacks are a must-have

By Phill Casaus
Saturday, April 21, 2007

Many faces

Since arriving at UNM as head coach in 1998, Rocky Long has had 11 starting quarterbacks. They are:

Graham Leigh

Erik Jaworsky

Sean Stein

Jeremy Denson

Rudy Caamano

Casey Kelly

Justin Millea

Kole McKamey

Tali Ena

Chris Nelson

Donovan Porterie

Rocky Long, ex-quarterback, doesn't think the guys who play his old position are dime-store figurines - shattered by the first contact with a hard surface.

But Rocky Long, coach, doesn't kid himself, either. With recent history and future collisions as his guide, he knows the University of New Mexico can't simply hope starting quarterback Donovan Porterie goes through the 2007 season unscathed.

Bottom line: UNM must find a dependable backup - from a cast that promises a touch of mystery, if not outright uncertainty.

A lightly used veteran, senior Bryan Clampitt, and Blair Peterson, a 21-year-old freshman who hasn't played a football game since 2004, are the top contenders to become Porterie's backup. Sophomore Victor James is taking a few snaps, and a highly regarded freshman from Chandler, Ariz., Brad Gruner, will join the group in the fall.

Between the four, there is exactly two quarters of Division I-A playing time.

Gulp.

"Quarterbacks are fairly tough guys," says Long, a former Lobos star who is entering his ninth year as head coach. "They're not going to get hurt if they just get hit in the open and you knock Õem off their feet. But when the plant foot is planted and there's someone around their feet . . . the more they get hit, the more of a chance they have of getting hurt."

In other words, do the math. Better yet, let Lobos history do it for you. In 2006, UNM started three quarterbacks - Kole McKamey, Chris Nelson and Porterie. In Long's eight previous seasons, only twice has a quarterback started every game.

With the increase in speed and the proliferation of attack-first defenses, college football programs can no longer depend on one pilot to take them on their long, four-month trip through the fall. Now, there had better be a decent co-pilot, maybe even two, or the whole season turns into one of those old, white-knuckler "Airport" movies.

Long says quarterbacks get hurt if they're asked to run a lot - or if an offensive line can't protect them in the passing game, something that happened all too often in Õ06, when McKamey's career and a hunk of Porterie's season were undone by game-time injuries.

And since Porterie, just a sophomore, needs to learn new offensive coordinator Dave Baldwin's offense this spring, a backup's chance to prove himself will be all the more difficult.

"(Porterie) needs a lot of repetitions this spring," Baldwin says.

The current No. 2, Clampitt, got a taste of the playing life in the 2005 season finale against Air Force. It was the typical story. One moment, he was on the sideline. The next, he was calling the plays.

"There's no time to think about it, there's no time to be nervous, you're just thrown in there and you have to perform," he recalls. "I prepared myself, and I felt like I was ready for that situation. It was a great experience."

But a fleeting one. Now in his fifth year in the program, Clampitt took the field in Õ06 only to hold for field goals and kickoffs. This season is his last chance.

He says he's preparing as if he's competing for a starting position. And in a way, he is, because backup quarterbacks are like vice presidents - they assume the mantle of power very quickly, and have to be ready from Jump Street.

For his part, Clampitt says he'll be ready, regardless of what might come.

"I'm still trying to learn the offense, and that's coming along well," he says. "I'm also preparing myself to be the starter; I'm not trying to settle to be the backup. I'm going to compete with Donovan and just do the best I can. And with that competition, I feel I'll get better and so will he. And that'll benefit our whole group."

That would be a good thing for the Lobos. Otherwise, they're depending on perfect health in an imperfect place - a college football game. That is one hard place to be.