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Iliana Limón: Despite offensive line problems, the conference title is a realistic goal for the Lobos

By Iliana Limón
Thursday, May 3, 2007

Donovan Porterie (15) gets sacked by Lobos defenders during the Cherry-Silver scrimmage. The offensive line might be the Lobos' biggest concern heading into next season. Three starters were sidelined Wednesday, and their young replacements played like young replacements. Porterie will need time - to read defenses and find open receivers - if he's going to effectively run the new offense.

Photo by Steven St. JohnTribune

Tribune

Donovan Porterie (15) gets sacked by Lobos defenders during the Cherry-Silver scrimmage. The offensive line might be the Lobos' biggest concern heading into next season. Three starters were sidelined Wednesday, and their young replacements played like young replacements. Porterie will need time - to read defenses and find open receivers - if he's going to effectively run the new offense.

Cherry tailback Andrew Madrid secures a long pass from quarterback Victor James as the Silver defense closes in. If the Lobos' offense can digest its new system, UNM should fulfill the expectations of head coach Rocky Long, who said this year's team has the talent to contend for a Mountain West Conference championship.

Photo by Steven St. JohnTribune

Tribune

Cherry tailback Andrew Madrid secures a long pass from quarterback Victor James as the Silver defense closes in. If the Lobos' offense can digest its new system, UNM should fulfill the expectations of head coach Rocky Long, who said this year's team has the talent to contend for a Mountain West Conference championship.

Cherry-Silver recap

Scoreboard operators gave sophomore Adam Miller credit for hitting a game-winning field goal for the offense donning cherry, but UNM head coach Rocky Long's official tally gave the defense, clad in silver, a 38-35 win.

The silver squad forced five turnovers, eight sacks and eight three-and-out stops.

Sophomore quarterback Donovan Porterie and senior wide receiver Marcus Smith led the Cherry team in the tight contest. Porterie went 10-of-18 for 201 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Smith finished with 170 yards and one touchdown on six catches.

Smith's only miscue was not tucking the ball while running down field on a 46-yard reception that easily could have gone for a touchdown. Instead senior linebacker Major Mosley slapped the ball out of Smith's hand, forcing a turnover.

Sophomore safety Frankie Solomon made an interception he returned 51 yards, but he fell inches short of the end zone.

Senior Cody Kase and junior Zach Arnett, both linebackers, led the Silver team with six tackles apiece.

It's a lot easier - and makes a lot more sense - to size up a team during the regular season.

They play another team and either win or lose.

It's usually obvious what went right and what went wrong.

At the end of the University of New Mexico's spring football workouts, there aren't the same black-and-white answers.

But we do get a little bit of insight to a team that is preparing for the 2007 season.

Here are the top five things we learned about the Lobos from spring football practice:

1. Pocket protectors: The biggest problem of the spring was UNM's offensive linemen.

Three of the Lobos' potential starters were sidelined with injuries. UNM had only nine healthy offensive linemen at the end of spring practice.

Younger players filling in for ailing veterans struggled to adapt to a new offense and stop an experienced, talented defense.

The upside is the rookies got some experience that will help if they are drafted into service again in the fall.

The downside is the offensive line woes were a big problem for the team, because it's hard to install an offense when the defense gets into the backfield in the blink of an eye.

The starting linemen have great potential and should bond during summer and fall camp.

If the group doesn't adapt and pick up the new schemes quickly, it could be a very long, painful season for the UNM offense.

2. Baldwin ball: The new offense has promise, but you wouldn't know it watching the Lobos at times this spring.

First-year offensive coordinator Dave Baldwin is a vocal leader who emphasizes perfect fundamentals to complement perfect execution of his game plan.

The Lobos are still thinking a lot about getting all elements of the offense right, so they aren't running at full speed and aren't very effective.

"I think we have a long way to go, but we did make some progress," Baldwin said. "It is going to take a lot of work during the summer to get things right. We did do a few things better, like catching the ball, but we never really established the running game and that's terrible.

"You can use a lot of excuses about our offensive line being so depleted, but we just have to be better."

UNM had the same trouble last spring learning then-offensive coordinator Bob Toledo's new scheme. Then the Lobos suffered an embarrassing season-opening loss to Portland State.

This year's offensive leaders promise they are adapting faster since they have more experience and understand how much work it takes to successfully install a new offense.

"At this time last year, we still hadn't added all of coach Toledo's offense, but this year we got everything in during spring ball," quarterback Donovan Porterie said. "Now we just have to work on running it better.

"I think we have a lot of talented guys coming back who remember last year and know what it takes to be ready with a new offense. We're not taking the summer off. We're working hard, and we'll be ready for the start of the season.

3. Flying defenders: This could be the year UNM regains its title as one of the nation's top defenses.

The Lobos have a veteran lineup running a streamlined attack to emphasize flying to the ball without thinking too much about where they are supposed to go. Long plans to rotate 20 to 25 players per game, adding more teeth to the attack because everyone will be fresh and energetic.

"I think we're all pretty excited about how many strong guys we have at every position," said sophomore safety Frankie Solomon, who snagged a big interception and came within inches of running it back for a touchdown during the Cherry-Silver scrimmage Wednesday night.

"We feel like we had a good spring, and we're hungry to have a really good season. We want our defense to dominate every game."

4. Who can kick it? Senior John Sullivan seemed to have snagged the starting job, but his ACL injury left the Lobos searching for a reliable kicking rotation.

Junior Eric Garrison, the other candidate to start, also suffered a minor leg injury that sidelined him for the spring game.

Senior punter Jordan Scott stepped up, performing surprisingly well on kickoffs and field goals.

Clutch ex-Lobo kicker Kenny Byrd is in the NFL and will be impossible to replace, but his teammates said they learned a lot watching his routine and will do their best to emulate his success.

5. Great expectations: Last season UNM coach Rocky Long said this was the year he thought the Lobos had the talent to contend for a Mountain West Conference championship.

The biggest hurdles are the offense learning its new scheme and the offensive line's ability to protect Porterie and open holes for running back Rodney Ferguson.

If the Lobos can address their biggest needs with tough offseason conditioning and extra study time, the conference title is a realistic goal.

"I think we're going to be a pretty good football team, and we're going to be one from the start," Long said.

When asked whether his prediction last season that the 2007 squad would have strong shot at winning a conference championship still rings true after spring football, Long replied, "Absolutely."