Aug. 5, 2008
The University of New Mexico football team held a two-hour practice on an unseasonably cool, overcast afternoon today at the UNM practice fields. The Lobos continued to get a heavy dose of assignment and technique work on their second day in just shirts, shorts and helmets, but the contact will begin to increase with two helmet/shoulder pad practices on Wednesday and Thursday, followed by the first day in full pads on Friday. All practice sessions through Friday will be from 12-2 p.m.
Here’s some of the highlights from the second day of 2008 training camp:
The Kicking Battle: The day began with freshman kickers James Aho and Drew Zamora rotating on a variety of live action field goals from different distances and angles on the field. Head coach Rocky Long made sure to give the young kickers a little incentive just before the first ball was snapped.
“Just imagine you’re out there in a full stadium with everybody watching you and TCU’s coming after you – don’t get nervous,” he said.
With safety Ian Clark and punter Adam Miller splitting the holding duties, Aho appeared to maintain his slim spring lead in the kicking battle as he converted virtually all of his attempts, including several booming kicks to split the uprights. The competition should get a little more interesting on Friday when the pads come on.
No Excuse For Poor Technique: No matter what your role is on the practice field, you better display perfect technique if head coach Rocky Long is watching.
While glancing a running back drill from a distance, Long noticed that the student manager handing the ball off wasn’t looking the ball all the way into the running backs’ hands. Long, the former option quarterback for the Lobos, had no choice but to walk over and show the manager the proper way to execute the hand-off.
Birmingham Lends A Hand: Baseball season may be six months away, but UNM head baseball coach Ray Birmingham is already hard at work. Birmingham made a guest appearance on the practice field this afternoon, helping football operations director Gavin Bevis carry out a roll of padding, which they then applied to the base of the mobile video tower. An amused Long asked Birmingham if there was anything he needed to know about his status as the UNM baseball coach.
One-on-One Highlights: Both receivers and defensive backs made their share of highlights in the one-on-one passing drill. Junior safety Ian Clark led the defense by stepping in front of rookie Andre McQueen for an acrobatic interception. Senior Jermaine McQueen made the top play of the offense, holding on to make a deep catch down the middle, despite tight coverage from sophomore corner Jerome Jenkins.
Seven-on-Seven Highlights: This time the running backs, tight ends and linebackers got to join the action in this passing drill.
Senior cornerback DeAndre Wright showed masterful technique to force a pair of incompletions. Wright used his speed and excellent body position – without interfering – to slow up a receiver and force a deep sideline pass to float harmlessly out of bounds. Later he got his hands in rip away the ball on a completed out route. Junior safety Frankie Solomon also went the other way after snaring a tipped pass for an interception.
Jermaine McQueen sparked the offense again with a beautiful adjustment to a ball thrown behind him, picking up roughly 20 yards against more tight coverage from Jerome Jenkins, who was unable to pry the ball away.
Team Drill Highlights: Both sides had their moments in the padless scrimmage, but it was the Lobos’ creative defenisve alignment that created a buzz among those watching from the sidelines. The UNM secondary, which was called the best in the Mountain West Conference by both CollegeFootballNews.com and Athlon, unleashed all of its top weapons on the offense with safeties Blake Ligon, Frankie Solomon, Ian Clark and Clint McPeek all on the field at the same time, flanked by the standout cornerback tandem of Glover Quin and DeAndre Wright. The new alignment not only gets the Lobos’ top defensive players on the field simultaneously, but also gives opposing offenses one more look to prepare for on Saturdays.