June 28, 2013
Women’s Clinic July 18: One of the more popular Lobo football summer camps returns to Branch Field on July 18 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. as Bob Davie, his staff, and Lobo players hold a women’s clinic. The camp is designed to be fun, but there is a lot of hands-on and in-depth instruction as Davie and the Lobos explain some of the intricacies of New Mexico football. There also will be food!
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By Richard Stevens – Senior Writer/GoLobos.com
The Bob Davie Lobos probably won’t take to Branch Field in 2013 with a huge chip on their shoulders resulting from prognosticators’ preseason opinions of where the Lobos rank nationally and in the Mountain West.
The games and the scoreboard will be the ultimately judge of Lobos and these Lobos and this program are motivated and focused to change and improve. They also are realistic about what they are as a team and where they are as a program.
Simply put, the Lobos still have much to prove and realize the building has just begun and the climb is upwards. They get it. There is still some respect to be earned that only comes on the scoreboard.
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MW DIVISIONS Mountain Division West Division |
But if national previews help create sparks of motivation in any New Mexico players, there are sparks to be found from various publications. Those preseason opinions are pretty much unanimous: the Lobos will not win the Mountain West’s “Mountain” Division.
No surprise here, Boise State is the predicted champion of that six-team Mountain division. The “West” division has more balance at the top with Fresno State, San Jose State, San Diego State and Nevada capable of division-winning seasons. UNLV and Hawaii are expected to battle for the “West” cellar.But will the Lobos, as predicted, fall into the Mountain Division cellar or will it be Colorado State or Wyoming?
The Lobos of 2012 surprised more than a few people (and prognosticators) and there just might be some surprises ahead in 2013.
In a sampling of some of the recent preseason babble, the Lobos were rated as high as No. 88 on a national scale of the 125 Football Bowl Subdivision teams and as low as No. 108. Here’s some of that sampling:
Athlon Sports rates UNM No 100 in the nation and slots the Lobos into the No. 6 spot in the MW “Mountain” division. That’s not really a slap for a team that was 3-33 in the three seasons before Davie and for a team that lost a lot of productive seniors off last year’s 4-9 team that completed only 79 passes. The Lobos have some “proving” to do.
And Athlon, like everybody else (including Lobos) knows a big key for New Mexico success in 2013: “The goal for the New Mexico offense in 2013 is clear: Develop a passing attack that can complement one of the most productive running games in the country.”
Athlon also says: “Can the improvement continue?” – and: “there are significant personnel issues,” especially on defense and in UNM’s receiving corp.
USA Today Sports’ Paul Myerberg has UNM in the 108 spot nationally and says UNM is “choosing the horse and buggy over Oregon’s Ferrari.”
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“Truly, the work Davie put forth last fall ranked among the more impressive coaching jobs in the entire FBS. Having said that, it’s clear that the Lobos are still not yet ready to move from pesky conference foe to bowl team.” USA TODAY Sports’ Paul Myerberg |
His point is the Lobos’ Pistol offense didn’t have a whole lot of wrinkles in 2012 as it leaned heavily on the option. The Lobos were pretty vanilla (wisely so) in 2012 for a number of reasons. It takes time and the right personnel to put in wrinkles. UNM’s basic option also racked up enough yards to be the fifth best run team in the nation. It was the attack that worked.
And here is some USA Today fuel for the Lobo fire: “The Lobos should take their lumps, keep the faith and envision a future when Davie and his staff will have the horses to run with the rest of the conference. Right now, the Lobos are nearly bereft of all the things a team needs to be a contender.”
USA Today notes the holes on the UNM defense. Myerberg writes that the 2013 defense “seems even less prepared (personnel wise) for offenses inside and out of Mountain West play than last year’s version.” He says the UNM defense is going to give up “yards and points in bunches.”
Myerberg also points out the obvious citing that UNM needs more balance (passing!) on offense, still has holes on defense and simply lacks depth and numbers. The latter flaw often is the one that damages a team’s record late in the season. UNM lost its final six games in 2012.
The Orlando Sentinel was the most generous in ranking UNM and handed the Lobos that paper’s No. 88 slot. Yardbarker.com placed UNM in the 108th spot. The Sentinel questions UNM’s inexperience with only eight returning starters: “It’s going to be an uphill climb to see much more growth.”
Collegesportsmadness.com slips the Lobos into the 102nd slot nationally and gives them the Mountain West’s 11th overall spot ahead of Hawaii. The “Mad” guys also focus on UNM’s lack of a passing attack in 2012 and questions a young defense that returns three starters.
Go to SBnation.com and you’ll read this: “In Year 2, New Mexico will probably have a rather similar identity as in Year 1; there is still no assurance that the passing game or the defense will improve, but the Lobos should be capable of running the ball even better than last year.”
A key point to make at this juncture of the looking ahead is that perspective also comes with looking back. Yes, the 2013 Lobos are young, have lost a lot of productive seniors from 2012, have yet to prove they can pass the ball, and the defense is being restructured with new bodies.
But this Lobo team is still further ahead at this point than the Lobos team of 2012. The culture has been changed and will continue to change as talent and depth improves. The Lobos are better from a technical aspect as they enter Season Two of Davie’s system.
Now, can they change the scoreboard — and some prognosticators’ opinions?
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