Lobo Football Has the Energy

NOTE:  Remaining open practices are Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of this week at 10 am.

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By Frank Mercogliano, Asst. A.D. for Communications
 
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — According to textbooks (those are things with paper that Wikipedia used to be printed on), the definition of energy is as follows: “the strength and vitality required for sustained physical or mental activity.”
 
According to UNM head coach Bob Davie, that definition of energy fits his 2019 Lobo Football team.  It’s something he mentioned organically after Monday’s practice, the teams’ first after Saturday’s 85-play scrimmage.
 
“Saturday was a positive for us,” said Davie, who also noted that there were no injuries from the scrimmage.  “I was really pleased to get Thursday, Friday and Saturday in with the workload that we put on these players.”
 
Then it was onto the energy surrounding the program.  “You know there has been a consistent energy to this team since we started back the Spring.  It’s a lot of things and a lot of reasons but I would absolutely confirm there is a consistent energy to this team.  That’s the thing that’s been most encouraging,” said Davie.
 

We are 1️⃣9️⃣ days away from kickoff!!! Here are some shots from today’s open practice. Four more open ones left! Also thanks to former Lobo and @RamsNFL WR Preston Dennard for coming out to practice. #GoLobos pic.twitter.com/CyI7Elqw9A

— New Mexico Lobos (@UNMLOBOS) August 12, 2019

That energy has been easy to see for anyone coming out to the open practices, which end on Friday when Fall camp basically ends as far as practices for the players.  It was really easy to see for former Lobo standout (and Super Bowl XIV starting wide receiver) Preston Dennard, who came out to watch practice and commented about the pace of practice.  No wasted reps.  Pace.  Quickness.  Suddenness.
 
On Monday, Coach Davie opened with a curve ball.  Sometimes in football there is sudden change.  A turnover, a bad call, something that brings immediate adversity.  How can you practice for that?  How do you get a team ready for that?  For Davie, it was easy … he intentionally flipped periods, moving the opening period work to the middle of practice and opening with a team period that the players were used to having in the middle of practice.
 
What happened next is what’s happened all camp.  The helmets went on and the team went about its business, opening practice with an immediacy and tempo that had everyone nodding their heads as if they had earbud listening to their favorite tunes.  Everything was crisp.  Lots of yes sirs and energy from the offense and the defense.  Even the equipment managers who were set up for period one got into the act, racing on a dead sprint across both fields to get chains and down markers set up so nothing would miss a beat.
 
It’s a noticeable energy, and it’s noticeable how crisp and efficient practice has been, and that this team seems different.  Safety Brandon Burton earlier in camp made a leaping one-handed interception near the defenses sideline, and the group in the white jerseys predictably celebrated, with plenty of high-fives.  Burton also got a high-five from wide receiver Elijah Lilly, who raced over from his sideline to give Burton props for the play.  “Same team” said Lilly with a smile, and he’s right.  Lilly, a senior, has been one of several to display that type of leadership during practices.  He knows a great defense helps the team, and he’s going to lead the way he knows how.
 
That’s the energy Davie is talking about.  It’s easy to see.  Another senior, De’John Rogers, owns a grand total of two career starts at UNM in his one season, but he’s not only leading the way on the field, but off it.  Rogers can be seen, and more so heard, coaching up all the other corners during drills.  He’s even coached up some receivers on their routes.
 
It’s been four quarterbacks going hard for eight practices in the absence of Tevaka Tuioti, and then when Tevaka rejoined the team for Monday’s practice, it was as if he hadn’t missed a practice.  During interviews, the other quarterbacks referred to Tuioti as their “brother”. 
 
Watch any drill by the running backs or the defensive backs.  Those are two positions where there are no presumptive starters, yet it’s impossible to tell, as both positions exude a closeness that one would imagine coaches dream of having in terms of chemistry.
 
A running back makes a big play during a team drill and every other running back not in the game celebrates.  Defensive backs all pull for each other.  They stay after practice to work on coverages, and the receivers jump in to help.  Receivers work after practice with the Juggs Machine to have footballs fired in to work on receiving technique, and they invite the defensive backs to jump in to get in extra work as well.
 
For the defense it’s about discipline and practice technique.  Most of the drills are “Thud”, in which the defense wraps up the offensive player but doesn’t take him to the ground.  Usually over the course of “Thud” drills, players will start tackling, whether it’s to showcase themselves to the coaching staff or just because they want to actually tackle someone.  This year, the discipline has been palpable.  Multiple watchers of practice, particularly those within the game, have commented on the discipline involved, and that is two-fold for UNM.  The discipline piece is obvious, but you can only “Thud” properly if you are in position to make a tackle and make the play, so both pieces are critical. 
 
The key is many times in a “Thud” drill, the defense slows up, or takes it easy, but that’s not the case with this team.  The energy is solid, and the “Thud” is well, a pretty solid “Thud”.  The fact that no practice periods have had to be repeated attests to how well the team is practicing, despite the hot temperatures.
 
It’s not quite like Ghostbusters with Bill Murray shouting “Dogs and cats living together…mass hysteria!”, but many times the positional nature of football is such that cliques form.  If there’s cliques on the Lobo Football team, they are well, well hidden.  Just watching the groups arrive for practice is proof of that.  On Tuesday morning a group of seven walked in together, and those seven student-athletes were all talking and laughing together.  By a quick count, those seven represented the following:
 
Three races/ethnic groups
Five positions
Four states
 
This wasn’t all the linebackers walking in together.  This wasn’t all the running backs walking in together.  This was a team walking together, and just walking into the 8 a.m. team meeting it was obvious that there was energy within that group.  That same energy that Bob Davie has been watching at practice everyday since August 2, and that same energy that will represent UNM, Albuquerque, and the state of New Mexico on August 31 at Dreamstyle Stadium in the season opener against Sam Houston State.