Football Scrimmage Saturday, Spring Game on April 3
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Lobo Football has gotten through 10 spring practices, and the final five should be doozies. Two of those five will be inside University Stadium in front of fans, with the team’s third scrimmage taking place Saturday, March 27 from 9:30-11:30 am before the return of the Spring Game, which will take place at noon on Saturday, April 3. That scrimmage will be a full game, with four quarters, and fans will want to get to University Stadium early for tailgating and football.
The team will be debuting new helmets for the two sides, with different decals than the team wore in the 2020 season.
The 2021 Spring Game will be a great way for fans to get their first real look at the Lobos in person after not playing at home in 2020. Parking for the Spring Game will be free for all fans, and tailgating is available in any spaces in the Stadium West lot. Fans can enter the stadium from the Southwest Corner, which is Gate 1.
The Spring Game will begin right at noon with a team warmup before the actual game commences. The Spring Game will be for 15 minute quarters. The first 12 minutes of each quarter will be running time (except for changes of possession) and the final three minutes of each quarter will utilize normal game timing rules. There will be a short five-minute halftime. Several video features on many of the new Lobos will be shown on the video board. The entire game is expected to last around two hours.
Fans will not be able to bring food or beverages inside the stadium, and concessions will be available, along with several Food Truck options. Fans will be able reenter the building during the Spring Game.
More information about the Spring Game will be announced in the upcoming days and fans can get the latest news on Spring Game announcements at www.twitter.com/UNMLoboFB and www.twitter.com/UNMLobos.
Before the Spring Game however, the Lobos and head coach Danny Gonzales have a scrimmage on Saturday, March 27 at 9:30 am. Fans wanting to come to the March 27 scrimmage may enter the gates around 9 am by parking in the Stadium West lot (free parking) and entering at Gate 1, located in the Southwest corner of University Stadium. For tomorrow’s scrimmage, fans may bring in food and beverages (non-alcoholic).
Fans will get a good look at an offense that has been clicking in practice lately. UNM will again have three active quarterbacks for the scrimmage with presumptive starters Trae Hall and Isaiah Chavez continuing their battle to become the opening day starter on September 2 against Houston Baptist. UNM will also have four running backs active for the scrimmage. Bobby Cole, who led the team in rushing a year ago, is the well-known commodity, but the scrimmage will against be a chance for Chad Alexander, Bobby Wooden and Aaron Dumas to make a name for themselves.
Along the line, with no Kyle Stapley, center is a big watch-point for fans as Isaak Gutierrez and Radson Jang should split the reps. UNM’s offensive line was a huge strength last season and with only one starter not returning for the upcoming season in Teton Saltes, lots of eyes should be on a host of freshmen who redshirted last year. Greg Brown, Jer’Marques Bailey, Vincent Santos and Leke Asenuga have gotten a ton of reps already in the spring and look to add to a deep line that returns Gutierrez, Stapley, Austin Cook and Cade Briggs.
Kyle Jarvis is the top returning tight end, and while Conner Kinslow is out, Caleb Marra and Connor Witthoft should see plenty of action. Among the wideouts, UNM’s staff know well what starters Andrew Erickson and Mannie Logan-Greene can do, but with up to five receivers on the field in certain formations, there should be plenty of passes thrown as UNM looks to fill out the receiver position.
Defensively the Lobos will be without Patrick Peek and Tony Collier in the secondary but UNM’s defense is very deep and made huge strides near the end of the season. Late season starters Shaddrick Lowery and Corey Hightower are back along with other starters in Tavian Combs, Donte Martin, Jerrick Reed II, Antonio Hunt and Nic Wilson. UNM’s linebackers are also a strong positional group with Devin Sanders, Reco Hannah, Dion Hunter and Ray Leutele all having played plenty of snaps in 2020.
Couple all of that with returning linemen in starters Ben Gansallo, Joey Noble and Jake Saltonstall and most of their reserves and UNM’s defense should continue to make strides for defensive coordinator Rocky Long.
Perhaps the biggest position battles to follow are at punter and kicker. Jared Long is seemingly the heir apparent at punter although kicker Andrew Shelley is also punting well in camp. Shelley and George Steinkamp are battling to reclaim the starting kicker position as well.
For both the Saturday scrimmage and the Spring Game, all fans must adhere to proper COVID protocols, including masks, which must be worn inside the stadium, and social distancing inside the stadium. The scrimmage on March 27 is the first of several events taking place on the south athletic campus over the weekend. UNM’s men’s tennis team hosting No. 22 Texas Tech on Saturday at the Estes Tennis Center at 1 p.m., and that is the only event where there will be no fans allowed.
Across University Blvd. UNM will have several events going on at the same time. Lobo women’s tennis has matches on Saturday and Sunday at 1 p.m., Lobo baseball has a doubleheader on Saturday at 1 and a single game at noon on Sunday, while Lobo softball has a doubleheader on Saturday at 2 p.m. and a single game on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Fans can purchase tickets to Saturday’s events online at www.golobos.com/tickets. Fans can purchase tickets in person, but no cash transactions will be taken.