When sophomore quarterback Casey Kelly leads the UNM football team into battle against the University of Wyoming Saturday, he'll be the fifth different starting quarterback used by the Lobos since the start of the 1999 season.
And like his predecessors, he will have to learn on the job. With the Lobos (1-2 overall, 0-1 Mountain West Conference) in the thick of the conference race, UNM's sputtering offense needs a spark plug and fast.
Kelly saw limited off-season action, taking just seven pass attempts in spring scrimmages due to an eight-inch laceration on his face that prevented him from slipping on a helmet.
Against the Air Force Academy in a junior varsity game held Sept. 9 at University Stadium, Kelly completed 21 of 37 pass attempts for 369 yards, six touchdowns and one interception in a 46-23 victory.
Last week, he was thrust into the spotlight against the University of Utah as junior Rudy Caamano struggled to a 3-for-11 performance through the first quarter and the first five minutes of the second.
Though Kelly only completed seven of 24 pass attempts for the game, his first attempt sailed into the hands of Dwight Counter for a 40-yard completion, which seemed to exemplify why UNM coaches have lauded him as a pure passer.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
"I knew I was going in, so I was kind of nervous," Kelly said. "First play, Jarrod (Baxter) had a nice run so that kind of made me a little calm, and then I threw that pass and that calmed me some too. It was just good to move the ball. If we had gone three and out, I might have stayed nervous."
Some of Kelly's incompletions may be attributed to dropped passes that seemingly were right on target.
Head coach Rocky Long said receivers may not have been used to Kelly's accuracy and the higher velocity of his throws.
"Maybe a part of the drops were that the ball was getting there a little quicker," Long said. "That's no excuse. Their job is to catch the ball and if it's anywhere near them, they should catch the ball."
Kelly, on the other hand, was hesitant to lay any blame.
"It's not like the dropped balls were anything that was that big a deal," Kelly said. "We all make mistakes. If a receiver makes a mistake, that's one thing, and I know I made mistakes - I didn't put the ball in their hands a lot of the time. As a team, we all have to get better this week."
Kelly also seemed to handle the pressure of the Utah defense with a relative ease that often belies a sophomore quarterback. After Kelly's first completion and a 47-yard touchdown bomb to Counter to open the second quarter, Utah stepped up its pressure of Kelly.
But he seemed composed and made good decisions with the football.
"They got a little pressure on me, but the offensive line did a great job," Kelly said. "I might have been sacked once, but I wasn't hurried that much."
Now Kelly is being given a chance to get his first collegiate start against a Wyoming team that seems ripe for the picking.
The Cowboys were trounced by Colorado State University last week 42-14 after the Rams compiled 302 yards on the ground and 117 yards in the air.
Nevertheless, he admits that it will be a tough endeavor.
"It will be my first start, and that's something that will be new to me," Kelly said. "But I think the experience I got last week will help a lot with the game speed and the expectations of the coaches and players."
Long has said that the quarterback job is Kelly's to lose, which seems to suggest he will ride out the year as starter.
Kelly said he is trying to take his time in the spotlight in stride and said the key to his success is simplicity.
"As all of us football players are, we all come in and want to play and we come in expecting to play," Kelly said. "And now that I'm playing I think it's just going out and having fun and doing what I like to do. Yeah, there's a lot more media hype and people talking about me but that's about the only thing that's different."
