by Kenn Rodriguez
Daily Lobo
If you saw UNM quarterback Casey Kelly on the street, you might not even guess he's a football player. The 6-foot-3-inch, 193-pound junior is way too laid back. He's rangy enough to be taken for an athlete, but his demeanor is about as far from the hyped-up jock stereotype as you can get.
Lobo head coach Rocky Long, who has kept Kelly in the starting quarterback position entering pre-season practice, confirms that laid-back trait.
"One of the great characteristics that Casey has is he doesn't overreact to doing something really good and he doesn't overreact when things go bad," Long said recently. Recent Lobo quarterbacks who earned the starting role in the preseason have found it hard to keep their jobs. Kelly, who replaced quarterback Rudy Caamano halfway through the game at the University of Utah on Sept. 29, made a graceful transition from back-up to starter and went 5-2 as starter.
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The Daily Lobo talked to Kelly on UNM media day a few weeks ago about the pressure of being quarterback at UNM and his expectations for the season.
Daily Lobo: Are you feeling good about being the starting quarterback this year?
Casey Kelly: Yeah, I mean, that's what I've been working for. It's just exciting going into the season with the whole off-season under my belt. We're ready to go. I think the guys are really exciting about our opportunities this season.
DL: The returning starting quarterback has had problems each of the last three years. It seems like there might be a curse or something. Do you feel any pressure in that respect?
CK: Not really. I've been around here through all the changes at quarterback just waiting in the wings. I've seen what those quarterbacks did to prepare for the season and I've seen how they took on the season, and hopefully I've done something a little bit different. I'm just trying to go out there and play my best. That's all I can try and do and hopefully that's good enough. I'm not really thinking about the past.
DL: Do you feel like you learned something from watching those players get the starting position and then not perform so well? Is there anything you did over the spring and summer that you did different?
CK: I definitely learned from watching them and their experiences. Everybody does their own thing, does something a little bit different. I just tried to prepare the best that I could this off-season. I've done a little bit extra, in terms of throwing and lifting (weights) hard. Hopefully that'll pay of in the end. Those other quarterbacks before me, I just had to watch them and hopefully I won't follow in their footsteps.
DL: It seems like the one advantage you have is the stability of the system that assistant coach Dan Dodd has on offense. Did you work with him much?
CK: In spring ball we tuned some things up. But just by knowing what he expects and knowing what his objectives for our offense are, just by knowing that and feeling comfortable with him, I think it helps our offense. For me to learn it and know it to teach other guys if they're struggling, having the whole off-season to work as quarterback, that all helps.
DL: How comfortable are you with the wide receiver corps? It seems like they have a lot of potential.
CK: I feel good about it. Our wide receivers have worked really hard this off-season. They've upped the bar, so to speak in terms of how hard they work. I'm really proud of the way they've taken the responsibility of working hard and doing a little bit extra with me and on their own. They've had experience. We have Dwight (Counter) and Joe (Manning) coming back, they've got experience. We've got Terence (Thomas), he's got experience. Jake (Farrel). We've got a lot of guys with experience and we've got the talent, too. Anytime you've got those two factors, you've got to be feeling good about it.
DL: What's the focus of the offense going to be?
CK: I think we'll be more consistent with moving the ball. I think we're going to try to get good at a set amount of plays and not try to do more than we can. At the same time we're going to try to make big plays. Hopefully our offense comes together and is one of those offenses that moves the chains then, all of the sudden, there's a big play. I think we can have both those aspects, the explosive and the consistency. That's what we're aiming for right now.
DL: The first team you're up against is North Carolina State University. What are you expecting to do against them?
CK: Well, without knowing game plans so far, it'll be the same things we'll do all season, run our plays and move the ball. We're going to try to move the ball, score some points, do the things we have to do to win.
DL: The defense has kept the team in games the past few years. Can the offense play that same role this year and carry more of the load?
CK: Our defense has been real strong the last 3-4 years and, as an offense, that's exciting because you know you'll always be in the game. But we've kind of banked on that too much in the past, and this year - Coach Dodd said it before and I believe it, too - we want the offense to be just as complimentary as the defense is and not to be the weak spot of the team. We want the offense to be able to put up so many points that it doesn't matter how many points the defense gives up. Hopefully we can take some pressure off the defense. They've had the pressure put on them to hold teams to low point total, and that's always stressful watching the game because you know you have to stop them or they're going to win. Hopefully we can put up a lot of points this year so they won't have to worry about that.
DL: What are the strengths and weaknesses of the offense going into summer camp?
CK: Going into it, our strengths are the offensive line, our wide receiving corps and I want to say our running backs. And everybody's going to say, 'What do you mean?' because they haven't even played. But I think our running backs are going to come up big.
Weaknesses: it's hard to say without having practices. In the past, our weakness has been being a consistent offense. One week we'd put up 50 points and the next we'd put up 15. That's just tough. It's tough when you don't know how well your offense is going to do.
DL: How about yourself personally? What do you have down and what do you still have to work on?
CK: I feel comfortable with the offense, that's one thing I think I can hang my hat on. I think I understand the offense, I understand what coach Dodd wants to do with it. I need to work on recognition of defense, offensive management - running the offense and keeping the guys in the huddle focused and being productive on offense. Passing-wise, there's always room for improvement there. I need to get a high completion percentage. I need to reduce my turnovers, throwing and running. You know, just toning things up a bit.
