by Kristie Boudwin
Daily Lobo
With the season starting in less than a week, Lobo star running back DonTrell Moore is primed for his best year yet in what has already been an amazing career at UNM.
If Moore never rushed another yard for the Lobos, he would be in fourth place for the most rushing yards in UNM history with 2,584. He begins his junior season just 1,278 yards shy of the UNM record for the most rushing yards in a career, and last year he was the nation's leading scorer and Mountain West Conference Player of the Year.
Moore holds the UNM record for the most rushing yards in a single season with 1,450, and he has rushed for over 100 yards per game in eight consecutive home games.
He is also starting to get noticed on a national level. The Walter Camp Foundation designates 40 college football players each year as "players to watch." One will be named the nation's collegiate Player of the Year for the upcoming season. Moore is the only player from the Mountain West Conference on the list.
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Moore said the mentality of the UNM football program has helped him develop.
"Coach Long has a hard-work attitude," Moore said. "It made me realize that I have to be mentally and physically strong to accelerate as a player."
Moore's mental strength was evident as he coached himself away from fumbling tendencies. He said he made a conscious effort to correct his ball-handling skills without over-emphasizing the problem.
Running backs coach Curtis Luper said Moore had a productive off-season and he expects the hard work to pay off in the upcoming season.
"He had an exceptional spring and an exceptional summer," Luper said. "If we play the way we have the past two seasons offensively, he will achieve his personal goals and we will achieve our team goals as well."
Moore said he sets high goals for himself and the team as a whole.
"This season my goal is to get to the Liberty Bowl in Memphis and win it," Moore said. "That's our team goal and my individual goal. The way that I help that goal is to be the best player that I can be."
Moore not only leads the team in rushing yards, but also serves as one of the team captains, as voted by his teammates.
"When one of the best players is one of the hardest workers and one of the best people in general, it has an infectious feeling that spreads throughout the team," Luper said.
Moore said being a team leader is about more than setting an example for his teammates.
"I think as a captain I have to exemplify feelings, thoughts and emotions to let teammates hear it," Moore said. "Not only can they see it, but they can hear it from me."
Moore said his ideal future includes graduating from UNM with a degree in criminology and being drafted by the San Francisco 49ers to play professional football.
Luper said any goal Moore sets can become a reality.
"In the three years that we have worked together, he has done everything that I have asked of him, so together we have done some great things," Luper said. "His future is unlimited. He can go as far as he wants to go."
