by Steven Fernandez
Daily Lobo
After four games this season, the Lobo defense is starting to click as the football team heads into conference play.
Through the first three games of the season the UNM defense was giving up an average of 26 points and 384 yards per game, relying on offensive production and turnovers to pull out victories.
Against the University of Texas-El Paso however, the defense held the Miners to seven offensive points and 285 yards.
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Though the result against UTEP was a loss, head coach Rocky Long said the team is starting to take steps in the right direction defensively.
"I think we've improved," he said. "Last week we didn't make as many assignment errors. I think we made more plays last week than we have in the past on defense."
Long said he doesn't think the defense has reached it's full potential and hopes to see more improvement as the season progresses.
"We've got a long way to go before we can consider ourselves a very good defense. In order to win a conference championship, we need to get better," he said.
Long, renowned for his defensive genius, said having younger members on the team is a reason for the slow start for the defense. He said the younger players, especially the safeties, have become more comfortable with the system.
"The safeties as a whole played pretty good against UTEP," he said. "I don't think we were very consistent at that position until that point. They played thoroughly well against UTEP, and hopefully they'll continue to play well this week."
After all-Mountain West Conference safety Josh Bazinet graduated from last year's team, the Lobos lost some depth at the position. Under Long's system, the safeties are constantly active, making the transition that much harder.
Freshman safety Blake Ligon said while it hasn't been easy to learn the system, the group is improving, and the safeties have more opportunities to make plays.
"The defensive scheme is one of the toughest ones to play in," Ligon said. "We're picking it up. We started off a little shaky but we're getting to where we need to be."
Ligon said he is excited about the chances he gets to make sacks and big hits on running backs, something safeties in more conservative systems don't get to do.
"It's fun because not many teams like to blitz their safeties," he said. "Coach Long loves to send them, and that's what we love to do."
Long agrees that his scheme is a difficult one, but said it is one that should be effective when all his players become more disciplined.
"I think our defense is very complicated," he said. "More complicated than most college defenses are. Our safeties are an integral part of the versatility we have on defense, so it is a tough position to learn."
With UNM having finished its non-conference schedule, the team said the rest of the season should be extremely intense, which could fire up the defense.
Senior linebacker Mike Mohoric said playing the rest of the games against conference rivals is a challenge the defense is looking forward to.
"There's a lot of different looks as far as the offenses go in the conference," he said. "We pride ourselves in being the most physical team. That's something we need to keep doing as far as following assignments and playing as physical as we possibly can."
Long said the conference games will be the hardest games of the season, and the Lobo defense will have to step up during the key stretch.
"I think conference games are more physical and more important," Long said. "Every offense in this league has the potential to really move the football. So the defense is going to be facing a challenge every week."
