by Steven Fernandez
Daily Lobo
Next season, Kole McKamey will not be able to hand the football to DonTrell Moore and watch him slash his way through defenders on his way to a touchdown.
McKamey won't have the luxury of tossing the ball in the corner of the end zone, while Hank Baskett makes an athletic catch to put six points on the board.
McKamey will be asked to command an offense that may be unrecognizable to a lot of fans this season. For the past few years, McKamey had big-play stars like Moore and Baskett to help put up numbers on offense.
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Despite losing that much talent, McKamey is confident the offense can still be very productive, because the team has been clicking during the offseason, he said.
"We don't have those big-time, standout players," McKamey said. "But I honestly believe that as a core, we're working so much harder as a team. We're doing really well with chemistry."
McKamey said while it's impossible to replace guys like Baskett and Moore, he has been impressed by the players who will be trying to fill their shoes. Moore was a staple of the offense last season, but McKamey said he has no doubts about the players he will hand the ball to in the fall. Entering the 2006-07 season, the three tailbacks with the most experience are Rodney Ferguson, Paul Baker and Martelius Epps.
"You use what you have, and we've got three great running backs," McKamey said. "We're going to use those three running backs, and we're going to utilize the skills that they have to have a great running game."
As far as the wide receiver position is concerned, McKamey said the passing game will be successful if the ball is spread around rather than always going to one guy.
"This year, we don't have that guy who can just take over games - I don't think," he said. "But we've got the best core of wideouts that we've had since I've been here. We have several guys who can be that guy and step up during the season."
Another adjustment McKamey will have to make is to the offensive system itself. For the past couple of years, UNM has played in the spread offense. However, in the offseason, UNM head coach Rocky Long added offensive coordinator Bob Toledo to the program, a coach who relies on a more balanced offense, using the running game to set up the passing game.
McKamey said he is excited to work with Toledo.
"I think we've got more of the talent to run this offense than we did the spread, especially with coach Toledo," McKamey said. "He's a great guy. He knows football. He knows what he's talking about. He's very confident, which makes the players very confident."
Even with the loss of marquee starters and the introduction of a new offense, Long said McKamey has the tools to have a successful season.
"I think when you have an experienced quarterback, the pressure of making the offense is always going to be on the quarterback," Long said. "The new offense we put in puts more pressure on him. It's good to have an experienced quarterback, and if our offense is going to be good, then Kole has to be good."
The one area that does not put added pressure on McKamey is outside expectations of the team. In the Mountain West Conference preseason picks, the Lobos were predicted to finish fifth in the conference - their lowest ranking since 2002. However, McKamey is not upset or even surprised with the pick.
"I don't blame them for picking us fifth," McKamey said. "We don't have a whole lot of guys returning. We lost big-name players. We're a real young team, but fifth is a great spot for us. We need to be in that underdog spot so we can maybe surprise some guys."
