by David J. Chavez
Daily Lobo
A new scheme could allow for an offensive threat to rise from the shadows of Hank Baskett and DonTrell Moore in the 2006 football season.
Marcus Smith, a former running back-turned-wide receiver for the Lobos, may be that guy. Head coach Rocky Long said the team is counting on Smith to take his game to another level this year to help fill the gap left by the absence of Baskett.
"Marcus is a great athlete and has improved every year," Long said. "But now with some key players gone on offense, we're really expecting bigger and better things out of him. Marcus and Travis (Brown) need to be key playmakers in order for our offense to work this year."
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
The 6-foot-2-inch, 212-pound junior competed on the Lobo track team in 2005. He has dangerous speed and is a threat to break away every time he touches the ball.
Despite coming off the bench and playing limited minutes, Smith made strong contributions to the team last year. He was one of the team's most versatile players, catching six passes for 56 yards as well as rushing for 124 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries. Smith was a key player on special teams, returning seven kickoff returns with a 19-yard average on each return. He also made eight special-teams tackles.
Smith was most effective while being used in the Lobos' sweep plays, Long said. Smith has a lot of potential as a wide receiver but has had his problems since he moved to receiver from running back. The thing that stands out the most is his inconsistency to catch the ball, Long said. However, he said Smith has looked better in recent workouts.
"After two days of practice, he has caught some tough catches and hasn't really dropped the ball at all," Long said. "In the past, he would have days where he would catch the ball every time, and then he would have those days where he just struggled to catch it."
During the off-season, Long added former University of California-Los Angeles head coach to his staff as the offensive coordinator. After using motion and sweep plays the past couple seasons, UNM will see a more balanced offense under Bob Toledo, using the run to set up the deep pass, which is something that might benefit Smith.
"Our offense is going to be really different this year, so we have an edge over the rest of the conference because they haven't seen or ran the type of offense we'll be using," Smith said. "We don't have any superstars on the team like we've had in the past, so it's going to be a lot harder for the opponent to figure out where the ball's going to go."
Smith said the new offense is more complex in terminology and routes but allows for bigger plays to be made by the offense at crucial times.
Chemistry and timing between quarterback Kole McKamey and Smith are in sync after working together for the past three years, Smith said. The receiver said McKamey knows his limits, and the receivers know McKamey's limits, so during the season the passing game would be much improved compared to previous years when the running game was too heavily relied upon.
During Moore's tenure at UNM, the running game became the team's main source for scoring points. Smith said the pressure of scoring would be spread out on offense rather than relying on one or two guys.
"DonTrell carried 50 percent of the offensive load for the past few years," he said. "Anybody on the offense can get the ball at any given time, so now everyone is taking more responsibility for making plays and doing what we have to do to win."
