by David J. Chavez
Daily Lobo
UNM offensive coordinator Bob Toledo said the Lobo football team's new West Coast offense is going to surprise a lot of opponents this year with its perplexity.
"Most teams in the country are going to a spread offense, and the Lobos will use a two-back, West Coast hybrid offense," Toledo said. "We have an edge on other teams with this offense because they rarely see their opponents using it. It's unique to them, and they have no experience with it."
For the past several years, the team relied on DonTrell Moore to pound the ball until Hank Baskett got some slack from the defense to make big-gain catches. The game plan was no secret to other teams or the fans.
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Head coach Rocky Long said the new offense is difficult to prepare for, because there are a lot of ways the offense can come at a team from the line of scrimmage.
"Since our defense has been playing against it in the spring and fall, it's been nearly impossible to anticipate which play will be run, so it's very hard to completely shut this offense down," he said. "There are times when a defense can shut some plays down, but then you make yourself weak against other types of plays. There's so much diversity that you can't lock into any one formation or play, so you have to play straight-up defense and hope your defensive athletes are better than our offensive athletes."
Long said there are a lot of keys to making the offense work, and quarterback Kole McKamey will be instrumental in the team succeeding. The quarterback has to call out protection and play changes from the line of scrimmage, so mentally McKamey will carry a big load, Long said.
McKamey has learned three different offensive systems as a Lobo. This offense is the best, but the most difficult he has learned so far, he said. The new offense allows the most opportunities for the team to succeed and the other team's defense to fail, he said.
McKamey said he is happy with the rate of progress the offense has displayed at this point in the season.
"I'm impressed with coach Toledo's coaching style, and how the wide outs, running backs and offensive line have picked up the new scheme," he said. "There's no doubt about it, if we had to play today we could, but this extra week to prepare has been good for us to fine-tune the details."
A new era will begin Saturday without the comfort of Baskett and Moore taking the field to lead the Lobos offensively. Long said the former stars have not been on the minds of the team since practice started.
"In college football, we lose a group of guys every year, and we lost some great players last year," he said. "Since the start of practice, we haven't really thought about the players we lost. We're just trying to get the players we have to play at a high level and execute out there on the field."
