by Adrian Doerfler
Daily Lobo
Head coach Rocky Long threw a new twist into two-a-day practices for the UNM football team this summer.
And even though waking up at 6 a.m. may not be appealing for players, Long is confident the pros will outweigh the cons.
"I know we're a whole lot stronger and much further ahead right now than during the same time last year," he said.
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Last season, the Lobos won six games for the sixth straight year and made their fourth bowl appearance in the past five years. Nine players earned All-Mountain West Conference honors; five of those were first-team selections, tying for the second most in the league.
The traditionally ball-hawking defense Long has developed will be returning 10 starters and 23 lettermen. The only player the team lost is Quincy Black, who now plays for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The secondary is looking like it should be the strength of the defense this year. The cornerback duo of juniors DeAndre Wright, second team All-MWC, and Glover Quin, honorable mention All-MWC, could be the top cornerback tandem in the conference.
Senior safety O.J. Swift is the team's top returning tackler with 74 tackles, and Ian Clark won the Lobo safety spot, previously played by Black.
During the final scrimmage of the summer, Long said he was happy with his defense.
"The defense made two assignment errors in the first series and didn't make an assignment error the rest of the day," he said. "That's a dramatic improvement from last year."
For the third straight season, the Lobo offense has a new offensive coordinator. Last year's coordinator, Bob Toledo, was hired as the head coach at Tulane
University.
Long hired former Michigan State offensive coordinator Dave Baldwin as Toledo's replacement. Even though it's another new offense, the learning curve has been much faster than in the past years, said Long.
"The offense has a lot more experience in every position," he said. "They picked up the offense much better, and they don't make near the mental mistakes they once did."
Eight starters and 17 lettermen will return to the Lobo offense this season. The Lobos also have junior Rodney Ferguson, the MWC leading rusher and first team all-conference selection. Ferguson will have heavy-hitting fullback Matt Quillen clearing the way in hopes of another 1,000-yard season. Sophomore quarterback Donovan Porterie enters his first season as the starter. At this time last year, he was the third-string signal caller but eventually ended up as an honorable mention freshman All-American.
Last year, Porterie was thrown into the fire in the middle of the season, but he said this offseason helped him become more mentally prepared.
"This year, I know what I have to do and I know how to get ready," he said. "I know how to prepare myself, and I believe this spring and the summer camps have given me a lot of confidence and have helped me progress a lot as a quarterback."
With the early practices and the returning players, the Lobos are looking to be at the top of the conference standings at the end of the season.
"As a team, we have bonded a lot," Ferguson said. "We have come together more than any other year. We all see one goal, and we're going for it right now."
