Attitude and work ethic aren't the problem for the UNM football team's running game - it's the youth and inexperience.
The Lobos will head into the 2009 campaign with an assembly of young running backs: freshman A.J. Butler, sophomore James Wright and converted defensive back Terence Brown.
"We are still a long ways from doing the finer things," offensive coordinator and running backs coach Darrell Dickey said. "It's just proper footwork, proper technique and just learning the in-and-outs of the offense."
Dickey said that until Saturday, he didn't see much spark from his backfield.
"That was the first day I thought they were kind of getting it," Dickey said. "(They knew) where the holes were going to be, how to run through them and things like that, because we are out here going against a pretty good defense."
During Saturday's scrimmage, Butler hit holes quickly, scampering for 96 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries. He also had four catches for 25 yards and made a strong case to be the starting running back come Sept. 9, when the Lobos will head to College Station, Texas, to face Texas A&M.
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"A.J. did great. I mean, he was out there tearing it up, and what more can you ask for?" said Brown, who carried the ball 18 times for 82 yards. "He was running hard, and so was James. We are coming along well."
Still, it was just one practice. And it will probably take a committee approach if the Lobos are going to fill the shoes of Rodney Ferguson and Paul Baker. That duo was UNM's main source of offense last year. They rushed 334 times for 1,524 yards.
But Dickey said he doesn't think his stable of runners will have the same workload as Ferguson and Baker.
And they do have one returning member from last year's team in Wright, who played because of injuries to the top two backs throughout the year. The sophomore tailback rushed 54 times for 348 yards as a freshman. Saturday, though, Wright was forced to the sidelines after injuring his ankle. He had only six carries for 19 yards.
"We are just all trying to get it down at the same time now and learn the offense," Wright said. "We are just trying to give a great effort and play at a high and fast tempo."
UNM also appears to have some legs under center, too.
Freshman quarterback Emmanuel Yeager slipped past Lobo defenders. Yeager rushed four times for 44 yards. His longest dash was for 27 yards, wherein he eluded several defenders.
In 2008, quarterback Brad Gruner replaced the injured Donovon Porterie and was arguably more effective with his legs than his arm. He rushed for three touchdowns and 331 yards.
"We have got one, two, three more very important practices," Dickey said. "We also have a lot of work ahead of us. Our offense is beginning to show signs of these guys can handle what we are doing, but we will have to see."
