Mike Locksley wants to know what good it does him to clue us in on who’s going to be the UNM football team’s starting quarterback this season.
How’s this?
Once you officially announce who’s going to be the starting quarterback, Coach, you don’t have to hear any more questions about it.
Here we are, 10 days before the Lobos’ Sept. 5 season-opener, still pretending that the first-year head coach is awakened by vicious night terrors, that he rises drenched in sweat, the nagging worry of who’s going to be the guy under center needling at him like Chinese water torture.
Yep, we’re still playing charades.
“I stay up every night and want to know which guy is going to be the guy that consistently moves this team,” Locksley said. “You can write that (I’m) out there pretending that (I have) no idea who the quarterback is.”
So that’s what I’m going to do, Coach.
You really think these coaches don’t know who their guy is? Please.
Even Locksley drops subtle hints. You just have to listen attentively, allow every word to marinate, remember exactly what questions you asked him and compare that to his responses.
Take this for example.
During our five-minute chat on Monday afternoon, I asked Locksley what each quarterback brings to the table. Pay attention here: I didn’t specify which quarterback, didn’t name drop or lead Locksley to the answer I wanted.
“Donovan (Porterie) has tremendous arm talent, throws the ball accurately (and) has done a better job of being a leader,” Locksley immediately replied. “I’ve heard him being more vocal with his guys when he’s running things. He has a pretty good grasp of what we do.”
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Notice how he started off talking about Porterie. Coincidence? I think not, especially considering the fact that before fall camp got under way Locksley said that Porterie had a “competitive edge” over all the other quarterbacks.
Or how about this: At Lobo football media day, before training camp even kicked off, wide receiver Daryl Jones said he’d be, “a little shocked if Donovan wasn’t starting,” before toeing the company line and adding, “but, in the end, the best player plays. You don’t want to have any type of favoritism.”
Locksley just shrugs off those comments.
“We need to check Daryl and see if he’s the head coach,” he joked. “If we win or lose a ball game, we need to get Daryl Jones at the podium.”
So when can we expect an announcement?
The only thing Locksley conceded was that he won’t make fans — or players — wait till the night before the game to find out who will stomp out with the first-team offense against Texas A&M.
“There’s going to be a time when we come out here some time next Monday, Tuesday (or) Wednesday where me and Tee and our coaching staff are going to sit together and say, ‘Alright who can we count on? Who’s our guy?’” Locksley said. “I’ll let you know when that day comes. I promise.”
Until then everyone waits, anxiously anticipating. Yes, that means Porterie, too.
“He hasn’t announced anything yet, but I’m getting a lot of reps with the (first-team),” Porterie said. “I’m just still out here competing, trying to soak in all the information I can.”
Still, Jones said that Porterie isn’t as vexed as Locksley is about the Lobos’ apparent quarterback controversy, even though Locksley maintains that B.R. Holbrook and Brad Gruner are still vying with Porterie for the position.
“Donovan’s pretty confident that he’s going to be the starting quarterback,” he said. “But part of that is you have to be confident in yourself. If you don’t believe it, it’ll never happen. Right now, he believes.”
While we might not get any clarification from Locksley about which quarterback will start, rest assured Porterie has progressed since spring drills. In the Lobos’ final scrimmage of fall camp, he went 20-for-31 for 187 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
He’s also had quarterback coach Tee Martin’s guidance.
“One of the big points of emphasis that coach Martin preaches to me is ‘Touchdown or check down,’” Porterie said. “He wants his quarterbacks to play conservative but not be timid.”
Which brings up another point.
Should he start, how will Porterie and his reconstructed knee respond the first time the pocket collapses? No one knows what will happen when defenders finally get to unload on him, especially since Porterie has yet to shed the blue jersey — signifying he can’t be hit — for the duration of camp.
For now, though, Porterie urges skeptics to have faith.
“I’ve been here for three years,” he said. “I’m a warrior. My mentality right now is that the winners always win. You have to have a short-term memory. Tee Martin — he’s had two knee surgeries and an ankle surgery, and he was primetime. I have God on my side.”
That is, of course, if he starts, which we still don’t know — officially, at least.
