Apparently, two quarterbacks are better than one — which underscores just how desperate first-year head football coach Mike Locksley is to find a spark at the position.
Visibly frustrated by how quarterbacks Donovan Porterie and B.R. Holbrook played in Saturday’s 37-13 shellacking to Air Force, Locksley said he will try the committee approach against in-state rival NMSU on Saturday.
“Based on the package we put together, the first play of our opening drive will dictate who our starter will be,” Locksley said. “If one of them separates themselves by manufacturing drives, he’ll be the guy that gets the brunt of the work. If it’s stale and stagnant, then we’re going to try to jumpstart it with the other guy.”
This week, the Lobos will take a fantasy-football approach, employing the flex option at quarterback. However, Locksley added that “the bulk of the work” will be awarded to whichever quarterback is the piston to the Lobos’ seemingly faulty engine.
“Neither one of them have been great,” Locksley said. “In games, they’ve both been pretty average.”
Porterie, who got the start against the Falcons, went 4-of-8 for 29, except he forced an ill-advised bullet into a pane-sized window and was subsequently intercepted, leading to a 38-yard return by Air Force’s Jon Davis that put the Falcons up 17-0.
While Porterie acknowledged his mistake, he said he felt that he did everything else right.
“I made one mistake throwing across my body on a corner,” he said. “Running, picking up some yards and then punting is better than a turnover any day.”
Holbrook turned in a spotty performance after replacing Porterie with less than a minute left in the first quarter, completing just 8-of-15 passes while getting sacked four times and tossing a pair of interceptions. Some of those troubles were at least partially a byproduct of the Lobos’ third-down ineptitude — not being in third-and-short positions.
Even so, Locksley said the redshirt freshman connected on the plays he had to — one being a 29-yard completion to wide receiver Lucas Reed, which teed up tailback James Wright’s 43-yard touchdown run on the next play.
“There were some scenarios where we sped the tempos up, and he was able to get the ball snapped and executed the way I like it,” Locksley said. “Obviously, he was a part of the two touchdown drives — the first touchdown drives of the year.”
That’s been one of the biggest contrasts between the two quarterbacks, Locksley said.
“At times when we go out fast-paced tempo, Donovan hasn’t always gone as fast as we would’ve liked,” he said.
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It seems, though, that Holbrook was just the benefactor of Wright’s success.
Otherwise, Holbrook didn’t go through his progressions as quickly as Porterie.
But Locksley said that will come with more time in the offensive system.
UNM, 2-of-12 on third down against Air Force, has converted only 7-of-41 of its third-down attempts on the season — good for 117th in the nation. Turnovers have also affected the Lobos like the Bubonic Plague. UNM is -2.67 in turnover margin, having given the ball away 10 times.
Just to give fans some perspective in five carries, two of which went for touchdowns, tailback Wright, in five carries has accounted for 52 percent (12) of the Lobos’ 23 points generated on offense. The defense scored a touchdown against Tulsa.
No matter what, Porterie said the Lobos can’t rely strictly on the running game.
If they do, eventually opponents will stack the line — and stuff the holes.
Porterie added that, start or not, he’s going to be there for his team.
“All I’m going to say is whenever I touch the field I’m going to give it all I have,” he said. “I’m going to execute, make plays and I’m going to get the job done.”
