sports@dailylobo.com
The new era of Lobo football might have to begin without starting quarterback B.R. Holbrook.
Holbrook missed two days of practice last week in Ruidoso due to shortness of breath and discomfort in his chest. He returned to Albuquerque on Thursday and underwent tests at UNM Hospital.
Head coach Bob Davie said Holbrook might be able to suit up for the home opener against Southern in two weeks.
“Fortunately for B.R., it’s been diagnosed as inflammation of the chest,” Davie said. “Doctors feel that medication will alleviate the problem and the symptoms, so as soon he’s symptom-free and the doctors clear him, he’ll be ready to go.”
Sophomore defensive back Jamal Merritt said Holbrook’s absence presents the team with an unforeseen challenge.
“It’s a little challenging when the starting quarterback goes down, under any circumstance,” Merritt said. “But we’re praying and we’re hoping for the best for him. Hopefully he comes back for the first game.”
With only two weeks left to gear up for the season, Davie said he wished the Lobos had a practice game to prepare for the in-season action.
“First of all, in the NFL they have exhibition games, in high school football they have scrimmages, in college football you just go play your first game without anything and that’s scary, particularly when you’re a brand new coaching staff with brand new systems,” Davie said. “So our first game to me is our biggest concern.”
Davie said the two weeks spent in Ruidoso have helped unify the team.
“The first thing was just respecting each other a little bit more and this program a little bit more,” he said. “We came back a closer team than what we were when we left. I think if you talk to our players, they can better answer that, but I think we accomplished that.”
Merritt said the Lobos are mentally on the same page.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
“I think being focused, we all have to be focused and have the same mindset,” he said.
Saturday was the end of camp scrimmage, and Davie said he was happy with what he saw on the field.
“I’ve been involved with a lot of these where you’ve practiced for two and a half weeks, guys are dead-legged and beat up,” Davie said. “Overall, I was very pleased, because I’ve seen some of these scrimmages have no enthusiasm at all. I thought our guys came out here and were enthusiastic. We played a lot, we played everybody.”
Most of the action went to underclassmen because some veterans were nursing injuries, and the team has only 74 out of 85 possible scholarship players.
“A lot of these older guys we held back on,” Davie said. “So it was good for all our new guys in our program. I’m pretty pleased. I’m glad we had two weeks to play.”
