If there’s one true takeaway from Saturday’s spring game, the Jason Eck effect is as real as it gets.
On April 26, University Stadium saw its biggest attendance in a long time for their annual spring game.
In a game of the University of New Mexico Lobos battling Lobos, it wasn’t hard to see that the defense is ahead of the offense at this point in the year. Given the returning players on defense, that should be expected.
The Lobos had an intrasquad style of scrimmage for their spring game. Team Cherry comprised of the first team offense and defensive reserves versus team Silver, comprised of first team defense and offensive reserves.
It wasn’t the usual first half of football, and that’s saying a lot when referring to a spring football game.
Team Cherry got on the board first, not by touchdown, not by field goal, but by two safeties. Quarterback Gabriel Motschenbacher stepped out of bounds in the back of the endzone. Shortly after, linebacker Hayes Baum made a great tackle on running back Darrion Bowers in the endzone.
Team Silver recorded 4 interceptions: one off of Luka Moga prior to the second safety, and three off of Toa Fa’avae. CJ McBean — who won hammer of the day — and Nick Wheeler combined for a pair of pick-6’s on defense for team Silver. It’s apparent the Lobos’ secondary improved greatly this year.
“The comradery between everybody. Out of practice we are still hanging out with each other. Football or not we’re just always together. I feel like it built a bigger bond on the field,” McBean said.
The second quarter is where the Memphis transfer, running back Cameron Mathews, really shone. Following a 69-yard run to get team Silver to the opposing team’s 6 yard-line, Mathews punched it in for a 2-yard touchdown two plays later to give team Cherry an 11-7 lead.
“We (want to be) mentally focused, no (missed assignments). Once we get rolling we gotta be bowling balls to knock down all the pins,” Mathews said.
As the half was winding down, defensive end Darren Agu made a big time sack, while cornerback Jahmir Torres had back-to-back pass breakups to force a hail mary attempt by team Cherry that resulted in a sack by Clay Martineau. Team Silver led at halftime 14-11 thanks to McBean and Wheeler’s touchdowns.
Wide receiver Zhaiel Smith was a bright spot on team Cherry throughout the game. His 27-yard catch and run was one of the best plays by any receiver. He was a consistent target for Moga and Fa’avae.
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“He’s my guy, he’s an awesome kid. Always smiling. I was happy to get (Smith) back out there,” Moga said.
Following Smith’s big play, team Cherry decided to get cute with their play calling. A trick-play — turned disaster — is what led to team Silver’s third interception.
With the half winding down, team Cherry wide receivers Massiah Mingo and DJ Darling combined for a pair of 10-yard catches on back-to-back plays to set up a 39-yard field goal by Nick Romero to tie the game at 14 apiece.
McBean and team Silver came through in the clutch by picking off Fa’avae for the fourth time, setting up a 39-yard game winning field goal by kicker Grant Glasgow to win the game 17-14.
The win was an encouraging sign for Glasgow, as he hopes to take over for the Lobos’ all-time leading score kicker Luke Drzewiecki, who was invited to the Baltimore Ravens rookie minicamp this weekend.
It wasn’t a memorable performance for Fa’avae. His three interceptions are obvious mistakes, but ones you want to make now, not in September. He and Moga continue to battle it out for the QB2 spot.
“I thought it was definitely a great spring for sure,” Moga said. “I thought we accomplished a lot. I’m excited for this break to go attack some things that I want to work on personally, and to just get back and go get bigger, faster, stronger as a team before we go into (fall) camp.”
Edge Garcia is a freelance reporter for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on X @ByEdgeGarcia
