Lobo football: Takeaways from practice, including Saturday's scrimmage

New Mexico football players practice on Friday afternoon at Robertsons Field in Albuquerque.

University of New Mexico football players participate in team practice at UNM on Friday, Aug, 11, 2023.

UNM linebacker Alec Marenco participates in a preseason practice on Aug. 11, 2023. Marenco has opted to transfer.

Sean Reider Sean Reider Sean Reider Journal Staff Writer

Published August 13, 2023 - 12:00 p.m. Modified August 18, 2023 - 6:26 p.m.

Danny Gonzales said it after each practice this past week: New Mexico isn’t close to playing in a game right now. They weren’t on Wednesday. Or Thursday. Not Friday, either.

And when the Lobos went live for their first scrimmage on Saturday, they weren’t quite there yet — which isn’t to say there weren’t things he liked.

“We’re further along at this point in camp than I expected to be,” New Mexico’s head coach said. “Which is awesome. There was a lot of good, physical play out here. I thought the energy was great for this being the (ninth) day of camp and them being a little bit wore out and grumpy. They weren’t real grumpy – they were playing hard, trying to get after each other.”

Notes and observations from UNM’s first live scrimmage:

A look at the defense

The first-team defense at the start of Saturday’s practice: Tyler Kiehne (defensive line), Kyler Drake (edge), Gabriel Lopez (edge), Syaire Riley (linebacker), Alec Marenco (linebacker), Dimitri Johnson (linebacker), Zach Morris (cornerback), Josh Williamson (cornerback), Noa Pola-Gates (safety; wolf), Jer’Marius Lewis (safety; wolf) and Tavian Combs (safety; lobo).

It’s not quite the full picture. Williamson filled in for starting cornerback Donte Martin, who didn’t play at all Friday or Saturday to give him some rest, while Marenco and Combs only got a set of plays each as they work their way back from ACL injuries.

Further, safety D’Arco Perkins-McAllister is still out after getting a back injection earlier in the week but will be involved upon his return. Even if a few were out of frame, the early returns have been promising.

“When the first group is out there, all 11 of those guys,” Gonzales said, “they’re pretty dang good.”

One of the guys who shined Saturday wasn’t among those initially listed. After Combs exited the scrimmage, safety Christian Ellis filled in well at the lobo — basically the defense’s equivalent to a rover that can (and usually does) help defend the run — with a couple big hits in coverage to boot.

“I don’t know that I’ve ever looked at Christian as a guy that’s a backup or a fill-in,” defensive coordinator Troy Reffett said. “To me, in my mind, he’s a starter. And we got to find a way to get him on the field.”

Per Gonzales, the plan is to convert Ellis to one of the wolf spots sooner rather than later with Perkins-McAllister joining him in the fold. True freshman Dereck Moore has turned some heads as well, and Gonzales added they’re looking to get him reps at the lobo.

Which all adds up to one of the deeper secondaries UNM’s had in recent memory, with an established linebacker core and a pass rush that’s been lauded for being faster and more athletic. The Lobos lost a lot on defense from last year. But there’s a chance they added enough to stem a precipitous drop-off.

It just has to come together. Especially in the secondary.

“It is more talented. Without a doubt,” Reffett said of the defense this year. “The production we lost last year, (current Seattle Seahawks safety) Jerrick Reed was a big piece of the puzzle. But we think we’ve got people that can come in and match his skill set.

“It’s just that Jerrick was such a smart player. And that’s where we gotta get these guys up to that level.”

Lobo Spring football scrimmage — Wide receiver Caleb Medford makes a leaping catch during a spring practice at University Stadium.

Catch me if you can

Take these (hastily scribbled and transcribed) numbers with a grain of salt: I counted Dylan Hopkins at 10-of-15 passing with three (one unofficial) touchdowns and zero picks. The first, a yards-after-catch beauty from receiver Jeremiah Hixon that was immediately called back due to unsportsmanlike conduct after Hixon motioned to a chasing Pola-Gates as if to say, come and get me.

Hence the unofficial.

As for the other two TDs? Courtesy of wide receiver Caleb Medford, one catch off a dig route from Hopkins before turning upfield to score. Then, a slightly underthrown pass off a reverse flea flicker, caught by Medford in the endzone.

There were a couple drops to pair with the touchdowns and a tight toe drag catch on the defensive sideline. They didn’t complicate the gist of Medford's performance, though.

“Caleb,” Hopkins said on Saturday, “has gotten light years better since the spring.”

Saturday was a culmination of that. Medford, a 6-foot-3, 197-pound mid-year transfer from TCU, had a good — but maybe not great — spring. An improved run in fall camp has been fueled by a greater focus on consistency more than anything else.

“We preach that every day … everybody’s trying to get to that common goal of winning a championship,” he said. “That’s really been my biggest thing — having consistency.”

It’ll be an awfully tall task to budge D.J. Washington from the front of the room, but that doesn’t have to be Medford’s spot to vie for. As far as having as many reliable options out wide as possible — and UNM does need them — Medford’s hard push to lock up a spot in the rotation has been a welcome development.

OL shaping up

Heading into camp, Gonzales pinpointed the offensive line as the team’s biggest question — specifically who might emerge and would end up where.

It doesn’t feel like much of a question anymore. When the Lobos take the field in 20 days, bank on J.C. Davis (left tackle), C.J. James (center), Shannco “Ise” Matautia (right guard) and an eased-in D.J. Wingfield (right tackle) to represent four-fifths of UNM’s starting offensive line.

Which, of course, leaves an unresolved battle at left guard between Alabama State transfer Taurrian “Teedo” Stafford and Isaiah Sillemon. Both got a healthy number of reps throughout different scrimmage periods and by my eyes, it looked like Stafford was the guy.

That assessment doesn’t really matter (do any of them?), though. After all, a resolution will be coming shortly after the staff finishes reviewing Saturday’s tape.

“They’ll get the bulk of reps at (left guard) — whoever played better today,” Gonzales said on Saturday. “Teedo was really good at backup center. He’s done really well at guard. We’re gonna put our best five out there, regardless of who they are.”

Running back battle continues

Running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt didn’t take a single handoff during Saturday’s scrimmage, another holdout with rest in mind. And while he’s looked the part so far, Gonzales confirmed as much by saying he’s one of the top two running backs.

Finding the second half of the two-deep on Saturday was a little tougher. Andrew Henry, Sherod White, Dorian Lewis and Christian Washington all showed up with some strong runs, Washington, in particular, had one of his best days of camp so far.

The main takeaway? It was a battle coming out of the spring, and it’ll remain one through the next week.

“That whole room, all of them have a chance,” Gonzales said.

Flagged football

I don’t have a rough number of penalties committed on Saturday. That’s not to say there were so many I lost count, but each side had their fair share and it was certainly noticed by Gonzales.

Notably, the aforementioned Hixon unsportsmanlike was made whole after he went back for a catch on the sideline — against Pola-Gates in coverage — and ran to the 6-yard line before being brought down. Pola-Gates clearly thought it was offensive pass interference and let the officials know before being flagged for an unsportsmanlike of his own.

“There’s a significant difference between emotion,” Gonzales said, “and passion. Having referees out here brought that up a little bit. Now we can teach off it.”

Extra points

- Injury updates: as noted before, Perkins-McAllister is still out along with wide receiver Duece Jones, defensive lineman Bryce Santana and offensive lineman Cayden Romero. Per Gonzales, offensive lineman Devon Smith hasn’t practiced the last few days due to the flu, but should be back in the swing of things by Monday.

- Wide receiver Andrew Erickson didn’t scrimmage because he has “a little bit of a hamstring (injury). There was no reason to push him today,” Gonzales said. And like Croskey-Merritt, D.J. Washington was a healthy scratch with rest in mind.

- UAB transfer wide receiver Ryan Davis hasn’t been lost in the shuffle, but he was tough to evaluate in his return to full strength post-injury. He did, however, make an outstanding touchdown grab in the corner of the end zone, over Marvin Covington.

- As mentioned last week, Trace Bruckler is TE1 and that shouldn’t change anytime soon. Magnus Geers, however, has been getting steady reps with the first team and had a couple grabs on Saturday

- Luke Drzewicki’s career-long field goal is 44 yards, made during last year’s 21-9 loss to New Mexico State. He did attempt a 53-yarder on Saturday — one that fell short by hitting the crossbar.