Three observations from UNM's Saturday scrimmage

The weather on April 5, when the Lobos hosted their first full scrimmage of spring practice? A blustery 40 degrees with gusting winds, a snapshot of spring in New Mexico.

The weather Saturday for UNM’s second scrimmage? A balmy 85 degrees with hardly a cloud in sight — also, somehow, a snapshot of spring in New Mexico.

“I’m sure the temperature is about double,” head coach Jason Eck told reporters midway through Saturday’s scrimmage.

Three observations from UNM’s scrimmage, its final full-contact practice until Friday’s spring game:

1. If there’s still a long way to go, this defense is showing steady improvement

Take it from Spence Nowinsky: UNM isn’t looking to be overly complicated on defense. There’s a clear emphasis on what practice is about and should look like on days like Saturday, and it isn’t rooted in anything schematic.

“We’re not real complicated,” UNM’s first-year defensive coordinator said Saturday. “And listen, anybody can tell you whatever — it’s not about scheme. It’s not. It’s about the people.

“And that is something that we have to hang our hat on, not beating ourselves.”

There were, however, a few times Saturday where the Lobos beat the Lobos — in a figurative sense. Early in the scrimmage, a wide-open Xavier Van caught a pass at the sideline on third-and-4 and ran untouched into the end zone, the product of a lapse in communication among the third-string defense.

“We gotta talk!” safety David Murphy yelled on the sideline immediately after.

There seemed to be a similar feel when tight end Dorian Thomas scored on the first-team defense on first down from the 24-yard line. And maybe when tight end Cade Keith did so against the second-stringers, too.

On the other hand, there were plenty of times the Lobos beat the Lobos — in a literal sense. A move inside for Gabe Lopez is starting to pay off, with the redshirt senior out-athleting lineman on the inside. Xavier Slayton is also doing some good things at the jack — UNM’s boundary end spot — and came up with a sack late. Safeties Albert Nunes — the nickel, or star in this defense’s terminology — and Murphy are still flying around, still producing in eye-catching fashion.

Is UNM’s defense at its best quite yet? No.

Is it doing enough to show some signs of what might come? Take it from Nowinsky — if there’s miles to go in the long run, they’ll take inches of improvement for now.

“I like where we’re at,” he said. “You know, it’s far from perfect, it’s far from championship football today. But we’re heading in the right direction.”

2. UNM’s tight ends could give a thin receiver room a significant hand

A reminder: UNM probably needs another receiver or two to feel truly good about that group heading into fall camp. If it’s hardly been a secret (Eck talked about it as recently as last week), it’s a clear reality for a team in need of a few more reliable pass-catchers to supplant a room just getting Keagan Johnson back in the mix.

But if it hadn’t always been clear, this tight end group could go a long way in that regard. That showed Saturday, with transfers Thomas (Arizona), Keith (TCU) and Aiden Valdez (Campbell) hauling in a touchdown each. Ironically, Keayen Nead — UNM’s de facto starter — was the only rotation end to not score Saturday.

“We’re gonna have to add some pieces there, I think, in the offseason as well,” Eck said. “ … (But) I think all three of those guys have shown drastic improvement during spring ball — Dorian, Aiden and Cade Keith — which is what you want.”

UNM hasn’t had two tight ends catch 10-plus passes each since 2021, when Trace Bruckler (15 receptions) and Kyle Jarvis (11 receptions) finished second and third, respectively, on the team in receptions. It’s far from a sure thing — how many coaches have promised tight end involvement, only for that to fall through? — but this group could be in position to threaten that mark with Thomas’ and Keith’s receiving abilities, and UNM’s plans to work in 12 personnel often.

Or, at the very least, give UNM some more options.

“I think that’s going to be the question you’re always asking looking at your second tight end versus your third receiver — who’s the better football player and who’s on the field?” Eck said.

3. For at least one player, this spring has been something unexpected

Gabriel Motschenbacher didn’t start until his senior year at Lakeridge (Oregon) High School — and it’s awfully hard to get noticed that way. So even if UNM’s sophomore quarterback didn’t necessarily want to go the junior college route after graduation (“no one does,” he admitted Saturday), that was his opportunity. Beggars can’t be choosers, after all.

Now? Twelve practices into life as a Division I player, Motschenbacher is awash in opportunity. With Jack Layne sidelined and Emery Floyd and Isaiah Chavez gone, the 6-0, 188-pound walk-on is essentially splitting reps with James Laubstein, a comprehensive education in UNM’s pro-style offense underway.

Did he expect any of this?

“No,” Motschenbacher admitted. “When I came in, I was just looking for an opportunity to compete. And that’s all the coaching staff promised me — I would get a shot to compete.”

Saturday, Motschenbacher probably looked his best when the offense was backed up in its own territory. When he kept it on third down, he found what he was looking for (courtesy of R.J. Adams, the pulling guard on said play) and got the first with his legs.

When he passed it on third down? Motschenbacher found wide receiver Shawn Miller for a long catch just past midfield, perhaps the single most explosive play of the scrimmage.

Even if it was a little unexpected in the grand scheme of things.

“I love my JUCO coach to death, I love my high school coach to death,” Motschenbacher said, “but being able to prove to everyone back home that I was able to do what they said I couldn’t, and just be here and compete, it means a lot. It means a lot to my family, it means a lot to me.”