UNM football notebook: Checking in on the offense and (more) new numbers

Eighteen days out from New Mexico’s opener against Montana State, offensive coordinator Jason Beck “definitely” feels like the offense has an identity. It’s starting to show up on a practice-to-practice, scrimmage-to-scrimmage, week-to-week basis.

There is, of course, a simple caveat.

“Things always end up changing one way or the other … As hard as we practice and as much as we prepare for it, it’s not quite the same as when you get the thing on gameday,” Beck told the Journal after Tuesday’s practice. “We get all this feedback all camp, (but) that’s the first taste of major feedback when you hit that first test and now you really got your score. … we’re trying to do the pre-tests and the homework and all that stuff to be as prepared as possible.

“But something always changes.”

And yet, if the identity still has to wait 18 days, the top half of some two deeps doesn’t: Quarterback Devon Dampier is UNM’s unquestioned starter. The starting offensive line — Richard Pearce, McKenzie Agnello, Jawaun Singletary, Baraka Beckett and Wallace Unamba — is largely set. Beck cites Caleb Medford, Nic Trujillo, Luke Wysong, Shawn Miller and Ryan Davis as the team’s top five receivers right now, with the rest trying to get into that “mix of dependability.”

Other positions are just beginning to settle. For instance, Beck has previously said the team hasn’t been looking for a bell cow in the running back room — if Andrew Henry, Eli Sanders or Javen Jacobs elevates themselves above the rest, then he’ll be the guy. If not, they’ll take a committee approach to managing what might be UNM’s deepest, most versatile position group.

Has there been a lean toward one back or the other? Beck indicated so, with Sanders (477 yards, four touchdowns for Iowa State last season) gaining a slight edge.

“To me, there is a little bit where Eli is really establishing himself as a primary guy,” he said. “But there’s so much good quality in that room and versatility, like with Javen, that it’s like, the guys have to play and they have to help us. But would I expect to come out of the game (where) one guy has more carries more consistently?

“I would, at this point. But at the same time, all those guys need to be playing and need to be helping us.”

Beck said he’d ideally like to have a clear backup quarterback behind Dampier solidified by next Wednesday — after the Lobos’ second scrimmage of fall camp on Saturday. He added that Isaiah Chavez’s ongoing recovery from an upper body injury suffered last season slightly complicates a three-player competition with newcomers Emery Floyd and James Laubstein.

“But I’ve gone into seasons where there’s a clear backup and I’ve gone into seasons where it’s a backup by committee,” he added. “So that’s what we’re in the middle of — is there a clear backup? Is it a backup by committee? How is that going to play out?”

Tuesday’s practice

Out of full pads for the first time in a week, the offense went through regular drills while the defense walked through schemes. Then players stretched. Team punt drills followed and like that, the 30-minute viewing period ended.

So, outside of a couple booming punts from Charles Steinkamp, not a ton to report. In light of that, how did both coordinators feel about Saturday’s full pads, 90-play scrimmage?

“I thought we did some good things,” defensive coordinator Nick Howell said of a session that at least one player thought lent itself to the defense. “Thought we kept the points down really well for the amount of plays and I thought guys played hard.”

“We wanted to keep some certain things going that had been going well, but we also wanted to expand and test kind of the edges of who we’re using with all those live reps,” Beck added. “And so (it was) just a big chance to evaluate — as the thing’s coming together, the identity is coming together, the personnel is coming together, kind of keep a chunk of that going, but also evaluate the guys on the edge, I guess you (could) say, to see, ‘alright, do we put a little more into that?’ You know, (figuring) out what direction we’re going that way with our identity.”

News and notes

ON HOLADAY: Justin Holaday is still listed as a quarterback, but it’s been clear for a while that his role has changed. Per Beck, it’s still up in the air what he’ll end up doing during the season, but expect him to block and run the ball in some situations — or at least provide the threat of running the ball — for now.

“(We’ve) been putting him in positions to help our offense and it’s primarily been kind of as a blocker, doing stuff (where) you need a guy to read to react to what’s happening,” he said. “And kinda having a quarterback approach that, (to) a normal guy, (entails) complicated decision-making — he can make those complicated decisions to help the offense out, primarily as a blocker.”

New numbers: Tuesday’s practice was the second day out for the latest group of players to earn their numbers under Mendenhall. It was also the first time we’ve seen (more than a couple) sets of duplicate numbers awarded during camp.

The 17 players that received numbers over the weekend:

• CB Pierre Kemeni Jr. (12)
• WR Caleb Medford (12)
• S Tavian Combs (16)
• QB Isaiah Chavez (16)
• WR Ryan Davis (18)
• DB Cam Watts (18)
• LB Jayden Wilson (24)
• K Luke Drzewiecki (26)
• CB Nigel Williams (28)
• S Skylar Cook (32)
• LB Randolph Kpai (33)
• OL Jawaun Singletary (55)
• OL Wallace Unamba (76)
• OL Richard Pearce (78)
• TE Everett Hunter (83)
• QB Justin Holaday (87)
• DL Bryce Santana (99)

Injury report: Defensive lineman Tyler Kiehne and offensive lineman Malik Aliane were seen out of turquoise practice jerseys (meaning injured, limited or non-contact) for the first time all camp, while linebacker Dimitri Johnson was also back in a white practice jersey on Tuesday.

The rest of the players spotted in turquoise:

S Skylar Cook

Here are 8 photos from UNM football practice on Tuesday morning