UNM football notes: Defense dominates in Lobos' first scrimmage of camp

Jason Eck says it often: “you can’t let the Lobos beat the Lobos.”

That’s the head coach’s way of telling his team they need to limit penalties and mental lapses, before and after the snap.

But Thursday, the Lobos did, in fact, beat the Lobos. New Mexico took the field at University Stadium for the first scrimmage of fall camp, around 80 plays of full contact as the temperature approached 100 degrees.

A day for the defense

First, a few caveats:

• UNM was down three receivers in Keagan Johnson, Kader Diop and Isaiah Blair. Johnson, of course, is the Lobos’ most proven receiver and presumed WR1. But all three will have roles this season, and that many absences outside is enough to change the complexion of any scrimmage.

• UNM limited the snap counts of guys like running backs Scottre Humphrey and Damon Bankston. In other words, players (and starters) this staff has a feel for and don’t want to risk an injury to. “Just get them enough to keep them sharp,” Eck said.

• Scrimmage aside, Thursday was only UNM’s second fully-padded practice. It’s not the rule everywhere, but these are days that usually tend to favor defenses, not offenses, from high school to college to the NFL.

Do you see where this is going?

Thursday was the defense’s day. Full stop.

Across 80-plus snaps between the first, second and third-string units, UNM’s offense put up just one touchdown, courtesy of walk-on freshman receiver Jered Rennick’s catch on a dig route from quarterback James Laubstein; a pass thrown eight drives into the afternoon.

“I knew my team needed to get in the end zone,” Rennick said Thursday, “and I made it happen.”

The defense got in, too. Freshman safety C.J. McBean picked off a dangerous pass from quarterback Gabriel Motschenbacher, running into the end zone for a pick-six. That was his first of two interceptions on the afternoon (he hauled in a second against freshman quarterback Toa Faavae) with freshman linebacker Thomas Pettus catching a pair himself.

A Volcano Vista High School graduate, Pettus actually won the day for the defense, intercepting Faavae in the red zone to send the offense to post-scrimmage sprints. That was, of course, after he picked quarterback Jack Layne clean on a deep drop, one that made you wonder why he was as far back as he was.

“I was like, ‘oh, there’s probably somebody behind me,’” a giddy Pettus said. “(I) kept dropping, kept dropping — ball comes up, I see it coming closer. I was like, ‘oh shoot, I could catch this.’”

That he did. UNM also made at least six sacks, with defensive ends Keyshawn James-Newby and Xavier Slayton shining on a day where a lot of different Lobos got involved with the pressure.

Eck said the former “set the tone” for the scrimmage. That much was clear when he sacked Layne on first down and bullied past right tackle Nevell Brown a play later, forcing the former to throw it away and set up third and 14 on the first team offense’s second drive of the day.

For his part, Slayton chased down Laubstein on third and 9 to kill a drive later, effectively the boiling point for a day where the first team offense struggled to do much of anything. Laubstein indicated as much: “He didn’t touch me!” he screamed on his way back to the sideline.

Of course, one’s frustration is another’s pleasure — caveats or not. It’s becoming relatively clear the defense is ahead of the offense, but it’s still plenty early. We’ll see how things look during next Friday’s scrimmage.

“The defense is playing well,” Eck said. “But I think we have to use this as feedback for getting the offense better. And then we got to keep making sure that we have good plans as coaches to put our guys in the best position.

“Because hopefully these injuries aren’t long-lived. But if they are, we gotta tweak our formula a little bit to make it go better.”

News and notes

• Kicker Luke Drzewiecki drilled a 54-yard field goal to cap a scoring drive for the second team offense, one of two makes on a day where he attempted three. “He’s having an outstanding camp,” Eck said.

• UConn transfer quarterback Cole Welliver offered probably the best sustained play of any quarterback Thursday, completing five of six passes with the second team offense to set up Drzewiecki’s 54-yarder. His fourth completion was one of the better passes of the day: rolling right on 3rd and 6 with pressure from defensive end Brett Karhu, he threw a nice, decisive strike to wide receiver Zhaiel Smith on the sideline for a first down.

But beyond Laubstein and Layne, has anybody — Welliver, for instance — played their way into the competition? “We’re really, I’d say, in a two-man race right now,” Eck said. “I don’t think any of the other guys have jumped into the race.”

• Speaking of the quarterback competition: If Eck believes scrimmages are where players competing for starting spots can separate themselves, did he see Layne or Laubstein do so Thursday? “No one jumped out to me today,” he said, adding that he needed to evaluate the tape and statistics further.

• Jacksonville State transfer linebacker Ky’Won McCray got some good run with the first team defense, albeit as part of UNM’s posse (or as its more commonly known, dime) package. Eck said he believes linebacker Dimitri Johnson is still ahead of him, but said he’s earned some playing time.

“I would see him being a rotating guy,” he added. “I think probably at this point in camp, (linebacker Jaxton Eck), Dimitri and Ky’Won have kind of emerged as probably our top three linebackers.”

• There were a lot of good hits Thursday: for instance, Johnson and cornerback Abe Williams had a couple bruisers, the former unleashing two in the red zone. But the best one I saw was safety Tavian Combs’ vicious hit on Humphrey after James-Newby forced third and 14 on the first-team offense, a play that certainly caught defensive coordinator Spence Nowinsky’s attention.

“Who made that tackle?” he called into the headset after the hit. “That was a good tackle.”