UNLV/New Mex
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UNM football head coach Rocky Long might be having nightmares about the University of Nevada-Las Vegas' spread offense before Monday's game against the Runnin' Rebels.
The Lobos - who are ranked second in the Mountain West Conference in the preseason - will open the season and the home opener against the spread offense that UNLV possesses.
"It's going to put a lot of pressure on our entire team," Long said. "That offense was very successful at Utah last year, and no one has really slowed it down or stopped it to the point."
The spread offense puts receivers out wide and provides a variety of match-up problems for defenses. Long said the safety position, which lost all-MWC selection Josh Bazinet, will be tested.
"We'll have to play very well. Our safeties are very inexperienced, so they're going to have to play a solid and error-free game," Long said.
Cornerback Gabriel Fulbright - who was a second-team all-MWC honoree last season - said he knows it will be no easy task, but is confident the Lobo defense can get the job done.
"I think we're pretty much used to it, our offense runs the spread offense," he said. "We are pretty comfortable with it, it's going to be hard, but I think we're ready."
Fulbright said if the front seven can get pressure on UNLV quarterback Shane Steichen, the Lobos can generate some interceptions, which he said would help the team a lot.
"Turnovers would be big, especially with our linebackers and our D-line," he said. "They're not going to have much time to sit back and see who they're going to throw to."
Long said if UNM can come out and force turnovers and not lose the ball on offense, it would go a long way to helping the Lobos win the game.
"The more turnovers you get, the more momentum is on your side," he said. "The team that gets the most turnovers has the best chance of winning."
While the Lobos have a lot of pressure to play well defensively, the first game will also be a test to see how the offense will do this season. One of the biggest factors will be star tailback DonTrell Moore's performance.
Moore received first-team all-MWC honors for the third time last season, and rushed for 1,091 yards despite missing three games due to injury. He also was injured in the Emerald Bowl, and said he is just happy to be starting a new season.
"I'm very excited, it's been awhile since we've played," Moore said.
The senior tailback also said he expects to be healthy come game day.
"I'm feeling pretty good," he said.
Long said the way Moore plays will be important for the success of the offense.
"DonTrell's a good player. If he feels good on game day, then he's going to get the ball a lot and if he has a good game we have a better chance to win," Long said.
As far as opening the season against UNLV at home, Long said he would prefer to play out of the MWC, but is prepared for the challenge.
"I love home games, but I wish we had a couple of non-conference games before conference games," he said.
Fullbright said having such an important game so early in the season will have the team even more energized.
"I'm very excited," he said. "It's the first time we've ever had a conference game first. That's going to get us pumped up."
The Lobos - who are ranked second in the Mountain West Conference in the preseason - will open the season and the home opener against the spread offense that UNLV possesses.
"It's going to put a lot of pressure on our entire team," Long said. "That offense was very successful at Utah last year, and no one has really slowed it down or stopped it to the point."
The spread offense puts receivers out wide and provides a variety of match-up problems for defenses. Long said the safety position, which lost all-MWC selection Josh Bazinet, will be tested.
"We'll have to play very well. Our safeties are very inexperienced, so they're going to have to play a solid and error-free game," Long said.
Cornerback Gabriel Fulbright - who was a second-team all-MWC honoree last season - said he knows it will be no easy task, but is confident the Lobo defense can get the job done.
"I think we're pretty much used to it, our offense runs the spread offense," he said. "We are pretty comfortable with it, it's going to be hard, but I think we're ready."
Fulbright said if the front seven can get pressure on UNLV quarterback Shane Steichen, the Lobos can generate some interceptions, which he said would help the team a lot.
"Turnovers would be big, especially with our linebackers and our D-line," he said. "They're not going to have much time to sit back and see who they're going to throw to."
Long said if UNM can come out and force turnovers and not lose the ball on offense, it would go a long way to helping the Lobos win the game.
"The more turnovers you get, the more momentum is on your side," he said. "The team that gets the most turnovers has the best chance of winning."
While the Lobos have a lot of pressure to play well defensively, the first game will also be a test to see how the offense will do this season. One of the biggest factors will be star tailback DonTrell Moore's performance.
Moore received first-team all-MWC honors for the third time last season, and rushed for 1,091 yards despite missing three games due to injury. He also was injured in the Emerald Bowl, and said he is just happy to be starting a new season.
"I'm very excited, it's been awhile since we've played," Moore said.
The senior tailback also said he expects to be healthy come game day.
"I'm feeling pretty good," he said.
Long said the way Moore plays will be important for the success of the offense.
"DonTrell's a good player. If he feels good on game day, then he's going to get the ball a lot and if he has a good game we have a better chance to win," Long said.
As far as opening the season against UNLV at home, Long said he would prefer to play out of the MWC, but is prepared for the challenge.
"I love home games, but I wish we had a couple of non-conference games before conference games," he said.
Fullbright said having such an important game so early in the season will have the team even more energized.
"I'm very excited," he said. "It's the first time we've ever had a conference game first. That's going to get us pumped up."
Last year's game against New Mexico underscored UNLV quarterback Shane Steichen's season.
He came off the bench and sizzled, completing touchdown passes of 19 and 47 yards to stake the Rebels to a 17-7 lead. He was on his way to leading a third touchdown drive and going ahead 24-10 before halftime.
Then ...
Well, then Steichen badly underthrew an open Earvin Johnson in the end zone. The pass was intercepted, Steichen was never the same, and the Lobos rallied to win, 24-20.
It was the most glaring example of Steichen's play -- stretches of promise foiled by a key mistake or two.
Now as he begins his junior season under first-year coach Mike Sanford in a radically different offense, one of the major questions entering Monday's 10 a.m. PDT opener at New Mexico is whether Steichen can sustain longer stretches of promise and decrease the mistakes that have become his unraveling.
"Shane has been a guy that will look great and do things completely right for seven plays, if you take 10 plays in a game, and not concentrate for three plays," Sanford said. "The challenge for him to be a really good quarterback is to play all 10 of those with a high concentration level.
"I feel like he's improving in that area. It's hard to tell how he's going to react in a game. You can't tell that until you play the game."
Improving that concentration has been one of the major undertakings in the preseason.
"We talk to him about it all the time," Sanford said. "It's something he has to discipline himself to do, he has to remind himself to do."
Steichen said he thinks he has made progress.
"I think my focus has gotten a lot better," he said. "Now I've got the hang of the offense. I'm studying film every chance I get. If I'm not in class, I'm in the film room. I've got to stay consistent with that, and I've got to stay consistent on the field."
But no matter how consistent he is, mistakes will happen, a reality for all quarterbacks.
How Steichen responds will be a key. If he comes apart as he has in the past, all the hard work could be for naught. If he quickly forgets such errors and moves ahead to the next play, he could become a more polished quarterback.
"I'm more mature," Steichen said. "I consider last year, that was my first year ever playing. Now that I've got that experience, I'm going to have confidence going into this season. I'm named the starting quarterback now, so I don't have to worry about another guy or anything."
His job was in jeopardy after last season when he completed 49.2 percent of his passes for 1,011 yards with seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
Steichen (6 feet 4 inches, 200 pounds) stood in the back of the room when Sanford said at his introductory news conference in December that quarterback was one of his chief priorities.
Then Steichen watched junior college transfer Jarrod Jackson sign early.
But Steichen embraced the situation and outperformed Jackson in the spring and preseason to win the job.
His coach saw enough to be impressed when the Rebels played at Utah last season. Though UNLV was beaten 63-28, Steichen had some of those positive stretches that too often gave way to mistakes. He directed four touchdown drives, rushing for a 25-yard TD on one, but completed 9 of 22 passes for 111 yards with two interceptions.
"I saw him run against us at Utah, and he's a good runner," said Sanford, who was the Utes' offensive coordinator. "He's a better runner than people think he is. He's probably faster than Alex (Smith)."
Smith, Utah's Heisman Trophy finalist, was the NFL's No. 1 pick this year.
Before becoming such a marquee player, Smith came from virtually nowhere, competing as the No. 3 quarterback in the spring of 2003.
"It's crossed my mind," Steichen said of Smith's rise under Sanford. "But, really, I've just got to go out and play and do my job. I think if I do my job and everyone else does their job, everything's going to take care of itself and we're going to have a good season."
j NOTE -- Backup linebacker Ryan Welter probably will be out at least a month with torn cartilage in his left knee.
He came off the bench and sizzled, completing touchdown passes of 19 and 47 yards to stake the Rebels to a 17-7 lead. He was on his way to leading a third touchdown drive and going ahead 24-10 before halftime.
Then ...
Well, then Steichen badly underthrew an open Earvin Johnson in the end zone. The pass was intercepted, Steichen was never the same, and the Lobos rallied to win, 24-20.
It was the most glaring example of Steichen's play -- stretches of promise foiled by a key mistake or two.
Now as he begins his junior season under first-year coach Mike Sanford in a radically different offense, one of the major questions entering Monday's 10 a.m. PDT opener at New Mexico is whether Steichen can sustain longer stretches of promise and decrease the mistakes that have become his unraveling.
"Shane has been a guy that will look great and do things completely right for seven plays, if you take 10 plays in a game, and not concentrate for three plays," Sanford said. "The challenge for him to be a really good quarterback is to play all 10 of those with a high concentration level.
"I feel like he's improving in that area. It's hard to tell how he's going to react in a game. You can't tell that until you play the game."
Improving that concentration has been one of the major undertakings in the preseason.
"We talk to him about it all the time," Sanford said. "It's something he has to discipline himself to do, he has to remind himself to do."
Steichen said he thinks he has made progress.
"I think my focus has gotten a lot better," he said. "Now I've got the hang of the offense. I'm studying film every chance I get. If I'm not in class, I'm in the film room. I've got to stay consistent with that, and I've got to stay consistent on the field."
But no matter how consistent he is, mistakes will happen, a reality for all quarterbacks.
How Steichen responds will be a key. If he comes apart as he has in the past, all the hard work could be for naught. If he quickly forgets such errors and moves ahead to the next play, he could become a more polished quarterback.
"I'm more mature," Steichen said. "I consider last year, that was my first year ever playing. Now that I've got that experience, I'm going to have confidence going into this season. I'm named the starting quarterback now, so I don't have to worry about another guy or anything."
His job was in jeopardy after last season when he completed 49.2 percent of his passes for 1,011 yards with seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
Steichen (6 feet 4 inches, 200 pounds) stood in the back of the room when Sanford said at his introductory news conference in December that quarterback was one of his chief priorities.
Then Steichen watched junior college transfer Jarrod Jackson sign early.
But Steichen embraced the situation and outperformed Jackson in the spring and preseason to win the job.
His coach saw enough to be impressed when the Rebels played at Utah last season. Though UNLV was beaten 63-28, Steichen had some of those positive stretches that too often gave way to mistakes. He directed four touchdown drives, rushing for a 25-yard TD on one, but completed 9 of 22 passes for 111 yards with two interceptions.
"I saw him run against us at Utah, and he's a good runner," said Sanford, who was the Utes' offensive coordinator. "He's a better runner than people think he is. He's probably faster than Alex (Smith)."
Smith, Utah's Heisman Trophy finalist, was the NFL's No. 1 pick this year.
Before becoming such a marquee player, Smith came from virtually nowhere, competing as the No. 3 quarterback in the spring of 2003.
"It's crossed my mind," Steichen said of Smith's rise under Sanford. "But, really, I've just got to go out and play and do my job. I think if I do my job and everyone else does their job, everything's going to take care of itself and we're going to have a good season."
j NOTE -- Backup linebacker Ryan Welter probably will be out at least a month with torn cartilage in his left knee.
New-look Rebels a mystery to New Mexico for opener
New Mexico coach Rocky Long has made his concerns known to anyone who would listen from the time the schedule was released in March.
At the top of the schedule was Monday's 10 a.m. PDT game against visiting UNLV.
It was bad enough, Long figured, to be playing a Mountain West Conference game as the season opener. The really bad part was it was an opponent he couldn't properly prepare for.
After all, UNLV has a new head coach and mostly new staff. The Rebels will run a drastically different offensive system and a defensive scheme that bears little resemblance to recent UNLV teams.
In addition, the Rebels have undergone a large personnel makeover, with new starters throughout the lineup.
"We have no idea what they're going to do on defense," Long said. "We're guessing they're going to run mostly what Utah ran on offense. They can game plan for our defense and obviously can game plan for our offense because of what they've seen on film. We have no film on their defense and no film on the offense."
However, the Lobos can view videotape of UNLV quarterback Shane Steichen, who started five games last season, including the final four.
But Steichen will perform different functions in the new shotgun spread, so tape of him running last year's run-based system can be of only so much use to the Lobos.
"He's a good athlete, and he showed signs of being a good quarterback in the old system," Long said. "He seems faster than Alex Smith, and they have about the same athletic ability."
Smith was a Heisman finalist at Utah last season and became the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft.
Of course, UNLV coach Mike Sanford was Smith's offensive coordinator.
Sanford closed practices after the first week of preseason camp because he didn't want to give away any secrets, particularly to the Lobos since this is UNLV's best opportunity of the season to surprise an opponent before providing imformative videotape for future opponents.
"I think they kind of have an idea of what we're doing on offense just because Coach Sanford brought the Utah offense," Steichen said. "I really don't think they know what we're doing on defense. I don't know what film they're going to be watching. It's going to be interesting to see how it goes, to see how they match up against us."
Long said he doesn't expect to truly pick up on UNLV's offensive and defensive schemes until mid-second quarter. Then he and his staff can make the proper adjustments.
So maybe the first 20 to 25 minutes is the best chance for the two-touchdown underdog Rebels to take a lead and put themselves in position to pull off an upset.
"With this offense, it in itself is tricky and will have you confused," Rebels tailback Erick Jackson said. "The main thing is to come out and play hard, to come out with a lot of intensity, a lot of fire. I think even without tricking them, if you come out with intensity and passion, you can pretty much shock them."
Even so, Sanford downplayed the importance of taking early control.
"We might have a few surprises for them after," he said.
While the Rebels would seem to have an edge from a preparation standpoint, they will be testing new offensive and defensive systems for the first time.
Mistakes are almost certain to occur, and UNLV will try to make sure such errors don't lead to big plays by the Lobos.
"You never know what will happen," Long said. "A team with a new offense and defense you would think might have trouble executing well, but I've seen it before where a team and a brand new staff come out and play their best game out of the box."
j NOTE -- UNLV backup wide receiver Marques Johnson probably will soon undergo surgery on his right shoulder, which would put him out about two months and perhaps the entire season.
New Mexico coach Rocky Long has made his concerns known to anyone who would listen from the time the schedule was released in March.
At the top of the schedule was Monday's 10 a.m. PDT game against visiting UNLV.
It was bad enough, Long figured, to be playing a Mountain West Conference game as the season opener. The really bad part was it was an opponent he couldn't properly prepare for.
After all, UNLV has a new head coach and mostly new staff. The Rebels will run a drastically different offensive system and a defensive scheme that bears little resemblance to recent UNLV teams.
In addition, the Rebels have undergone a large personnel makeover, with new starters throughout the lineup.
"We have no idea what they're going to do on defense," Long said. "We're guessing they're going to run mostly what Utah ran on offense. They can game plan for our defense and obviously can game plan for our offense because of what they've seen on film. We have no film on their defense and no film on the offense."
However, the Lobos can view videotape of UNLV quarterback Shane Steichen, who started five games last season, including the final four.
But Steichen will perform different functions in the new shotgun spread, so tape of him running last year's run-based system can be of only so much use to the Lobos.
"He's a good athlete, and he showed signs of being a good quarterback in the old system," Long said. "He seems faster than Alex Smith, and they have about the same athletic ability."
Smith was a Heisman finalist at Utah last season and became the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft.
Of course, UNLV coach Mike Sanford was Smith's offensive coordinator.
Sanford closed practices after the first week of preseason camp because he didn't want to give away any secrets, particularly to the Lobos since this is UNLV's best opportunity of the season to surprise an opponent before providing imformative videotape for future opponents.
"I think they kind of have an idea of what we're doing on offense just because Coach Sanford brought the Utah offense," Steichen said. "I really don't think they know what we're doing on defense. I don't know what film they're going to be watching. It's going to be interesting to see how it goes, to see how they match up against us."
Long said he doesn't expect to truly pick up on UNLV's offensive and defensive schemes until mid-second quarter. Then he and his staff can make the proper adjustments.
So maybe the first 20 to 25 minutes is the best chance for the two-touchdown underdog Rebels to take a lead and put themselves in position to pull off an upset.
"With this offense, it in itself is tricky and will have you confused," Rebels tailback Erick Jackson said. "The main thing is to come out and play hard, to come out with a lot of intensity, a lot of fire. I think even without tricking them, if you come out with intensity and passion, you can pretty much shock them."
Even so, Sanford downplayed the importance of taking early control.
"We might have a few surprises for them after," he said.
While the Rebels would seem to have an edge from a preparation standpoint, they will be testing new offensive and defensive systems for the first time.
Mistakes are almost certain to occur, and UNLV will try to make sure such errors don't lead to big plays by the Lobos.
"You never know what will happen," Long said. "A team with a new offense and defense you would think might have trouble executing well, but I've seen it before where a team and a brand new staff come out and play their best game out of the box."
j NOTE -- UNLV backup wide receiver Marques Johnson probably will soon undergo surgery on his right shoulder, which would put him out about two months and perhaps the entire season.
What scares me is the new offense that UNLV will come out with. Im assuming it will be like Utahs spread offense which New Mexico has seen whenever they play Utah so maybe they will be at least familiar with it. The question is can UNLV execute the spread offense?
