Mar. 29—Was it a full scrimmage? Not quite.
"We practiced for a little longer and scrimmaged at the end ... This was kind of our half scrimmage day," New Mexico head coach Jason Eck said Saturday.
There was, however, plenty to be seen during UNM's open practice Saturday, the sixth of 15 sessions this spring entering Eck's first season with the program.
Three observations from the Lobos' first (half) scrimmage:
1. The Lobos are working through one question up front
Remember: this is still March. In between plays during Saturday's semi-scrimmage, onlookers chatted about Thursday and Friday's Sweet Sixteen games. A juggernaut Elite Eight slate. Who UNM might hire as its next men's basketball coach, when that hire might happen and so on and so forth.
Basketball is on everybody's minds. Eck is no different.
"(In) basketball, you want your first five to kick the crap out of your second five — and if (they) don't, you know, you got problems," he chuckled after Saturday's practice. "In football, it's always a balance."
This was in reference to a day when UNM's first-string offense looked good against the first-string defense, and the second- and third-string defenses had a leg up on their offensive counterparts. That's not an unusual deal for spring practice, but at least one part of said arrangement poses a question the Lobos will have to deal with through mid-April and possibly beyond:
"Is that because we're going to be really good running the ball with our one offense," Eck asked, "or is it because we got a lot of work to do stopping the run with our number one defense?"
At least for Saturday, let's call it a mix of both — albeit with a likely lean in one direction. This is a team that was built to run the football, after all. That much was apparent when UNM dialed up power a few times on the first-string offense's 10-play, 75-yard opening drive, Weber State transfer running back Damon Bankston capped it with a short touchdown.
And if it's not all the way there, Saturday was a solid look into why Eck thinks the offensive line will be a strength of the team. Not only did UNM's quality depth on the interior show out, but there was good work on the outside — particularly from Alabama A&M transfer Nevell Brown, a player Eck thinks has had the best spring of any tackle so far.
The flip side: run defense extends beyond the front four, but this isn't a defensive line that's all the way there. There is talent, but it's still about two guys short (ands maybe more) of being in a relatively decent spot depth-wise. That's not to say some good things aren't happening — for instance, sophomore defensive tackle Sa'Kylee Woodard looks like he's gaining ground at a solid clip.
2. If UNM wants 'premium' looks, James Laubstein is (currently) the best at finding them
James Laubstein's bio lists his hometown as Bethany, Connecticut, a small town in southern New England. With that in mind, it isn't surprising he pulls for all the New England teams: the Boston Red Sox, Boston Celtics, Boston Bruins and, yes, the New England Patriots.
And perhaps it's even less surprising that Tom Brady was "the guy" for UNM's 6-foot-3, 209-pound senior quarterback, growing up a witness to the peak years of maybe the most accomplished player ever. If that experience had any influence on him, it probably shows best when he talks about his own approach to the game.
"I'm never looking to make a big play," Laubstein said Saturday. "(It's) just one play at a time, try to make the right play, always thinking about down and distance when I'm out there. No turnovers and when ...
