ARTICLE BY JUAN BAEZA/ FOR CPS

Albuquerque, New Mexico- It was scrimmage time in Lobo Land this past Saturday, Aug.15. One thing stood out immediately, two QBs for the lobos weren’t in their typical grey jerseys.

For those who may not know, QBs tend to be untouchable throughout practices. Being the most important position on the field, no coach tends to want to risk injury to their QB. So it was quite a surprise to see two QBs wearing red jerseys, Luke Moga and Toa Faave. 

The coaching staff knows what type of player they have in James Laubstein, as he got plenty of snaps this past season. This was an opportunity for them to see what Faave and Moga had during live situations. Both of them being dual-threat QBs, it allowed the players to take a step forward in the QB battle. Coach Eck was mic’d up during the practice and he would call out to everyone “The QB is live here”, every time either Toa or Moga took over the offense. 

Laubstein took the opening drive with the starting offense. The drive would end on a third and four, the Lobo offense ran a screen but Laubstein threw the ball over the receivers head ending the drive. Throughout the scrimmage, Laubstein, of course, showed his running ability; something Lobo fans have come to know quite well. Through the air, I would say it was a mild day for Laubstein. A few completions for first downs and it even got the offense in field goal range a couple of times. It is important to note that the plays were against the starting defense, who make everything a struggle for the lobo offense. Laubstein did a good job of taking what the defense gave him on various occasions. 

One of the rarities of Saturday was seeing the starting defense give up a big play.

Kiefer Sibley, a transfer running back from North Texas; scored a long-rushing touchdown with the “second” group. Following that he got some reps with the “ones”, Sibley took major advantage of this, as he was able to rip off a long-rushing touchdown from about 40-yards out. Sending the offensive side into a frenzy. Despite this let up, the starting defense was dominant throughout the scrimmage. 

On the defensive side of the ball, a guy who was all over the place for the “twos” was Hayes Baum. The local freshman out of Cibola high school, is looking confident in his linebacker position. His biggest play came on the latter of the scrimmage, when Faave had led a drive all the way to the “red zone”. Baum would put an end to the drive, coming in hot on a blitz, getting the sack and forcing a fumble that would be recovered by Kevin Longstreet. 

Jake DeVos, got some run with the number one defense. The second year player out of Vale, Oregon, has quietly climbed up the depth charts and is even pushing for some rotation time with the “ones”. At six-foot, two-inches tall and weighing in at 255 pounds, DeVos plays defensive tackle for the Lobos. Some may say that he is undersized for the position but he is poised to play in a similar role as Xavier Slayton and Gabe Lopez did last season. Smaller interior defensive linemen that look to beat offensive guards, with speed and finesse. Worked pretty well last season, as both Lopez and Slayton were productive from the interior of the defensive line.

Faave would not end the day with the fumble, as he would throw the lone touchdown of the day to Dorian Patterson. He threw up a 50/50 ball to his 6’3″ freshman receiver. Patterson would come down with the contested catch, sending the entire team into celebration. The young receiver is looking like he can be a “redzone” threat for the lobos this year. Patterson has had no shortage of ridiculous catches throughout fall camp. 

On Day 10 of Fall camp, Patterson continued this trend, as he had another ridiculous catch with great coverage and the corner fighting him for the ball. Faave continued to look for him throughout practice. He would later on find him again; as Faave would throw a perfect pass to Patterson on the run during a scramble drill in team period, which is a 11-on-11. Faave has really stacked days. A guy who was maybe a bit behind Moga and Laubstein, is really making a push here late in camp. His decision making has been sharper, the guy just didn’t fluster with pressure on his face during day 10 of camp. 

Jaxton Eck did not practice on Day 10 of Fall camp. Do not be alarmed Lobo fans, Coach Eck said in the post-practice press conference said that it was much more of a precaution. “He has 31 career starts, he had a little something bothering him. Nothing serious. He could use a day off”. In other words, the coaching staff knows what they are getting with Jaxton Eck, so it’s one of those better safe than sorry situations. 

Head coach Jason Eck, also made it clear that he would like to have position battles narrowed down by next Tuesday. “We want to be able to tell the guys what role exactly they will be playing for us”. The team looks to shift their attention to their week one matchup against Central Michigan. 

In a season that’s already full of hype, the lobos got some national recognition. As for the first time ever, the lobos received multiple votes in both the AP top 25 and the USA today poll. No group of six teams were ranked in the AP poll or the USA today poll.