Today's practice was interrupted for about 25 minutes by lightening. Insert your complaints that the indoor practice facility is not ready yet here.

There was no major injury news today, which is always good news.

This wasn't a full-contact workout because of the big scrimmage. The guys seem pretty excited about it. This year's game pits the offense against the defense in an approach used by other schools, including Oklahoma. The defensive players were lobbying UNM coach Rocky Long for a scoring system that would be fair to them. They're definitely competitive.

The offense continues to be erratic, and I think some fans may panic if it isn't perfect during the scrimmage. The guys have made progress, but it takes time to adjust to a new offensive coordinator and offense. They are going against a veteran, aggressive defense with a simpler scheme. It also hurts being short so many starting offensive linemen due to injuries. Those linemen will be back by the summer and fall. I know a lot of people will say didn't we hear this last year and then fall flat on our face against Portland State? Yes, but this year's offensive lineup has more experience, better leadership as a result of that experience and knows how hard they have to work to adapt to a new offense after being pretty humiliated last season.

Here's some details about how the scrimmage will run Wednesday afternoon:

The scrimmage will run for four 15-minute quarters. The clock will start and stop as it would during a normal game in the first and fourth quarters, but will run continuously during the second and third quarters. There only will be live kickoffs at the start of first and third quarters. The practice begins at 6 p.m., but the team will need to warm up and the actual scrimmage isn't slated to begin until 6:30 p.m. It ought to be done somewhere around 7:45 p.m., then players will be available for autographs. The latest weather forecast I saw calls for rain in the morning, but a clear Wednesday evening.

Here's how points will be awarded:
Offense
First Down - 1 point
Extra Point - 1 point
Play Over 30 Yards - 2 points
Field Goal - 3 points
Touchdown - 6 points

Defense
Three-and-out on first offensive possession of each drive - 2 points
Any Defensive Stop - 1 point
Fourth Down Stop - 2 points
Turnover Forced - 3 points
Turnover Returned For Touchdown - 9 points

Alfredo Moreno in UNM's media relations office put together a pretty extensive overview of the spring workouts that you can find at golobos.com.

If you can't make it to the scrimmage, audio and video will be streamed live online at golobos.com Mike Roberts will do the play-by-play and former Lobo and current media relations intern D.J. Renteria will do color commentary. Long also will tape a postgame recap of spring football that eventually will be broadcast on The Mountain.

That's all for today. Check out Wednesday's Tribune for my Cherry-Silver scrimmage preview.

Posted by ilimon at 06:19 PM | Permalink