Today marked the final midday practice until the Fan Photo Day scrimmage that marks the end of fall camp. The Lobos tackle two-a-days the rest of camp.

Today also was the first day of practice with full pads. UNM coach Rocky Long said he thought the team looked a little ragged, with the hard hits and heat impacting how sharp the team looked. I thought the offensive looked better than it did than the first day fall camp, opening holes for the running backs early in practice. The offense always has had a hard time getting many runs off against the defense because the defense knows a lot of what to expect in practice. There were also some nice passes. On the flip side, the defense also had some good, big plays. One of my favorites was when Frankie Baca intercepted a pass by Bryan Clampitt. Baca returned it for a touchdown, but Clampitt ran back trying to take him out and prevent the touchdown. He was the only offensive player anywhere near Baca around the four-yard line, but Baca did a quick fake and sliced the other direction into the end zone. Props to Clampitt for trying, but he just wasn't going to save this play.

Mike Love missed practice due to personal reasons. Long said he was not sure how long Love would miss practice, but the coach did say Love was not absent due to a rules violation. Long said Love will be welcome back to the team any time he is able to resolve those personal issues. If he misses a lot of fall camp, Long said Love probably won't play much during the first part of the season.

Zayn Bin-Bilal hurt his knee toward the end of practice and limped off the field. Team trainers were going to examine him afterward.

That's all for now. Check out tomorrow's Trib for more UNM football coverage.

Posted by ilimon at 03:50 PM | Permalink