UNM has size in the middle
326-pound Conyers is one of 4 big nose guards
If you’re not getting bigger, you’re getting smaller. Jermane Conyers, come on down. Last year, the New Mexico Lobos were really good at running the football — leading the nation in that department. They weren’t bad at stopping the run, either.
The Lobos ranked 65th nationally in rush defense last season, solidly in the middle of the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision pack, with an average yield of 172.5 yards per game. That average was better than those of Mountain West Conference Mountain Division rivals Boise State, Utah State, Wyoming and Colorado State.
There was, nevertheless, one game that sounded major alarm bells. In a 49-31 loss to Colorado State, UNM got bashed for 412 yards rushing. The Rams’ offensive line dominated the Lobos’ defensive front.
This year, CSU comes to Dreamstyle Stadium on Oct. 20.
Another concern: two-time conference champion San Diego State, which ranked seventh nationally in rushing offense last fall, hosts the Lobos on Nov. 24 in the season finale.
The Lobos play at Texas A&M on Nov. 11. The Aggies averaged 5.7 yards per carry last year.
Last season, UNM rotated three players at nose guard, where the biggest and widest run-stoppers reside. Starter William Udeh and backups Taylor Timmons and Johnny Williams all weighed in at around 300 pounds.
Lobos head coach Bob Davie and defensive line coach Stan Eggen wanted more size at nose guard this fall. They’ve got it. Williams, a senior now listed at 302 pounds, took most of the firstteam snaps in spring practice and did so again on Thursday, UNM’s first day of preseason camp. But he’s being pushed hard by Conyers (326 pounds), a junior transfer from Dodge City (Kan.) Community College. True freshman Langston Murray (335), from Logansport, La., and Aaron Blackwell (298), a sophomore transfer from Mesa (Ariz.) CC, round out the roster at nose guard.
Of that beefy quartet, Davie said, “300 pounds doesn’t mean a whole lot (by itself), but we are bigger and stronger across the front, without a doubt.
We’ve got four nose guards, and they’re all guys that look like Mountain West Conference nose guards.”
For Conyers, the route to Albuquerque was a long one.
And the trip almost got canceled before it started.
Conyers, a native of Chattanooga, Tenn., played his prep football in Rossville, Ga., just south of the Tennessee-Georgia state line. He signed with Indiana in 2014, after his senior year the previous fall at Ridgeland High School, but failed to qualify academically.
Conyers was deeply disappointed — so much so, he said after Thursday’s practice, that he considered giving up football.
“But I talked to my mom; she’s a real important part of my life,” he said. “She talked me into (continuing), and ever since then I’ve been going strong.”
Conyers’ first stop was Butler County Community College in El Dorado, Kan., where he was a teammate of Lobos starting center Blaise Fountain. Conyers redshirted that year, then transferred to Dodge City and played two seasons for the Conquistadors. He chose New Mexico over offers from Bowling Green, Texas State and Southern Mississippi. He enrolled at UNM in January and took part in spring practice.
Eggen said he’s pleased with Conyers’ progress.
“We’ve talked about being disruptive (on the field) and taking care of his responsibilities, understanding how to practice with a sense of urgency,” Eggen said. “You take that energy and urgency, and you become something special on game day.
“That was the transition, and (Conyers) did a good job this spring. We’re looking for big things from him.”