Lobo linebacker Ocasio ready to blossom
His development a key component for this year’s defensive unit
In defense of the defense, there’s more experience here than meets the eye.
Last month in Las Vegas, Nev., the New Mexico Lobos were picked by the media that covers the Mountain West Conference to finish fifth in the league’s sixteam Mountain Division.
Were those who voted not aware that New Mexico went 9-4 and tied for the division title last fall? Of course.
They were also aware, though, that only two full-time starters were returning this fall on
example, because he’s not exactly replacing anyone. But, coach Bob Davie said, there’s no questioning his talent.
Athletic talent runs in the family. Ocasio’s sister, Aleshia, was an All-Southeastern Conference softball player — a pitcher, utility player and the team’s fourth-leading hitter — on a University of Florida team that was the national runner-up.
“She’s a beast,” Ocasio said after Tuesday’s practice of his sister, who’ll be a senior next spring. “... Every accolade, she has it.”
Not many accolades have come Ocasio’s way at UNM, at least not yet. He has yet to start his first game. But Davie believes those accolades will come.
A senior from New York by way of a Florida high school and a California junior college, Ocasio is in his third year in the program. After redshirting in 2015, he made an impact as a backup last fall.
Playing behind Kimmie Carson at “will” inside linebacker, Ocasio made 31 tackles. He returned an interception for a touchdown in a victory over San Jose State and had another interception in a win over Nevada.
The redshirt year, Davie believes, was crucial to Ocasio’s development.
“I don’t know that I’ve seen a redshirt year help a guy more than (it did) Austin at this stage,” he said.
That develop was accelerated last spring and earlier this month by another development. Carson, the incumbent starter, was held out of spring practice and the first few workouts of the preseason while attending to personal and academic issues.
Ocasio, meanwhile, has taken virtually all the first-team snaps at the “will.”
“More reps,” he said. “Everything’s about repetition. The more you do something, the better you’re gonna be at it. So I feel like the extra reps are making me that much better.”
How much better? Lobos defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Kevin Cosgrove, a 37-year college coaching veteran, said in an interview last week that Ocasio has been playing “as well as I’ve ever seen a linebacker play.”
When that quote was relayed to Ocasio, he said Cosgrove had said nothing of the sort to him — but that was OK.
“I feel like I’m playing well, but I feel have to play a lot better,” he said. “Me and coach Cos’ relationship, I want to look at my mistakes. He might not tell me I’m playing well because we’re looking at what we can get corrected.”
Davie acknowledged there’s room for improvement in Ocasio’s game, as there is for all of his “hidden veterans.” But, he said, Ocasio has “always been aggressive, always been explosive . ... (But) now, he’s a linebacker. He’s a coached-up, technique-oriented linebacker.”
THEY’RE BACK: After a 4½-day break in preseason practice, the Lobos returned to the field on Monday — also the first day of fall-semester classes.
Ocasio, who has family in Florida and New York, stayed in Albuquerque during the break.
“I hit the weight room, stayed home . ... Watched a little Netflix,” he said.
Senior nickel safety Jake Rothschiller traveled to southern California to see his family and his girlfriend, Amanda Apelian, who’s a soccer player at UC Riverside.
“It was good to get away from it for a couple of days,” he said, “but now we’re back in the grind, and we’ve got to keep working hard.”