Pursuit is over: Lobos land their transfer QB
Kentucky’s Wilson had 17-8 record from ’18-’20
A connection from University of New Mexico offensive coordinator Derek Warehime’s father to Kentucky quarterback Terry Wilson helped lead to the Lobos landing an experienced signal-caller, what the team had been lacking in coach Danny Gonzales’ second year.
Nick Warehime, Derek’s father, coached Wilson at Del City High School in Oklahoma. When Wilson entered the transfer portal shortly after the 2020 season that ended with Kentucky’s 23-21 win over then-No. 23 North Carolina State in the Gator Bowl, Gonzales and his staff spoke with Wilson, who was 17-8 over three seasons with the Wildcats.
Wilson, the first player in Kentucky school history with at least 3,000 passing yards (3,436) and 1,000 rushing yards (1,015), is set to join the UNM football team in Albuquerque in June after signing the appropriate paperwork to be a senior transfer quarterback for the 2021 season, Gonzales said Tuesday. He’ll be in his final season of eligibility after getting the extra year from the corona virus delayed and shortened season.
Of course, the Lobos also spoke to other quarterbacks in the transfer portal, because after UNM’s 2-5 season Gonzales said they would be hunting to add a transfer QB.
Wilson met the criteria that Gonzales had wanted, as the Lobos coach had been open with the media about adding an experienced quarterback with several starts and wins on a high level.
“I welcome the opportunity for him to come in here and compete to be our
starting quarterback,” Gonzales said of the 6-foot-3, 202-pound dual threat. “That’s what we had our eyes on: somebody with his track record. His experience is the kind that I was talking about. I’m excited that he ultimately did his research and decided that this is where he wants to be.”
After playing for Nick Warehime at Del City, Wilson went to Oregon, where he competed against now-Los Angeles Chargers QB Justin Herbert for the starting job. Herbert won the battle in 2016, and Wilson redshirted the season. Prior to being drafted by the Chargers, Herbert told the media that he was grateful Wilson pushed him to be a better QB.
In 2017, Wilson transferred to Garden City CC in Kansas, where he threw for 2,133 yards and 26 touchdowns and rushed for 518 yards and five touchdowns on 126 carries.
He was named the Jayhawk Conference Offensive Player of the Year and was rated the nation’s No. 5 overall JC player by ESPN.
He then chose to play for Kentucky over Florida, Nebraska and Tennessee. With the Wildcats he finished with a career completion percentage of 64.9 (338 of 520), which is third best in school history.
Gonzales hinted there could be an uptick in the Lobo passing game in 2021.
“He wants to be in an offense that throws it a little bit more than what (Kentucky) did,” Gonzales said. “We were 50-50 (pass-run) up until the last few games. He’ll have an opportunity to show his skill set.”
In 2018, Wilson started all 13 games and led Kentucky to its first 10-win season since 1977. He became the first Wildcat player with at least 1,500 passing yards and 500 net rushing yards in the same season that ended with a 27-24 win over Penn State in the VRBO Citrus Bowl. The season also featured a 27-16 win at Florida, the Wildcats’ first win there since 1986.
Wilson suffered a torn patellar tendon in his left knee which required surgery after two games in his junior season in 2019. Last season, he completed 125-of200 passes for 1,187 yards and seven TDs for the 5-6 Wildcats.
“I know that he believes in his abilities,” Gonzales said. “The good thing is I know that Trae (Hall) and Isaiah (Chavez) and all the quarterbacks in the room who are competing right now believe in their abilities. It’ll make for some fun around here.”
The Lobos’ top two quarterbacks, redshirt junior Hall (four career starts) and redshirt freshman Chavez (one start), have just five starts between them. Chavez, who began last year as a fifth-string walk-on freshman out of Rio Rancho, led the Lobos to their two wins to end the season. Hall has been mainly running with the first team in spring football, and Chavez with the second team. Freshman Bear Milacek, an early high school graduate from Boulder Creek High in Anthem, Arizona, has been third on the depth chart during spring football.
CJ Montes, a 6-foot-2, 195-pound dualthreat quarterback who is also part of the Lobos’ 2021 recruiting class, will join the Lobos in the summer.
Redshirt junior Tevaka Tuioti, who sustained a concussion (his third reported) last season, has not been cleared for spring football. Brandt Hughes (shoulder), a redshirt junior who won the starting job to begin the 2019 season, has been cleared for limited throwing.
Redshirt sophomore Connor Genal, a walk-on who suffered a right wrist injury in his first start last season against Wyoming, has been cleared for throwing and limited contact.
“I had a conversation with the quarterbacks,” Gonzales said. “I’m not worried about their feelings. They’re big boys. They’re good.”