Hard work has paid off for Lobo QB
Jordan has made strides to become a dual threat
There was the homesickness. The frustration of not playing as a true freshman.
All the losing those first two years. Those sometimes awkward duels for starting spots and playing time. The December 2015 death in a car crash of Markel Byrd, a valued teammate and dear friend.
On top of all that, Lamar Jordan struggled to become a true dual-threat quarterback — as feared by the opposing defense as much for his passing skills as for his running ability.
There were times, Jordan admits, when he felt coming to the University of New Mexico had been a mistake.
And now, as he winds up his fourth and final UNM spring practice with today’s “Spring Showcase” at University Stadium?
“I see it now as a blessing,” Jordan said after Friday’s practice. “... I really thank God that he let me know to stick it out.”
Jordan, a fifth-year senior from Frisco, Texas, is indisputably the Lobos’ No. 1 quarterback as spring drills end. He has near-total command of UNM’s base tripleoption offense. His dramatically improved passing has been on display throughout.
“He’s made a lot of strides, he really has,” UNM coach Bob Davie said. “I think this spring he’s proven to me that he can throw the football.”
Jordan’s determination and work ethic, said quarterbacks coach Apollo Wright, have paid off handsomely.
“(The passing game) is something that he really wanted to stress coming into the spring, and he’s worked at it,” Wright said. “Not just in the spring, but he worked at it all offseason and kept working at it and got with the receivers and did everything a quarterback is supposed to do to work on your craft.”
Jordan signed with UNM in February 2013 after a coaching change at Arkansas — which had wanted him as a wide receiver, not a quarterback — short-circuited a scholarship offer there. His high school, Frisco Centennial, had gone 24-3 during his two years as the starting quarterback, with Jordan running and throwing for 6,673 yards and 75 touchdowns.
That first fall, Jordan watched from the sidelines as a redshirt while the Lobos went 3-9 in Davie’s second year. Things got only marginally better, 4-8, in 2014.
“I wasn’t used to losing,” Jordan said. “Just being out west, kind of being a southern guy, coming from always winning regardless of where I was, it was kind of tough.”
It was tough, as well, sharing the quarterback duties with Cole Gautsche in 2014 and with Austin Apodaca the past two years, even as the team improved on the field. The Lobos went 7-6 and 9-4 in 201516, going to the Gildan New Mexico Bowl each December.
He now looks at those duels for playing time as a positive — and as a challenge.
“I was with a great triple-option runner (Gautsche), and I was with a great passer (Apodaca),” Jordan said. “So how can I mix both of those guys into (his own game) in my last year?”
Toward that goal, Jordan was worked with Wright to refine his throwing mechanics. More important, Wright said, is the confidence that comes from three seasons on the field, countless practices and tireless workouts with UNM’s wide receivers.
“The biggest thing,” Wright said, “is that he’s put in the work of trying to understand where he should go with the football, from pre-snap reads to post-snap reads. That’s half the battle.”
The Lobos, who led the nation in rushing last season with an average of 350 yards per game, will continue to be a run-first team — a formula that has served them well. But, despite that emphasis, UNM has managed to acquire an impressive group of wide receivers.
Jordan wants nothing more than to make his receivers a bigger part of the offense than they’ve ever been.
“We have the ability to air it out,” he said. “... We don’t have one receiver that can’t get separation from any DB in the country.
“I really want to thank those guys. We’ve really been working hard, and it’s time for all their hard work to pay off.”
And Jordan’s, as well. SPRING SHOWCASE: Today’s final spring practice is open to the public at no charge. Parking is free as well. A free kids’ clinic will follow.
Davie said the Lobos won’t scrimmage but will do some full-speed tackling drills.
The trend nationally, Davie said, is away from extended full contact in the spring.
“I watched Ohio State’s spring game the other night,” he said, “and there’s Ohio State with 70,000 people in the stands and it’s all ‘thud’ (no tackling to the ground),” he said.
An hour of the practice, from 11 a.m.noon, will be streamed live on UNM football’s Facebook page.