Lobos defense looks for life A.B. — After Brian

Steve Guiremand

Thursday, Aug. 31, 2000 | 10:35 a.m.

Facts and figures on the New Mexico Lobos:

Head coach: Rocky Long (7-17, 3rd year)

1999 record: 4-7 (3-4, tied 5th)

Returning starters: 13

Player to watch: LB Mike Barnett

Guy they'll miss: LB Brian Urlacher

Key game: Sept. 30 vs. Wyoming

Sun projection: 8th place

Things obviously didn't go quite like Rocky Long had hoped in New Mexico's season-opening 24-3 loss at Texas Tech on Saturday in something called the Hispanic College Fund Classic.

But there was at least one positive that Long and company could take away from that loss.

Defensively, anyway, it looks as if there will be life after Brian.

That's Brian as in Brian Urlacher, the do-everything defensive star of the Lobos who was the No. 9 pick in the 2000 NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears and is considered by some in Albuquerque to be the best defensive player in school history.

But even before the Lobos yielded just 255 total yards in Saturday's loss to what is expected to be a very potent Red Raider offense, Long was making predictions his defense would be better without Urlacher this year.

"I think that overall, we will be a better defense than we were last year," Long said. "We aren't going to count on one player to make most of the plays and we have more athletes out there that can make an impact than we have had in the past."

Of Tech's 24 points, its defense scored seven on a fumble return and set up a field goal on another fumble return.

"People said we couldn't be a good defense without Brian Urlacher, but I think we showed we have a pretty decent defense," Long said.

Whether Long can survive the year on the hot seat will likely depend on the Lobo offense.

To that end he brought in a new offensive coordinator, Dan Dodd, who followed ex-Lobo head coach Dennis Franchione to TCU from Albuquerque two years earlier. The Lobos will run a multiple offense with an emphasis on the option much like in the good old Franchione days.

The Lobos then recruited one of the nation's top option-style quarterbacks in JC transfer Jeremy Denson of Navarro (Texas) Junior College to replace 1999 starter Sean Stein, who quit the team in spring practice. Denson, who runs the 40 in 4.51 seconds, has been compared to former New Mexico star Donald Sellers.

However, Denson struggled badly in his first Division I-A start last week, completing just 6 of 18 passes for 52 yards and one interception. The passing yards were the lowest for the Lobos since 1979 when they had 36 yards in a 17-3 win over Wyoming. Denson also finished with minus 23 yards rushing and had a fumble returned for a Tech touchdown.

Still, Long believes Denson will develop into a good quarterback this year.

"I think he's going to be fine," Long said. "I thought we were a little indecisive at quarterback running the option. So, the speed of our option wasn't as good as it could have been. But I think anytime you throw somebody out there for the first time, they're shocked at the difference in speed. Hopefully, the 70 plays of experience Jeremy has will make him better."

If not, the Lobos could be in for another long year. And that could be enough to get the New Mexico faithful howling for Long's job.