Lobos close third week of spring practice with full-contact scrimmage

Second-and-6: Motschenbacher hits wide receiver Miles Johnson on a quick pass. The latter was also gang tackled — looked like cornerback Jahmir Torres was in on the action first. Gain of four.

Third-and-2: Another quick pass to wide receiver Abraham Williams and that’s enough to move the sticks. First down.

First-and-10: Motschenbacher connects with tight end Simon Mapa, who runs over a defensive back before going down. Gain of seven.

Second-and-3: Motschenbacher hits Williams on a screen and he surges up the sideline for a nice gain — first down. Good blocking on the perimeter set it up.

First-and-10: Motschenbacher hands off to Sibley, who raced out into the open field Torres cuts him off. Gain of two.

Second-and-8: Motschenbacher finds tight end Max Leeper on a quick pass. Gain of two.

Third-and-6: Motschenbacher hits running back Cameron Mathews on a screen. Gain of four.

Fourth-and-2: Motschenbacher hands off to Mathews, who tries to run to his right, has to change directions and is bottled up for no gain. End of series.

Series notes

No picks for Torres after he logged a three-interception practice Wednesday, but he played fast and aggressive this series. Consider him a standout.

Also worth noting: Motschenbacher has a steep hill to climb before he can contend for a top-two spot in this quarterback room, but he’s almost always moved the ball well in these scrimmages.

Third-string offense vs. third-string defense

First-and-10: Quarterback Cade Mitchell gets the snap and fires a pass over the middle — intercepted by linebacker Hayes Baum, who returned it for the lone touchdown of the day.

First-and-10: Mitchell gets a do-over on the series and opens with a pass to wide receiver Ty Battle, who’s brought down quickly. Gain of one.

Second-and-9: Mitchell hands off to running back Jerod Terry Jr. Gain of one.

Third-and-8: Mitchell is forced out of the pocket and passes on the run to Johnson, who makes a heck of a catch in traffic. First down.

First-and-10: Terry takes the handoff and pops up the middle for a nice gain of eight.

Second-and-2: Mathews takes the handoff, gets out and accelerates down the sideline to move the sticks.

First-and-10: Another handoff to Terry. Gain of two.

Second-and-8: Mitchell passes to Leeper, who initially bobbles the pass before securing it for a nice gain — first down. Safety Keshawn Monroe effectively brought Leeper down by himself.

First-and-10: Mitchell is forced out of the pocket and keeps it. Gain of five.

Second-and-5: Mitchell hands off to Mathews. Gain of three.

Third-and-2: Mitchell hands off to Mathews again, but Monroe is all over it. Loss of one, and that’s enough to bring the field goal unit out.

Series notes

An electric interception and moment to cap a nice week for Baum, who’s come a long way from what he called his first “deer-in-headlights moment” as a Lobo — simply watching film with linebackers coach Nate Palmer.

That’s also another series where a freshman defensive back (Monroe) made his presence felt. And while it isn’t the smoothest operation yet, Mitchell had some pretty good moments, none better than his pass to Johnson on third-and-long.

Sean Reider covers college football and other sports for the Journal. You can reach him at sreider@abqjournal.com or via X at @lenaweereider.