Albuquerque Journal

Cook: Don't Sweat Line
By Greg Archuleta, Journal Staff Writer

No need worrying about the offensive line in 2008, University of New Mexico junior Erik Cook says.
      
 He ought to know.
      
 Cook can play all five positions on the line, proving his versatility last season against Sacramento State when he played four of the five spots.
       
So despite the Lobos having to replace four starters from 2007, including first-team All-Mountain West Conference selections Vince Natali and Devin Clark, Cook says he thinks the Lobos should make a seamless transition in '08.
      
 “I have no worries about this line, to be honest with you,” says Cook, the 6-foot-6, 315-pound Cibola High grad who currently mans the center position for UNM. “People say we don't have much depth or experience, but I think we're going to do really good this year.”
       
Cook isn't even sure he'll start at center when UNM kicks off the season Aug. 30 against TCU at University Stadium. If backup Ben Contreras emerges, Cook probably would move to left guard.
       
Offensive line coach Jason Lenzmeier says senior Sylvester Hatten (6-3, 299) and redshirt freshman Byron Bell (6-5, 325) have solidified their hold on the starting tackle positions, and junior college transfer Joshua Taufalele is earning a spot at right guard.
       
Senior Matt Streid has risen to first-team left guard in recent practices, ahead of Mike Cannon, and if either performs better than Contreras, Cook likely will stay at center.
      
 Juniors Ivan Hernandez and Karlin Givens also are fighting to get in the mix.
     
  If Cook can't even be sure where he'll play against TCU, how can he be sure the line will come together?
     
  “Look at Byron Bell,” Cook says, pointing to the large redshirt freshman. “He's a giant, right there. He's going to (end up) as good as Devin Clark, if not better. He's got four years to grow. I know Sylvester's going to step up and we've got a lot of guys competing for the other spot. That competition is what you need.”
       
Lenzmeier isn't willing yet to agree with Cook just nine days into fall camp, but he does like the unit's effort.
      
 “I think they're practicing hard,” Lenzmeier says. “We're just trying to find the best fit. There's a lot of mixing and matching going on.”
       
Bell could be the first redshirt freshman to start since Robert Turner in 2003 to cap a four-year run of redshirt freshman starting that included Lenzmeier (2000), Claude Terrell (2001) and Cook's older brother, Ryan (2002).
       
All four of those eventually earned All-MWC honors by their senior years by doing what Bell wants to do.
       
“I'm just going to come out and be physical,” Bell says. “Just come off the ball and hit somebody. Just roll them out the hole and let Rodney (Ferguson) run.”
      
 Bell says Clark, Hatten and Cook all served as his mentors last season when he made the traveling squad as a true freshman. Lenzmeier, however, provided motivation.
      
 “I had a meeting with coach (in the offseason), Bell says. “He was like, 'Byron, you've got a big plate in front of you; we need you.' Coach Lenz and coach (graduate assistant T.J.) Woods are good coaches and they keep me motivated because they say I could be one of the best if I keep working.”
       
Lenzmeier says Bell is far from a finished product. In fact, he says that about the entire line.
      
 “I think they've got the potential to be a good group,” Lenzmeier says.
      
 Lenzmeier, however, becomes vague when defining “good.” Good like 2007 season good (78th nationally in rushing, 76th in total offense) or 2003 good (16th nationally in rushing, 39th in total offense), when Lenzmeier played?
       
“They can be as good as they want to be, we'll see,” he says, before modesty sets in. “And I don't know if 2003 was the best.”