August 24, 2008
Albuquerque Journal
The Cornerstones
Fate of Season Could Be Up to Wright and Quin
By Greg Archuleta, Journal Staff WriterThe difference between good and great this season for the University of New Mexico defense — and for the football team in general — rests on the bankability of a former running back and a former basketball player.
Or rather, the blanketability of the two.
Senior cornerbacks DeAndre Wright and Glover Quin carry a lot of weight on their shoulders as UNM heads into game-week preparation for its season opener against TCU.
The play of quarterback Donovan Porterie will determine whether the Lobos will be a bad or a good team, and the advent of spread offenses might lessen the importance of having two lock-down defensive backs.
The key to coach Rocky Long’s 3-3-5 blitzing defense, however, begins with cornerbacks that can cover man-toman.
Wright, a standout running back at Gwynn Park High School in Clinton, Md., and Quin, a team MVP in both football and basketball at North Pike High School in Summit, Miss., are one of only two pair of third-year starters at corner in the Mountain West Conference. Ironically, TCU’s Nick Sanders and Rafael Priest form the other duo.
The Horned Frogs, however, generally don’t bring extra defenders,someequipmentmanagers, a fans cheering section and players from other sports to rush an opposing quarterback the way the Lobos do.
That puts Wright and Quin in harm’s way a bit more often, and the on-the-job training they’ve received is invaluable.
“Just the number of plays they’ve made, the number of plays they’ve seen, their experience really becomes a factor,” UNM defensive coordinator and cornerbacks coach Troy Reffett says. “For us to have a chance to be the kind of defense we want to be, they’ve got to be very, very consistent playmakers.”
Neither was a cornerback when UNM originally recruited them. Wright actually recruited UNM in 2004.
“I found them,” the 5-foot-11, 193-pound Wright says. “I sent them my highlight tape, and they called me back and got me out here on a recruitment trip.”
UNM, however, wasn’t looking for a running back. It did have scholarship available at defensive back.
“I just said, ‘I’ll take it,’ ” Wright says.
By his redshirt freshman season, Wright was starting at wolf safety.
“It wasn’t really hard; I just needed to learn how to cover people,” Wright says. “I’m a pretty fast learner.”
He moved to cornerback the first day of fall camp his sophomore season and intercepted a pass that he returned 75 yards for a touchdown.
“I thought, ‘I’m home,’ ” he said.
Quin gave up football his freshman year in high school to concentrate on basketball — until two-a-days started and most of his other friends were in football camp.
“Me and my homeboys, we wanted to play basketball, but everybody was playing football. We contemplated and said, ‘Let’s go play football.’ ”
He spent two years as a safety at Southwest Mississippi Community College — a broken arm wiped out most of his first season — before UNM called in 2005.
“One day, my juco coach said somebody in the office wanted to talk to me,” the 6-foot, 200-pound Quin says, referring to defensive line coach Everett Todd. “He started telling me about New Mexico, and I was excited because it was a Division I school. But in the back of my mind, I was like, ‘Where is New Mexico?’ ”
Wright has grabbed most of the attention during their time together in the defensive backfield. He was second-team allconference in 2006, first-team All-MWC last season. Collegefootballnews.com currently rates him the No. 5 cornerback in the country.
“He deserves it,” Quin says. “What’s he got, eight (career) interceptions? He’s had a great career.”
Quin’s career has been burdened by a groin injury he suffered early in his sophomore season. He ultimately had surgery on it at the beginning of the 2007 season and says this year is the first time he’s felt completely healthy since.
Still, Quin is rated No. 19 on the same Collegefootballnews.
com poll.
Reffett says the dreadlockshorn Wright is the quieter of the two, but at the same time, he exudes more of a self-assured demeanor. Quin, a team captain, capable of firing up the troops, seems the more humble.
The two agree Wright is quicker while Quin is the more physical.
“He likes to beat on receivers like a big bully,” Wright says of Quin.
Reffett wants Wright to improve his skills in zone-covering and run-support. Quin needs to work on his leverage and being in the right spot when the ball gets to the receiver.
“They might say I’m being nit-picky,” Reffett says. “But they’ve been in the system long enough that we won’t accept or tolerate any mental errors or bad fundamentals from them at all.”
It’s the only way Wright and Quin can make UNM great in 2008.