Located in: Sports
Posted on: August 26th, 2012 No Comments

Mavs prepare to unleash new offense

Quarterback Deke Cisco participates in practice Friday afternoon.

Photo: Chris Clark

jdredmon@mavs.coloradomesa.edu

The Mavericks start their season Thursday in Arcata, Calif., in a rematch of last year’s opener against Humboldt State University, which they lost 29-3. They will look to break their current streak of four consecutive losses in season openers, with a combined score of 75-6 coming in the last three.

Coach Russ Martin knows of the struggles that have plagued teams of the past, but is quick to point out that this is a completely different season with a very different approach.

“The past is the past, and you can’t do anything about it,” Martin said. “This is a different football team going on the field than the one that was on the field against Humboldt last year. It’s important to learn from the past, but more importantly than any of that is if we are playing assignment sound, and are we doing what we’re supposed to be doing.”

The passing game has often been pointed to as the most noteworthy dilemma faced by the Mavs, with the team being outgained by over 1,500 yards passing last year, 260 of which came in last year’s opener against Humboldt. Redshirt freshman quarterback Deke Cisco, who is said to be the frontrunner for the starting job, explained that while the passing game had been an issue in the past, it seems to be better now.

“We have a pretty big passing game,” Cisco said. “Coach Martin likes to spread the defense out deep a lot, if he can. He likes the homerun ball, if we can get it. So our passing game should be a lot more efficient than it was last year. Our system is a lot more advanced than it was.”

Martin is no stranger to leading successful offenses. His eight years spent as the offensive coordinator/quarterback’s coach at University of Nebraska-Kearney saw the Lopers among the top teams in not only the RMAC, but the also NCAA D2. Martin doesn’t rule out the possibility of having multiple quarterbacks involved with this week’s gameplan either.

“It’s very much a possibility,” Martin said. “We want to get us ready as a football team, and even though Humboldt is a very, very important game and it’s the only game we can do anything about right now, we gotta win the conference. We gotta get our team prepared to be able to win the RMAC conference. That’s the goal.”

Many have noted a change in not only style, but also demeanor when evaluating the team’s current position. However, it’s not only outsiders who are noticing this change. The players are as well. Especially Cisco, who thinks that the fact that the team is not “imploding” as much is perhaps the biggest improvement so far.

“This year’s completely different,” Cisco said. “When things got bad last season, we always kind of seemed to disappoint everyone else and implode on each other and freak out. If the defense couldn’t stop (the other team) for, like, three or four plays in a series, they would get real mad and come off on the sidelines telling (the offense) to stay on the field longer. But I think this year the coaches have been much more disciplined towards us for us to be more of a team.”

The Mavs play at 7 p.m. on August 30. The game will be broadcast on ustream.tv and KEXO 1230 AM.

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