近距离内射合集

As the old saying goes: If you have two quarterbacks 鈥� maybe even three 鈥� you have none.

Jason Eck doesn鈥檛 quite agree.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 think this is a bad thing,鈥� New Mexico鈥檚 second-year head coach said last week, 鈥渙r something you wanna try to fix as soon as you can.鈥�

Clich茅s aside, UNM is set to find out soon. 

Saturday, the Lobos will debut a multi-quarterback offense against Central Michigan (8 p.m.) after a weeks-long competition between sixth-year senior James Laubstein, junior Luke Moga and sophomore Toa Fa鈥檃vae yielded no clear winner.

The three competed for the starting job after Jack Layne, UNM鈥檚 starter last season, missed all of fall camp with an elbow injury. The fifth-year senior underwent season-ending surgery Monday, leaving Laubstein, Moga and Fa鈥檃vae to take the reins on perhaps the most anticipated season in program history.

And while not much is known about how UNM鈥檚 multi-quarterback system will look 鈥� Eck has left the exact details purposely vague 鈥� it鈥檚 possible this could be the program鈥檚 new normal, especially if it goes well.

鈥淪ome people have asked, 鈥榠s this just the competition (is still) going on?鈥欌�� Eck said. 鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 say that. This could be how it is all year.鈥�

Why?

If nothing else, Eck has done this before 鈥� as a first-time offensive coordinator at a Division II power in Minnesota State.

鈥�(UNM wide receivers coach Carson Walch) mentioned, 鈥�(the) NFL鈥檚 kinda best practice 鈥� you don鈥檛 see any NFL teams doing this at this point,鈥欌�� Eck said. 鈥淚 said, 鈥業 look through (my) personal history and the most games I ever won as a coach (in a single season) was 14, and we played two quarterbacks.鈥欌��

Todd Hoffner has been the head coach at Minnesota State-Mankato for 17 seasons. In that span, the 60-year-old coaching veteran has won 153 games, seven league titles and made two runs to the Division II national championship game over 11 playoff appearances.

In no small part because he鈥檚 played two quarterbacks, in more years than most.

鈥�(Hoffner) didn鈥檛 look at the quarterback position any different than any other position,鈥� said Luke Schleusner, UNM鈥檚 offensive coordinator and a former Hoffner assistant. 鈥淗e looked at it like, if you have two good left guards, they鈥檙e going to rotate some. Or if you have two safeties that are really close in a competition, they鈥檙e going to rotate some.

鈥淗e just kind of looked at it the same way with the quarterback position, and he wanted blue collar, tough guys at that position.鈥�

Entering the 2014 season, Hoffner had two: Nick Pieruccini and Ricky Lloyd. A Chicago native, the 6-foot-1, 210-pound Pieruccini backed up multi-year starter Jon Wolf the year before, rushing for 22 yards over two games.

But with Wolf gone, the program decided to bring in another quarterback for competition鈥檚 sake. Eck, the Mavericks鈥� second-year offensive coordinator and line coach, sent out a tweet advertising as much 鈥� Minnesota State is looking for a quarterback, serious inquiries only.

Lloyd鈥檚 high school quarterbacks coach sent it to him. At the time, the 6-3, 210-pound Concord, Calif. native was looking for something new after weathering three coaching changes in as many seasons at Southern Miss.

A few weeks later, Lloyd was a Maverick.

鈥�(That was) back when Twitter recruiting was fairly new,鈥� he chuckled.

By the end of fall camp, Pieruccini and Lloyd were deadlocked in a two-man competition. Eck remembers both had played well, and both had given Minnesota State something a little different 鈥� Pieruccini could run a little better than Lloyd, and Lloyd could throw a little better than Pieruccini.

When it was announced that Minnesota State planned to split reps between the two in its season opener, Pieruccini and Lloyd admitted their reactions were mixed. A little disappointed, but, hey, at least both would play. 

After that? Lloyd said they were just curious to see how it would even function.

鈥淲e were both like, 鈥楬ow are you guys going to plan to do this the whole year?鈥欌�� he added. 鈥淲e honestly thought maybe halfway through the year, after a few games, one would take over (and) become the number one guy.鈥�

The way it worked: Depending on the game, one of Minnesota State鈥檚 two quarterbacks would start the first two drives and the other would get the next two. Lloyd said they had slightly different packages to fit each other鈥檚 skill sets while Pieruccini said little was truly exclusive: 鈥淭here was nothing that Ricky was running that I wasn鈥檛.鈥�

Pieruccini remembered the opening drive was where Eck鈥檚 鈥渋nsane鈥� preparation really showed up.

鈥淗e鈥檇 be like, 鈥楢ll right, we鈥檙e gonna run this one, it鈥檚 gonna be like a 15-yard chunk play to the right,鈥欌�� he said. 鈥溾�榃e鈥檙e gonna run this to get 20 yards, we鈥檙e gonna be on the left-middle hash and then we鈥檙e gonna score on the third play, and then we鈥檙e gonna come out and they鈥檙e gonna punt to us.鈥�

鈥淚 mean, his first 10 plays of the game, he was calling them with, like, 80% accuracy of the outcome of the plays.鈥�

From there, it was all by feel: If Lloyd was playing well, Eck wasn鈥檛 quick to pull him, and vice versa for Pieruccini. And amid a strong start to the year 鈥� Minnesota State outscored opponents 192-29 in its first four games 鈥� the two started to notice a pattern from opposing defenses.

鈥淲hen Ricky was in, he would have almost better boxes to run against,鈥� Pieruccini said, 鈥渁nd when I was in, I would almost have better boxes to throw against. I think it would get defenses like, over-game planning and over-scheming.鈥�

The system only paid off further when either Lloyd or Pieruccini was hurt. In the only game Lloyd missed all season, Pieruccini led the top-ranked Mavericks to a 27-14 win over No. 10 Sioux Falls with 213 yards of total offense and two touchdowns, one passing and one rushing. 

Minnesota State ended the season 14-1 and averaged 40 points per game, losing only in the Division II national championship to Colorado State-Pueblo. Pieuccini and Lloyd played the whole way, with Eck steering the ship from the sidelines.

At the time, Eck said he didn鈥檛 have any real opinions about running a multi-quarterback offense. 

Fourteen wins in one season didn鈥檛 hurt, though. 

鈥淚 do think your past experiences in life certainly sway your opinion going forward,鈥� Eck said. 鈥淎nd coming away from that year, I thought it was definitely not a negative to have a multi-quarterback system, or that it was something you should try to remedy as soon as possible.鈥�

On its face, there鈥檚 some obvious parallels between what the Mavericks did in 2014 and what the Lobos are trying to do now.

Similar to Lloyd, Moga transferred from Oregon to UNM as an 鈥渋nsurance policy鈥� in case Layne had more elbow issues, Eck said, but also as somebody that could add to the quarterback competition.

Like Pieruccini, Laubstein was a backup who had been in the system the year prior. And Eck believes Laubstein, Moga and Fa鈥檃vae all complement each other's skill sets in the same day Pieruccini and Lloyd did.

There鈥檚 some obvious benefits, too. If Laubstein, Moga or Fa鈥檃vae deal with injuries this season? One of the other two quarterbacks should have enough reps to step in without a major dropoff.

Splitting reps among the three should also help a room that鈥檚 light on real FBS game experience, Schleusner said.

鈥淲e went live with them a couple times during fall camp, but even that, we went live (and) each quarterback got 15 plays or so,鈥� he added. 鈥淭his will be a good test for them.鈥�

Creating extra work for opposing defenses doesn鈥檛 hurt either. Since first mentioning that UNM might play multiple quarterbacks, Eck has extolled the value of giving a defense more than just one QB to plan for.

On the other hand? Putting a gameplan in place for two or more quarterbacks isn鈥檛 as simple as doing it for one.

鈥淚 told (UNM鈥檚 offensive staff), I thought sometimes when one of those guys was out for a week, it made game planning easier,鈥� Eck said. 鈥� 鈥� You really have to have a couple different game plans (to) put the guys in the right position.鈥�

Will UNM鈥檚 multi-quarterback system work as well as it did for Eck, Pieruccini and Lloyd at Minnesota State?

Saturday will provide a glimpse into whether it will or won鈥檛. 

鈥淲e鈥檒l truly play it as it lies,鈥� Eck said. 鈥淭hat year, we kept playing two quarterbacks all the way to the national championship game. But I think you鈥檙e always evaluating. Obviously, if one guy plays great and the other guy doesn鈥檛 play well, you know 鈥� I think you always have to be constantly evaluating it.鈥�

Nearly 12 years after Eck coached his last game at Minnesota State, Hoffner has continued to play multiple quarterbacks. In 2019, the Mavericks finished 14-1 and made it back to the national championship game with JD Ekowa and Ryan Schlichte rotating the same way Pieruccini and Lloyd did.

If you have two quarterbacks 鈥� or more 鈥� do you have none? Hoffner vehemently disagrees.

鈥�(In) the pros, that is their quote, and I think they get paid a lot of money to have a starter and have expectations of a starter and they cater everything to that starter,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd I think it's a good scapegoat for them and an easy way out to say, 鈥榃ell, we鈥檙e playing our backup and he doesn鈥檛 have a lot of experience,鈥� and he doesn鈥檛 have this and he doesn鈥檛 have that.

鈥淲ell, we don鈥檛 have those issues when you play two quarterbacks. You鈥檙e always gonna have somebody playing at a very high level, or they shouldn鈥檛 be playing.鈥�

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