ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – While there were plenty of questions surrounding the Lobo football team this offseason, the question of who would be the starting running back was answered fairly quickly.
When the two-deep rosters (starters and backups) were announced for week one, Jacory Croskey-Merritt was listed as RB1, but it wasn’t much of a surprise for those around the team throughout camp.
“He runs very physical and very aggressive,” said head coach Danny Gonzales. “We saw a lot of things in the first scrimmage that he did really, really well and we want to get him to game day.”
The running back room is arguably the deepest on offense with players like Andrew Henry, Sherod White, Dorian Lewis, Zach Vigil, Christian Washington and Croskey-Merritt. It was going to be a battle all throughout camp, but once Croskey-Merritt started running with the first-team offense, he didn’t look back.
“I think it’s my hustle, me running angry, me knowing the defense,” said Croskey-Merritt. “It’s just the small things, doing the little things right, you know, gaining my coaches trust and just being different.”
A four-year player at Alabama State, Croskey-Merritt played in 31 games while rushing for 1,164 yards prior to coming to UNM. Now, in his senior season, he feels like he finally found an offense where he can thrive and put his talent on display.
“I just feel like this is the offense I’ve been waiting on for a long time and I feel like I will thrive in this offense. I’m just excited for the season.”
