ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — To be a winner, a baseball team needs to be strong defensively up the middle: catcher, pitcher, second baseman, shortstop, center fielder.
It’s no different for a football team: nose guard, inside linebacker, free safety, strong safety.
The 2016 New Mexico Lobos, Dakota Cox and Kimmie Carson say, should qualify.
Cox, a senior, and Carson, a redshirt junior, are UNM’s starting inside linebackers. Cox plays the “mike,” Carson the “will.” They’re as likely to call each other “Will” and “Mike” as by their real first names.
“Same thing, man, salt and pepper,” Carson said after Monday’s practice, the fourth of 15 workout scheduled for the spring.