April 17, 2008

Junior wide receiver Roland Bruno is your classic example of a University of New Mexico walk-on warrior. One year ago Bruno entered spring practice with few observers expecting anything out of the slight 5-10, 166-pounder. Flash forward to 2008 and Bruno is one of the leaders of a new-look Lobo receiving corps that has improved each day of spring practice.

Things didn't go as planned for Bruno when he first arrived on campus in the fall of 2004 from Central High School in Beaumont, Texas near Houston. His NCAA Clearinghouse papers weren't completed in time for him to join the football program, but that didn't stop him from being around the team.

Every afternoon Bruno showed up at the UNM practice fields in street clothes and watched practice intently. He'd stay after and see if he could get a few balls thrown his way from the Lobo quarterbacks as he prepared to join the team the following spring.

After performing with the scout team his first full year with the program, Bruno's role slowly began to grow, first on special teams and then with the offense in the spring of 2007. Though undersized and not the fastest player on the team, he displayed solid hands, toughness as a blocker and catching passes in traffic, and showed good agility with the ball in his hands. More than anything, though, it was his tremendous work ethic and determination to improve that put Bruno on the map.

By the start of the season Bruno had worked his way into the receiving rotation. As the year went along he began to see his role increase each week until he became the Lobos' No. 3 wide receiver.

He rushed for an electrifying 22-yard touchdown on a direct snap versus Sacramento State and the next week caught two balls for 28 yards - both coming on 3rd-and-long plays - in the Lobos' narrow loss to eventual Mountain West Conference champion BYU. Late in the year he pulled down a season-high five catches for 30 yards at Utah and capped his debut season with five more grabs for 86 yards in the Lobos' New Mexico Bowl victory over Nevada.

Bruno's 2007 totals of 21 catches for 186 yards aren't particularly eye-catching, but the fact that 14 receptions and 142 yards came in the final four games shows that 2008 could be a big year for Roland Bruno.

UNM assistant director for media relations Alfredo Moreno caught up with Bruno after practice on Wednesday.

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