Story by
The Santa Fe New Mexican
Lobos crush Central Michigan 38-7
- Story byThe Santa Fe New Mexican
- Lobos crush Central Michigan 38-7
ALBUQUERQUE — So far, so good.
The University of New Mexico football team raised the curtain on its much-anticipated 2026 campaign on Saturday night at University Stadium with a dominant performance in front of the biggest opening-day crowd in a dozen years.
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The Lobos' three-headed monster at quarterback didn't disappoint, its defense was as good as it's been in years and the kicking game appears to be in good hands.
It all added up to a 38-7 win over Central Michigan in a game that was never close.
The Chippewas (0-1) punted on their first four possessions, generating just three total yards as the Lobos built a 17-0 lead early in the second quarter behind its quarterbacks.
Unlike much of its Mountain West brethren in the first two weeks, UNM lived up to the preseason hype in every way. The Lobos dismantled the Chippewas with an all-world defensive effort that held the visitors to just 66 total yards through the first three quarters.
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After waiting all spring and fall camp, UNM finally answered the question of who would start at quarterback. Second-year player Toa Fa'avae got the nod, but all three QBs atop the depth chart saw plenty of time.
Fa'avae's first impression wasn't great — a three-and-out on his first drive and misfires on his first three passes — but he bounced back to lead multiple scoring drives. The second option at quarterback was Luke Moga. The Oregon transfer was the more prolific passer, completing 13 of his 17 throws for 116 yards.
Then there was James Laubstein, who did what Laubstein usually does — run the ball up the middle on designed draw plays.
Moga's first career touchdown pass came in the third quarter when he threw an 11-yard fade to Bailen George to open a 35-0 lead. At that point the only question was if the defense would pitch a shutout.
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UNM came close, but the Chippewas finally broke through with a 75-yard drive late in the fourth quarter that more than doubled their offensive production for the game.
The last time UNM shut out an opponent on opening day was 2022 against Maine, but hadn't blanked an FBS opponent since 2008 when the Lobos blanked Wyoming in Rocky Long's final season as head coach.
NOTES
Bodybag game? Not quite: UNM paid Central Michigan $200,000 for Saturday's game.
The payout jumps to $350,000 for next week's visit from Mercyhurst, an FCS school from Erie, Pa. The Lakers were in Las Cruces on Saturday to face New Mexico State at Aggie Memorial Stadium. NMSU paid them $360,000.
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UNM has guaranteed a $350,000 payment to Mercyhurst, making for a healthy financial week for a school whose annual football budget is below $5 million.
By comparison, New Mexico State was paid $1.4 million for its game in Week 0 at Florida State while the Lobos will get $1.6 million for their trip to Oklahoma in two weeks.
Crushing the stat sheet: First downs were a problem for Central Michigan in the first half. The Chippewas didn't get one until the final minute of the second quarter when quarterback Angel Flores escaped the pocket and ran for 8 yards to move the sticks.
The Lobos had 18 first downs of their own at the point and led 20-0.
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Crowd control: Saturday's attendance was 24,126, well short of the 30,000 UNM coach Jason Eck was calling for. Still, it's the biggest crowd for a home opener since 2014 when the Lobos opened with a loss to UTEP in front of 25,802.
All's good on special teams: The Lobos have themselves a new kicker in Grant Glasgow, a fifth-year journeyman who started his career at Kansas, spent two years at Montana and transferred to UNM last year. He nailed three of his four field goal attempts, all of them from 46 or longer. His only miss was on a 50-yard try that faded left at the end of the opening half. His 48-yard boot in the second quarter was his first field goal since 2023 when he was at Montana.
It's what he does: Laubstein was on the field for three snaps in the first half and all three were quintessential Laubstein. He ran draw plays on all three, moving the chains on a 5-yard fourth down run in the first quarter, then two bruising runs up the gut inside CMU's 10. The last one was a touchdown run of 1 yard to make it 14-0.
Stumbling start: The Pac-12 and Mountain West have been collectively disappointing thus far, with the MWC going 1-3 in Week 0.
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The Pac-12 went 2-5 in Saturday's games, with the lone wins coming from San Diego State against FCS Portland State, and Colorado State winning at home against Wyoming. Texas State (at No. 5 Texas), Boise State (at No. 2 Oregon), Oregon State (at No. 23 Houston), Fresno State (at No. 14 USC) and Utah State (home against unranked Idaho State) all lost.
The Mountain West split its four games Saturday afternoon with Wyoming's loss and Northern Illinois getting shut out at No. 22 Iowa. The wins were both home shutouts by Air Force (Duquesne) and North Dakota State (Fordham). It was followed by UNM's win, and a win at home by Nevada over Western Kentucky. The other game was in conference with Hawaii hosting UNLV. All told, the league went 5-3 in nonconference games.
Guessing game: The best kept secret in preseason camp was UNM's quarterback situation. The answer didn't come until the Lobos took the opening kick and ran Ta'avae out there as the starter.
Even during pregame lineup introductions on the stadium's giant videoboard, the graphic showing the starting quarterback read, "Quarterbacks" with a blank screen where the player's photo is supposed to be.
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Up next: Mercyhurst makes the drive up from Las Cruces with an 0-2 record following Saturday's blowout loss to New Mexico State. In two games, the Lakers have been outscored 94-24.
They briefly led Saturday's game, 14-13, but gave up 38 unanswered points and 553 yards to the Aggies. The turned it over twice and punted six times.
