The 2025 season marks the beginning of a new era for the New Mexico Lobos, a team that’s scuffled in recent years but also has renewed optimism because of the head coach they hired in December.
New Mexico head coach Jason Eck comes to the Lobos via Idaho, where he led them to the FBS playoffs all three years on the job, along with a 26-13 record. And with Eck in the fold, the Lobos improved the roster via the transfer portal.
Key portal additions
- Idaho transfer quarterback Jack Layne put up good numbers last season in just seven games (64.5% completions, 1,472 yards, 14 passing touchdowns, four interceptions).
- Montana State transfer running back Scottre Humphrey was prolific last season, rushing for 1,386 yards and 16 touchdowns.
- Linebacker Randolph Kpai transferred from Nebraska after tallying 80 tackles in 2024.
- Linebacker Dimitri Johnson came from Idaho and had 77 tackles last season.
- Another Idaho transfer, edge-rusher Keyshawn James-Newby, made 103 tackles with 15.5 sacks and 21.5 tackles for loss in two years at Idaho.
Biggest weakness
New Mexico’s most glaring deficiency is at offensive line, in terms of experience
at the very least. New Mexico returns just one starting lineman, Richard Pearce, who didn’t allow a sack last season.
Season expectations
Yahoo! Sports sets New Mexico’s win total this season at 3.5 after they went 5-7 last year. However, it’s worth noting that New Mexico pulled off upset wins against Air Force (52-37) and Washington State (38-35). Those upsets happened at home, though, and the Lobos have been historically poor on the road. New Mexico has lost 32 of 38 road games in recent years.
Michigan vs New Mexico outlook
Michigan is a 36.5-point favorite over New Mexico, and while the Lobos aren’t expected to win, a tilt against a team of Michigan’s caliber can help them gauge how far they’ve come along or how much they still have to improve. Transfer players on both sides of the ball for New Mexico make this matchup more intriguing — Layne and Humphrey, both impressed at the FCS level. And defensively, Kpai, Johnson, and James-Newby have all been tackling machines, but can any of these players find success against Michigan? That’s quite the challenge.
