{"id":665381,"date":"2026-05-12T05:41:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T05:41:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/665381\/"},"modified":"2026-05-12T05:41:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T05:41:08","slug":"football-takeaways-from-lobos-spring-practices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/665381\/","title":{"rendered":"Football: Takeaways from Lobos’ spring practices"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s been over two weeks since University of New Mexico Lobos\u2019 Head Coach Jason Eck and his squad wrapped up their annual spring game to conclude the spring portion of practices for the 2026 football team.<\/p>\n

While we are still five months away from the season opener versus Central Michigan on Sept. 5, spring ball gave us an early look at what\u2019s to come this fall at University Stadium.<\/p>\n

Fall battle coming for QB2 spot<\/p>\n

2025 starting quarterback Jack Layne did not participate \u2014 physically at least \u2014 during spring practices. Instead, he rehabbed his elbow after suffering a torn flexor tendon during pregame warmups against the University \u00a0of California Los Angeles last season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

With Layne on the mend, Oregon transfer Luke Moga and redshirt freshman Toa Fa\u2019avae had the opportunity to prove to the staff they may have what it takes to take over as the team\u2019s starting quarterback.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This left the question: Is one ahead of the other after the spring?<\/p>\n

\u201cI think both guys have had moments, maybe a practice where they were ahead of the other guy. But I think over the course of 15 (practices), it\u2019s really close,\u201d Eck said.<\/p>\n

Layne stayed involved mentally throughout the spring by throwing the ball with his left hand during drills and mirroring offensive plays from afar during practices and the spring game<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe does probably the best job of staying mentally into it with an injury, of any player I\u2019ve ever been around,\u201d Eck said. \u201cHe didn\u2019t miss much this spring, he got every mental rep, every protection look, every read of where to go with the ball (against) the coverage.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s safe to assume Layne will have the upper hand at the position heading into fall camp as long as he\u2019s cleared and healthy.<\/p>\n

The Lobos will hold a competition between Layne, Moga and Fa\u2019avae throughout fall camp, but nothing of significance has changed regarding the starting spot, Eck said.<\/p>\n

Turnovers ignite while front seven reloads<\/p>\n

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It was evident during the spring the Lobos defense is well ahead of the offense. They logged two safeties and five interceptions \u2014 two resulting in pick-sixes \u2014 during the spring game. Eck emphasized the importance of creating more turnovers compared to last season throughout the spring.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were a very good defense last year but we didn\u2019t create a lot of turnovers,\u201d Eck said. \u201cIt\u2019s tough to say you are a great defense until you are creating a lot of turnovers. I think we still (have to) keep getting better with punching the ball out and creating more fumbles.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Lobos rank first in the Mountain West (18th in the country) in returning production on defense. 67% of the snaps taken at linebacker and 65% of the snaps taken in the secondary from last season are returning in 2026.<\/p>\n

Just 38% of the snaps along the front are returning, and 16.5 of the team\u2019s 36 sacks in 2025 are gone after Keyshawn James-Newby and Brett Karhu\u2019s departure. That will be the main hump defensive coordinator Spence Nowinsky will need to figure out how to climb.<\/p>\n

If the Lobos can replicate similar production along the defensive line from last season, combined with creating more turnovers, then \u2014 in foresight \u2014 there isn\u2019t much holding back Nowinsky from deploying a top-tier unit on a weekly basis based on what we saw throughout the spring.<\/p>\n

New hands in the backfield<\/p>\n

Just when the Lobos were looking for a spark at running back, one ignited.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Redshirt freshman Cameron Mathews, a transfer from Memphis, put his name on the map during the spring game. Mathews ran for 88-yards \u2014 69 of those yards on one play \u2014 and the offense\u2019s lone touchdown.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he\u2019s the clear number two (running back) going into camp. He keeps doing what he\u2019s doing, he\u2019s gonna keep pressing (Scottre Humphrey),\u201d Eck said. \u201cCertainly, I like to play multiple guys anyway, so he\u2019s definitely carving out a role for himself.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Lobos have been given the tall task of replacing running backs DJ McKinney and Damon Bankston, who transferred to Tulsa and signed with the New York Giants<\/a>, respectively. Mathews providing a spark could pay dividends for the RB group long-term, especially with Deshaun Buchanan sidelined for the majority of fall camp with an injury.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all love to see each other grow, the competition is good, we do like that,\u201d Mathews said after the spring game. \u201cWe (are trying) to be the legs of the team. We gotta protect the quarterback and make the (offensive line) look good, that\u2019s our two primary roles.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The start of fall camp for the Lobos will be announced at a later date.<\/p>\n

Edge Garcia is a freelance reporter for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on X @ByEdgeGarcia<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s been over two weeks since University of New Mexico Lobos\u2019 Head Coach Jason Eck and his squad…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":665382,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[64,63,596,85],"class_list":["post-665381","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-football","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/665381","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=665381"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/665381\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/665382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=665381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=665381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=665381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}