Saturday storyline: New Mexico quarterbacks ‘excited’ for committee approach against Central Michigan
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Speaking to a group of reporters, James Laubstein was about to answer a question about New Mexico’s quarterbacks when he asked one of his own.
“What shape has six sides?” the sixth-year senior said Monday. “That’s a genuine question.”
A hexagon?
“Hexagon, yeah! All six of us are, like, a hextuple – we all love each other, we all try to push each other, grow together. And it’s all love, we love being around each other.”
(The proper term is sextuple, but that’s beside the point.)
What is the point?
Entering Saturday, UNM’s quarterback by committee approach has yet to take shape – at least not to the public eye.
The Lobos might play all three of their top options — junior Luke Moga, sophomore Toa Fa’avae and Laubstein — or just two. Who starts among the three is unknown. And it's unclear how reps will be split among them entering UNM’s opener against Central Michigan.
The minor mystery surrounding UNM’s quarterbacks was even adopted as an off-the-cuff sales campaign by the program’s chief marketer, second-year head coach Jason Eck.
“I wanna help sell those last few tickets,” he joked Monday. “So I don’t wanna give (it) away — it’s like a ‘to be continued’ episode. Get your tickets, come to the game and you’ll find out Saturday night who the starter’s gonna be.”
What UNM’s quarterbacks have made clear: They’re plenty fine with the arrangement.
With former starter Jack Layne out for all of fall camp, Laubstein, Fa’avae and Moga competed for the starting job over the last month. All flashed at points in a competition Eck described as “very close” entering the final few days of camp.
And all maintain there was no disappointment when Eck opted for a multi-quarterback approach instead of naming a true starter.
“Coach Eck is gonna put our team in the best position to win,” Fa’avae said, “and if that’s rotating quarterbacks, then I fully agree. I believe in coach Eck. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t.”
“The most important thing is that we go 1-0, right?” Laubstein said. “Like, as a team, that’s our goal, no matter what. I could not play a snap and I’d be ecstatic if we went 1-0.”
“That’s why I came here: to play. Whatever it looks like,” Moga said.
A former four-star prospect, Moga transferred to UNM over the winter after two seasons as a backup at Oregon. The 6-foot-1, 208-pound junior has been said to be one of the fastest players on the team, but is internally viewed by the Lobos’ staff as more of a pocket passer than perhaps the others.
Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Luke Schleusner said he thought Moga elevated his game in camp after relying on his legs at points during the spring.
“Sometimes when you’re a great athlete, it can be tempting to play outside the system,” he said “ … Flushing backwards, you can make some spectacular plays, but we want (Moga) moving up in the pocket and playing closer to the line of scrimmage. He embraced that, did a better job and elevated himself in the second half of fall camp.”
Schleusner said he believed Fa’avae — the least experienced of the three — also improved during camp. Eck said the 6-0, 188-pound sophomore solidified himself in UNM’s quarterback competition off the strength of his first scrimmage performance, one that saw him extend plays and run wild on the Lobos’ defense.
Schleusner has wanted to see more of that quality in practice.
“In practice, when they’re not live (for tackling), he’s really not flushing too much,” he added. “But I’m on him to keep playing it like a game (and use his legs) because we saw the first scrimmage when he was live (and) the things he was doing with his feet. He really likes to sit in the pocket and see it, especially in practice, and we’re just trying to emphasize (playing) everything like a game.”
Laubstein is the most known quantity of the three, a bruising 6-3, 209-pound senior that plowed ahead for 363 rushing yards last season. Despite exhausting his eligibility earlier this year, he was eligible to return for a sixth year of college football after the NCAA granted him a waiver.
Schleusner believes Laubstein has gained more confidence in the offense after returning to UNM this summer.
“As far as just a lot of (the) little things — huddling and … that communication — he’s continued to improve,” he said. “He’s a guy that I have all the confidence in the world in.”
However all three are used, Moga believes playing multiple quarterbacks gives UNM, “the best of every world.”
“James was talking about whatever hextuple (or) couple — whatever he was saying,” he added with a smile. “We’ve got a bunch of different personalities, a bunch of different play styles. We got vets, we got young guys. It is what it is, and we’re all gonna be on the field in whatever that looks like.
“And we’re all just excited for the opportunity.”
Scouting Central Michigan
It is not uncommon for a coach to make an opponent sound a little better than they actually are. Eck, however, can be forgiven for not exactly selling Central Michigan short.
“We gotta play well in this game,” he said. “This is not, you know, an overmatched lower-level division team. It’s going to be a very tough matchup.”
Why?
Last season, the Chippewas finished a surprising 7-6 under first-year head coach and former Iowa offensive lineman Matt Drinkall.
The key points of his playing experience were on display: The Chippewas ran the ball well (163.46 yards per game) and played good defense (23.5 points per game) on their way to emerging as a fringe Mid-American Conference (MAC) contender in Drinkall’s maiden voyage.
And while first games can be tricky to predict, CMU is expected to try and do much of the same come Saturday night. Three things to know about the Chippewas:
1. Expect to see multiple quarterbacks
Angel Flores (19 of 28, 195 yards, two touchdowns, one interception) will start for the Chippewas while Jadyn Glasser (7 of 9, 78 yards) is expected to see some time. UNM would be wise to both in the pocket: Flores and Glasser are both bona fide dual-threat quarterbacks, with the former rushing for 527 yards and eight touchdowns last season.
2. CMU can stop the run
The Chippewas are missing two All-MAC players from last season in linebacker Jordan Kwiatowski and defensive lineman Michael Heldman. But CMU is returning a handful of players from a defense that allowed 145.69 rushing yards per game (sixth in the MAC) and held all but two opponents (Michigan and Toledo) under 200 yards on the ground.
3. The Chippewas have a knack for generating turnovers
Last season, CMU finished third in the MAC in turnover margin (+5). Its 21 turnovers gained (13 interceptions, 8 recovered fumbles) tied for 26th in the 138-team FBS.
Sean Reider covers college football and other sports for the Journal. You can reach him at sreider@abqjournal.com or via X at @lenaweereider.
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