UNM football: Mercyhurst added to Lobos' 2026 football schedule

Mercyhurst, an FCS program based out of Erie, Pennsylvania, has been added to New Mexico’s 2026 football schedule, the program announced Tuesday.

UNM will pay Mercyhurst $350,000 to play at University Stadium on Sept. 12, 2026, per a contract between both schools. Mercyhurst finished 4-7 in 2024, their first season as an FCS program. The Lakers competed in Division II from 1993-2023 and Division III from the team’s inception in 1981.

The Lobos are also scheduled to play at Oklahoma (Sept. 19) and rival New Mexico State (date TBA) in their nonconference slate that season.

UNM Athletic Director Fernando Lovo told the Journal he’s aiming to add a Group of Five team to fill out the fourth and final slot of the program’s 2026 nonconference schedule. With the recent exceptions of 2024 and 2025, the Lobos have typically played an FCS team, a Power Four team, NMSU and a G5 team in the nonconference over the last 15 years.

“I know that there were some initial conversations that had happened in terms of filling that last spot,” Lovo, hired in December, said Tuesday. “I don’t think those ever materialized into some sort of formal scheduling agreement between two teams. I think that we’re early in those discussions (now), but we are looking to fill that (fourth slot) with a G5 team.”

The 2026 schedule represents a return to a nonconference layout composed of a home game against an FCS program, a road game against a P4 program and a game against a G5 program opposite the location (home or away) of the NMSU game. In 2024, UNM played road games against P4 opponents Arizona and Auburn, and will play at Michigan and UCLA in 2025.

Prior to last season, the Lobos had not played two P4 programs in the same regular season since 2012. Williams said scheduling Arizona for 2024 and UCLA for 2025 in addition to Auburn and Michigan, respectively, was done with former head coach Danny Gonzales’ influence.

“He believed in the program and where it was gonna be,” Deputy Athletic Director Dave Williams said, “and he was the one that convinced us that it’d be a good idea to play them.”

While Lovo signed the Mercyhurst contract on Dec. 9, an agreement between both programs was initiated before his hiring: Williams said the Lakers were initially suggested by Dave Brown, the founder of college football scheduling service Gridiron, before the two schools reached an agreement.

“It’s just kind of a matchup of when you have an open date, and when they have an open date,” Williams said. “And Mercyhurst was an FCS (team) that was available that weekend.”

UNM also confirmed Monday that the Lobos will play FCS Northern Colorado as part of its 2027 nonconference schedule. The Bears will receive $375,000 to play at University Stadium on Sept. 4 of that year per a contract signed in August 2023 but not released until Monday.

Northern Colorado represents the fourth and final addition to UNM’s 2027 nonconference schedule: The Lobos also play at Oregon State (Sept. 11) and Texas A&M (Sept. 18) in addition to their annual game against NMSU (date TBA).

UNM will receive $1.7 million to play the Texas A&M Aggies at Kyle Field but won’t be paid to play the Beavers at Resler Stadium, per contracts posted on the athletic department’s website.