The Lobos’ home opener is here. Everything you need to know as New Mexico hosts Idaho State

Editor's note: This story has been edited to reflect UNM's previous series history against Idaho State.

Everything you need to know about New Mexico’s home opener against Idaho State:

Who: UNM (0-1) vs. Idaho State (0-2), the Lobos’ lone FCS opponent this season.

When and where: 1 p.m. Saturday at University Stadium in Albuquerque.

How to watch/listen: Altitude, a Colorado-based regional sports network, will carry UNM-ISU with Robert Portnoy (play-by-play) and DonTrell Moore (analyst) on the call. For those that don’t have Altitude, themw.com will stream the same broadcast online.

J.J. Buck (play-by-play), Ned James (analyst) and UNM soccer alum Skye McMillon (sidelines) will also broadcast UNM-ISU via radio on the Lobo Radio Network (770 AM/96.3 FM).

Who’s favored: No sportsbook has listed Saturday’s game yet, but UNM will almost assuredly be the favorite

How much is ISU making: UNM is paying the Bengals $375,000.

Top storyline(s): Was UNM’s 34-17 season-opening loss to No. 15 Michigan engaging (if not wholly inspiring) to plenty of fans? Yes.

Was it still a loss? Yes.

Jason Eck is well aware.

“I’ve never (had) so many congratulations,” UNM’s head coach said Tuesday, “for a 17-point loss.”

That was the tone of Eck’s news conference Tuesday: If UNM won some fans over by playing Michigan well, it was still a disappointment to those within the program. And perhaps more than anything, the first-year coach said he doesn’t want his players caught up thinking it was a win, even comparing it to what he thought happened to Idaho State last week.

“When they played UNLV to (a 38-31 loss two weeks ago), I’m sure people treated their players like they won the game — which they did not — and now they don’t play nearly as well last week and get beat (46-24) by Southern Utah,” Eck said. “So, we gotta guard against that. We gotta have our best week of preparation.”

In Idaho State, UNM will be facing an offense that plays fast, throws it just over 60% of the time and works almost exclusively out of 10 personnel (one running back, four receivers). The defense is “brand new,” Eck said, after head head coach Cody Hawkins — the son of former Boise State and Colorado coach Dan Hawkins — hired first-year defensive coordinator Grant Duff in November.

The keys to treating fans to a real win this weekend? Eck said UNM will have to make ISU one-dimensional by taking away its run game, and make sure they have answers for a defense that can look different on any given play.

“And hopefully (it’s) a win that looks really good, so they wanna keep coming back to support us,” he said.

UNM will have to do so without a key defensive starter. Eck said starting field safety Austin Brawley will be out for “a while” with a foot injury suffered against Michigan, but could return at the end of the season; a redshirt year for the Ohio transfer might be in the cards.

How will UNM replace Brawley, considered one of the most valuable defensive players due to his familiarity with the Lobos’ scheme? Eck said safeties Drew Speech and Aaron Smith will now rotate at field safety, with the former starting as the A1 to Smith’s A2.

“Speech has really come on,” Eck said. “He missed some time during camp with a concussion, but he was able to come in the last week, 10 days and ending up beating out (Smith) to be the backup behind Brawley.”

Lobos to watch: Let’s go with the offensive line. Per the official game stats, UNM allowed three sacks and seven quarterback hits to Jack Layne against Michigan — a set of numbers that aren’t truly egregious, but don’t come close to telling the full story of the beating the Wolverines put on Layne.

Eck said he found the hits put on Layne were due more to UNM’s protection issues than Michigan’s personnel. Tuesday, members of UNM’s starting offensive line made it clear they’re looking to put those miscues in the past.

“(It’s) just unacceptable as an O-line — we gotta take more pride in protecting our guy back there,” starting center Kaden Robnett said. “He’s the money maker. We gotta protect him.”

Bengals to watch: Eck was complimentary of ISU quarterback Jordan Cooke (53-for-95, 714 yards, two touchdowns and four interceptions) but didn’t shy away from revealing UNM’s plans to attack the 6-foot-4, 234-pound junior.

“We gotta get some pressure on him, and try to get him to turn over the ball,” Eck said. “Because that’s been his one nemesis — he’s shown that he’ll turn over the ball if you put pressure on him. I was disappointed (because) to beat Michigan, you got to create some turnovers defensively and we did not.”

Michael Shulikov (10 catches for 187 yards) is the Bengals’ leading receiver. At 6-6, 226 pounds, he’s the most visibly talented player on ISU’s offense, and demands extra attention from the Lobos’ defense.

What happened the last time these teams played: UNM is 3-0 all-time against Idaho State, winning most recently in 1998. Eck, formerly the head coach at rival Idaho, was undefeated coaching against the Bengals, outscoring them 141-45 in three meetings.

Is there still a little bit of a rivalry swell for the old Vandal? “I don’t think it’s really a rivalry,” Eck shrugged, “but I enjoy beating them.”