UNM football: Three observations from the Lobos’ (half) scrimmage

Was it a full scrimmage? Not quite.

“We practiced for a little longer and scrimmaged at the end … This was kind of our half scrimmage day,” New Mexico head coach Jason Eck said Saturday.

There was, however, plenty to be seen during UNM’s open practice Saturday, the sixth of 15 sessions this spring entering Eck’s first season with the program.

Three observations from the Lobos’ first (half) scrimmage:

1. The Lobos are working through one question up front: Remember: this is still March. In between plays during Saturday’s semi-scrimmage, onlookers chatted about Thursday and Friday’s Sweet Sixteen games. A juggernaut Elite Eight slate. Who UNM might hire as its next men’s basketball coach, when that hire might happen and so on and so forth.

Basketball is on everybody’s minds. Eck is no different.

“(In) basketball, you want your first five to kick the crap out of your second five — and if (they) don’t, you know, you got problems,” he chuckled after Saturday’s practice. “In football, it’s always a balance.”

This was in reference to a day when UNM’s first-string offense looked good against the first-string defense, and the second- and third-string defenses had a leg up on their offensive counterparts. That’s not an unusual deal for spring practice, but at least one part of said arrangement poses a question the Lobos will have to deal with through mid-April and possibly beyond:

“Is that because we’re going to be really good running the ball with our one offense,” Eck asked, “or is it because we got a lot of work to do stopping the run with our number one defense?”

At least for Saturday, let’s call it a mix of both – albeit with a likely lean in one direction. This is a team that was built to run the football, after all. That much was apparent when UNM dialed up power a few times on the first-string offense’s 10-play, 75-yard opening drive, Weber State transfer running back Damon Bankston capped it with a short touchdown.

And if it’s not all the way there, Saturday was a solid look into why Eck thinks the offensive line will be a strength of the team. Not only did UNM’s quality depth on the interior show out, but there was good work on the outside – particularly from Alabama A&M transfer Nevell Brown, a player Eck thinks has had the best spring of any tackle so far.

The flip side: run defense extends beyond the front four, but this isn’t a defensive line that’s all the way there. There is talent, but it’s still about two guys short (ands maybe more) of being in a relatively decent spot depth-wise. That’s not to say some good things aren’t happening – for instance, sophomore defensive tackle Sa’Kylee Woodard looks like he’s gaining ground at a solid clip.

2. James Laubstein is (currently) the best at finding ‘premium’ looks:

James Laubstein’s bio lists his hometown as Bethany, Connecticut, a small town in southern New England. With that in mind, it isn’t surprising he pulls for all the New England teams: the Boston Red Sox, Boston Celtics, Boston Bruins and, yes, the New England Patriots.

And perhaps it’s even less surprising that Tom Brady was “the guy” for UNM’s 6-foot-3, 209-pound senior quarterback, growing up a witness to the peak years of maybe the most accomplished player ever. If that experience had any influence on him, it probably shows best when he talks about his own approach to the game.

“I’m never looking to make a big play,” Laubstein said Saturday. “(It’s) just one play at a time, try to make the right play, always thinking about down and distance when I’m out there. No turnovers and when explosives are there, make them happen.”

To be clear: none of this is to say Laubstein looked like a seven-time Super Bowl champ during Saturday’s practice, or put the quarterback competition on ice – there’s still a long way to go before that’s done and over. After all, Jack Layne will be healthy at some point.

But if UNM has one available quarterback right now who can sit in the pocket, make reads and (perhaps most importantly) not force things, it’s him. How he’s handled RPOs (run-pass options) in an offense that uses them a good deal has been a good window into that quality; Saturday was the latest example.

“(Offensive coordinator Luke Schleusner) always says, ‘we want a premium look. If we have an average look, let’s hand the ball off,’” Eck said. “If we have a premium look, a great look to get a completion, let’s take it. But if not, let’s get the ball to one of our talented backs.

“I think (Laubstein’s) really doing a great job. He’s had the best spring through the first six practices of the quarterbacks.”

There’s also a little more to his game outside of structure. Facing 2nd and 12 against the first-string defense, Laubstein found Michael Buckley on a crosser for a first down and then some. Turns out it was a broken play – Laubstein just found Buckley and made it happen.

“Coach (Schluesner) is always on us, ‘don’t make a bad play worse,’” Laubstein said. “And we ended up making it a good play.”

And if it wasn’t completely unknown, it really wasn’t publicized: Laubstein can run a bit. That was seen during pieces of practices last year when he was working down the depth chart or manning the scout team. If he isn’t pure electricity in cleats à la Devon Dampier, he’s a smidge faster than you might think with the sturdiness to back it up.

Again, does that put the quarterback competition on ice? No.

Does it put him in a better spot than anybody expected heading into this spring? Yes.

Getting to the right look goes a long way in that regard.

3. there might be a few unexpectedcontributors on this team: Unexpected in the sense that they weren’t quite before. For instance, linebacker Lucas Lucero didn’t see the field after transferring in from Western New Mexico in 2023 before carving out a role on special teams last season.

As of Saturday, he was working with the first-team defense next to iron man Dimitri Johnson, far and away his most extended run up top since joining the program.

“He’s probably been, if not the top walk-on in the program, certainly one of the top ones,” Eck said of the Rio Rancho native. “He’s really done a good job. He’s physical (and) really done a good job picking things up and taking advantage of his opportunities.”

UNM football spring practice: Photos