UNM FOOTBALL
Eck: Lobos QB Jack Layne out for season; UNM to play multiple quarterbacks in opener
UNM had held a three-player quarterback competition throughout fall camp
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New Mexico鈥檚 quarterback competition is not yet settled, but one big question surrounding it has been answered.
UNM head coach Jason Eck said Thursday that incumbent starter Jack Layne, who has been sidelined since summer with an elbow injury, will undergo season-ending surgery.
The second-year coach added that he is not yet ready to name a starter for the Lobos鈥� opener next Saturday (Sept. 5) against Central Michigan, but he did confirm he will play multiple players under center in the game.
鈥淭he good news is, we have a lot of confidence in our other quarterbacks and because of that, we made the decision (to) play multiple quarterbacks in our first game,鈥� Eck said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e excited about them 鈥� I think our guys all have different strengths, they complement each other. So we鈥檙e gonna use all the assets we have, use all the different things.
Eck said that Layne, a fifth-year senior, filed a waiver after undergoing surgery in the offseason in the hopes of getting another year to play.
The competition in Layne鈥檚 absence has been between sixth-year senior James Laubstein, junior Luke Moga and sophomore Toa Fa鈥檃vae.
鈥淲e鈥檙e still finalizing what exactly the rotation will be 鈥� who goes first and all those things 鈥� but I expect to see multiple guys in that first game,鈥� Eck said.
A Bethany, Connecticut, native, Laubstein thrived last season as UNM鈥檚 run-first backup behind Layne. He rushed for 363 yards 鈥� the third-highest mark on the team 鈥� and completed 11 of 17 passes for 96 yards and two touchdowns in nine games with the Lobos.
Despite exhausting his eligibility last season, Laubstein was able to return after securing a waiver for a sixth year from the NCAA. He successfully argued that one of his two years spent at the junior college level should not count against his NCAA eligibility.
Laubstein joined UNM in 2024 under coach Bronco Mendenhall after spending one season at New Haven and two at Sussex County Community College, a non-NCAA two-year junior college in Newton, New Jersey.
His time at Sussex County formed the basis of his waiver request to the NCAA.
鈥淟aubstein (is) a veteran who鈥檚 played before,鈥� Eck said. 鈥淗e did a great job for us last year.鈥�
Moga transferred to UNM from Oregon, where he completed 3 of 5 passes for 58 yards as a backup to Dante Moore last season. A former four-star prospect, the Phoenix native starred at Sunnyslope (Arizona) High School before committing to the Ducks.
A Concord, California, native, Fa鈥檃vae appeared in one game for UNM last season and ended the year as UNM鈥檚 third quarterback on the depth chart.
鈥淭oa and Luke, (they) haven鈥檛 played a lot but bring a lot to the table,鈥� Eck said. 鈥淏oth have great arms. Both are fast 鈥� I think all three will help us win this year.鈥�
When asked if he preferred a quarterback to stand out and take more snaps throughout the season, Eck said he will evaluate the situation on a game-by-game basis.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think this is a bad thing or something you wanna try to fix as soon as you can,鈥� he added, 鈥渂ut 鈥� if we look after two games and one guy鈥檚 got eight touchdown passes and one鈥檚 got eight interceptions, I think that would the end of the two-quarterback system. I think we鈥檒l use common sense and evaluate it.
鈥淏ut again, I think just the way I saw it, it was a very close race, and they complement each other. So I thought this was the best thing for our football team.鈥�
Sean Reider covers college football and other sports for the Journal. You can reach him at sreider@abqjournal.com or via X at .
