LOBO FOOTBALL
UNM quarterback Jack Layne sidelined with elbow injury
Lobos starter will miss the near future of fall camp as three quarterbacks compete for the starting job.
After not throwing with his right arm Wednesday, Eck said quarterback Jack Layne will be out for the 鈥渘ear future鈥 while rehabbing a nagging elbow injury.
UNM鈥檚 starter last season did not throw during spring practice as he recovered from an offseason surgery to repair a torn tendon in his right elbow. The fifth-year senior has battled issues with said elbow since transferring to UNM, notably playing through said tear over the second half of last season.
鈥淚t鈥檚 bothering him a little bit,鈥 Eck said. 鈥淗e got a second opinion, saw another specialist and you know, we gotta sort some things out. But he鈥檒l be out for the near future and doing rehab and we鈥檒l see if we can get him back (and) ready.鈥
Without Layne 鈥 largely considered the frontrunner for the starting job 鈥 UNM split reps with the first-team offense between James Laubstein, Luke Moga and Toa Fa鈥檃vae on Wednesday. All three are expected to compete for the starting job; Eck said he would like one of them to start pulling ahead within the next 13 practices.
鈥淚 thought all three of those guys had good moments,鈥 Eck said.
UNLV transfer receiver Troy Omeire was also in and out of practice Wednesday. Eck said he鈥檚 dealing with a hamstring injury and expects him back in the next week.
鈥淗e鈥檚 just rehabbing it, getting stronger right now,鈥 he added. 鈥淗e did some good things this summer, but just tweaked it in kind of one of the last workouts of the summer.鈥
Notes and quotes
The rest of UNM鈥檚 inactive players Wednesday: running back Deshaun Buchanan, tight end Joey Olsen, wide receiver Abraham Williams, cornerback Melaki Gutierrez and defensive lineman Cody Thumlert. Gutierrez will miss the season after having surgery this offseason, Eck said.
No surprises with the first-team offensive line UNM rolled out Wednesday: Cole Millward, Malik Aliane, Kaden Robnett, Jaymar Tasi and Tyler Lawrence. Expect some shuffling soon, though.
Players only practiced in helmets Wednesday, so there weren鈥檛 a ton of meaningful on-field observations to be made. But receivers Miles Williams and Jacob Maldonado 鈥 a freshman out of Cleveland High School 鈥 both notched some nice diving catches down the sideline.
Cornerback Jahmir Torres also picked up right where he left off this spring, intercepting a pass from Toa Fa鈥檃vae during a skelly (seven-on-seven without linemen) period. If he forces takeaways at a similar rate to what he did this spring, he鈥檒l be in line for plenty of playing time this season.
The first-team defense I saw Wednesday: defensive linemen Darren Agu, Xavier Slayton, Brian Booker and Karhu; linebackers Jaxton Eck and Mercury Swaim; cornerbacks Frankie Edwards III and Ormanie Arnold; and safeties Tavian Combs, Austin Brawley and Drew Speech. Karhu wasted no time whatsoever sliding back in with the ones.
Eck said he hadn鈥檛 studied the Protect College Sports Act too deeply, but likes the gist of it: 鈥淛ust the trends of college athletics, the way things that we鈥檙e going, probably the only two things that would that would either be collective bargaining 鈥 or some government intervention and having some carve-outs with antitrust (matters),鈥 he added. 鈥淚 do think that (the bill) would be a positive 鈥 it鈥檚 tough right now because the NCAA can鈥檛 really enforce its own rules.鈥
Wednesday, Akron announced plans to select a random season ticket holder to call offensive plays for the Zips鈥 first drive in its season-opener against FCS Robert Morris. Eck indicated it would take more than purchasing season tickets for that to open at UNM: 鈥淚t鈥檚 probably, like, a $20 million donation to (UNM鈥檚) NIL,鈥 he joked.
Former Lobo wide receiver Caleb Medford has rejoined UNM as an offensive graduate assistant: 鈥淲e had a couple spots open this offseason and he had reached out and expressed interest,鈥 Eck said. 鈥 鈥 When he was here, he was well-respected, took care of his business in class, did a good job. (They were) able to get him in school and get him rolling, and that was a good addition.鈥
Sean Reider covers college football and other sports for the Journal. You can reach him at sreider@abqjournal.com or via X at .