2026 MAC Football Week 1 Game Preview: Central Michigan Chippewas vs. New Mexico Lobos

The Central Michigan Chippewas and New Mexico Lobos caught a lot of teams by surprise in 2025, jumping up and biting the nose off several opponents en route to clinching the postseason under first-year head coaches.

Matt Drinkall, the former Army West Point offensive line coach, led the Chippewas to a 7-5 regular season record and positioned CMU for a chance at the MAC title game– despite running an offense which Drinkall has stated multiple times this offseason was more out of necessity than desire.

Jason Eck, a longtime FCS assistant who emerged at Idaho as one of FCS' best minds, imported his brand of football to a moribund New Mexico program and immediately revitalized them, going from a 5-7 record in 2024 to 9-3 in 2025 before losing in overtime to Minnesota in a bowl game.

Now the two intriguing coaches get set to lead their teams onto the same gridiron, with a unique national window for the country to gaze upon.

Game Notes

• Date and Time: Saturday, Sept. 5th, 2026 at 10:00 p.m. Eastern time
• Location: University Stadium in Albuquerque, New Mexico
• TV options: The game will air nationwide on FS1. Check your local network schedules for availability.
• Streaming options: The game will be available via the Fox Sports App. A valid subscription is required for viewing. Other applicable cable/satellite streaming services are also available with a valid subscription. Other streaming carriers include Sling, DirecTV Stream, fuboTV, Hulu Live TV, or YouTube TV.
• CMU radio: Adam Jaksa (play-by-play) and Brock Gutierrez (color) will provide the CMU call for WUPS-FM 98.5.
• UNM radio: Robert Portnoy (play-by-play) and DonTrell Moore (color) will provide the UNM call for 770 KKOB-AM.
• Gambling Considerations: New Mexico is an 11.5-point home favorite, with an over/under set around 46.0-46.5 by book, per Covers.
• All-Time Series: This will be the first matchup between these two teams.

New Mexico outlook

The Lobos had no expectations to start the 2025 season. They brought in a first-year head coach with no significant FBS coaching experience and 75 new players into a program that saw an offseason talent drain; by all means, 2025 was meant to be a rebuild.

Instead, the Lobos started 3-1, putting themselves on the map with an absolute evisceration of Big Ten foe UCLA with new QB Nico Iamaleava in the non-conference slate.

Even with a tough dip midway through the season (losses to San Jose State and Boise State), the team rebounded big time, winning six games in a row to tie for the Mountain West regular-season title. They lost out on a chance to fight for the trophy on tiebreakers, but it was still an an impressive feat, earning Eck Coach of the Year honors in the Mountain West Conference postseason awards.

This year, the Lobos return the majority of their starters both on offense and defense, and are a favorite to win the Mountain West outright alongside UNLV.

In a late development, New Mexico will be down their starting quarterback Jack Layne (2,486 yards, 13 passing TDs, 10 interceptions, 65 percent completion; four rushing TDs) due to a season-ending injury suffered late in fall camps.

This means the Lobos will likely be rotating between Jack Laubenstein (96 passing yards, 363 rushing yards and three total TDs in nine games played), Oregon transfer Luke Moga and redshirt freshman Toa Fa'avae. UNM's two-deep officially lists all three as co-starters, so we'll have to wait and see how it falls out.

Whoever ends up under center has at least one intriguing target in Trey Omiere, who arrives from UNLV after a 514-yard, five score campaign and should avail himself well as a big body target at six-foot-five, 226 lbs. UNM will be figuring out their other options, as they integrate a lot of freshmen and even have a safety convert in Antonio Williams fighting for snaps.

For now, UNM will likely lean upon their running game early as the passing offense works itself out. 2025 saw the Lobos rush for an average of 152 yards per game, and now they lose their top two rushers. Senior back Scottre Humphrey (358 yards in 13 games and three starts in '25) does return as the lead back, and will have backup in transfer backs Keifer Sibley (North Texas) and Cameron Matthews (Memphis).

The offensive line returns three starters to a unit which was average in 2025 and gave up 30 sacks– but they did manage 4.3 yards per rush, so there is a lot to build on.

Defensively, the team is defined by fierce run defense and backfield penetration, ranking 21st in the country in rushing yards allowed, 17th in sacks and 47th in tackles-for-loss.

Interior linebacker Jaxton Eck is the dynamo who makes it work. The coach's son was the Mountain West's defensive player of the year in 2025 after a campaign which saw him amass 134 tackles. His running mate Mercury Swain (52 tackles, 6.5 TFLs) also returns to give the 4-2-5 defense its staunch middle.

The front four is in flux due to a litany of departures, but does return veterans in nose tackle Brian Booker, D-tackle Xavier Slayton and end Darren Agu.

The defense returns three of their defensive back starters, including the safety pair of Austin Brawley (26 tackles, 2.5 TFLs and six pass break-ups in four games in '25) and Tavian Combs (264 tackles, 11 PBUs in five seasons with UNM). They should be a tough matchup for a CMU receiver unit which is young and inexperienced.

Former CMU long snapper Lincoln Epstein won the starting job in camp for the Lobos, and will be part of a completely new operation which finished 2025 as one of the next in the NCAA.

Central Michigan Outlook

Central came into 2025 as a bit of a disruptive upstart, making a non-traditional coaching hire and running an offense which could have been narrated by the dulcet tones of John Facenda.

By season's end, CMU wound up being one of the MAC's more intriguing watches, thanks in part to their physical and aggressive style of play on both sides of the field. Were it not for some questionable conference losses (a blowout to Akron on the road comes to mind), CMU could well have been playing rival Western in Detroit last December.

But last year is last year, and Drinkall and staff have a lot of belief and optimism in the 2026 edition of the Chippewas.

Angel Flores won the starting quarterback job out of fall camps as the most experienced returnee, and brings a true dual-threat aspect to the field. Flores was the team's second-leading rusher in 2025, with 527 yards, and led the team in rushing TDs (eight) despite missing four games due to injury. Drinkall stated in media availability this week the staff wants to show off Flores' arm more in the 2026 campaign, as they restricted the playbook by necessity. Backup Jadyn Glasser, who is coming off a leg injury which kept him out for 11 games last year, should also get looks on the field, and has been a name on the tongues of the coaches all offseason as an emergent prospect.

This team will absolutely look to Run The Ball, as they return the MAC's most experienced offensive line (which has seven players with listed starts), and have four halfbacks they look to incorporate into one of the NCAA's heaviest run schemes.

Former Liberty back Vaughn Blue and versatile on-roster option Brock Townsend are co-listed as starters in the backfield and each bring excellent agility. Blue averaged 5.5 yards per carry with the Flames in his tenure there, while Townsend was CMU's best slotback option in 2025 with 563 total yards and eight total touchdowns (four each rushing and passing). Two-time all-Patriot League selection Jayden Clearveaux will get play as well after picking up 1,735 yards and 16 touchdowns at Holy Cross.

We'll be learning about CMU's receiving situation in real time; second-team all-MAC selection Langston Lewis (43 catches, 596 yards, three scores) returns and will be ready to block and catch, but the list behind him consists largely of names with minimal experience.

On defense, it's a sea change, as last year's most-senior unit in the MAC departs as expected.

Unlike last year's defense, which sat in a fairly traditional 4-3 look, Drinkall hopes to play a multiple front look in 2026, with heavy linebacker and defensive line rotations depending on the matchups they see week-to-week.

Only cornerback Jaion Jackson and defensive end Korver Demma return to their spots from last season. Joey VanWetzinga, the other end, suffered a season-ending injury in camp and won't be able to follow up on a promising first season. JJ Douglas, who saw some rotation work there, does return and looks primed for a breakout.

The staff expressed a lot of excitement about new nose guard Jaxon Cherry, a former sprinter and decathlete who came in as a hybrid end at around 240 lbs. and now sits at 265 lbs., as well as true freshman linebacker Drew Esper, who Drinkall described as "like the cyborg from Terminator 2".

Others to join the "cyborg" include two June additions in two-time all-conference backer Brett McCalla (Central Washington) and Weber State rotation piece Mayson Hitchens, as well as on-roster Victor Earl, Jeremiah Alston and Xavier White. The safety room also gets a pair of transfers injected into it, with Wyoming's Justin Taylor and Northern Colorado's Darrell Bryant Jr. expected to start in the back.

Caden VanHuis inherits placekicking duties, while Declan Dooley will once again start at punter.

Game Outlook

Drinkall could not contain his excitement about playing a coach like Jason Eck when asked about it this week, calling the game "the biggest blessing there is" for his team.

"We know right out of the gate, no matter what, you are playing a team that will force you to play the absolute, almost perfect game they have to win," Drinkall told media on Wednesday. "... Our team is so excited about the challenge of it. You know what I mean? Out of the gate, that's going to be really cool."

Certainly, the game projects as one which could crown a dark-horse mid-major darling in front of a national television audience.

Both CMU and UNM show remarkably similar on-field philosophies, even if the rations are more balanced under Eck. They also build and recruit rosters in very similr fashions. The old expression is "iron sharpens iron," and this game could have that in spades.

Oddsmakers are a little uneasy about CMU's lack of proven experience outside the run game, and with good reason: UNM was a monster in stopping the run in 2025 and return a lot of what made that work.

Even with the sudden offensive issues for UNM, CMU's defense might not be quite up to task as a brand-new unit gets used to working under game fire.

That said, it feels like the spread might be a little large. This game feels like a tilt that could land in the 7-10 point range, as opposed to the 11.5-12 as some do. Given both teams averaged around 22 points on offense last year, a push on the over/under also feels in play.

This will be a game won on the margins; whichever team can take advantage will get a great start to the season.