The Hangover, Part V? University of New Mexico Football, Jason Eck Seek Cure in 2026
“Last year we went from talking about going to a bowl game, going 6-6. I wouldn’t be content with that this year ”
Jason Eck overcame a lot of University of New Mexico history during his first year as coach in 2025.
Unfortunately, UNM has plenty more of the same history ahead of Eck in year two, starting with what’s known as the nine-win-season hangover.
Five times in an otherwise unremarkable 134-year body of work, the Lobos have produced a nine-win season.
1964 – 9-2, Western Athletic Conference Champions, last conference championship.
1997 – 9-4, WAC Mountain Division Champions; first bowl appearance in 36 years.
2007 – 9-4, New Mexico Bowl victory, first postseason win in 46 years.
2016 – 9-4, New Mexico Bowl victory, led the nation in rushing.
2025 – 9-4, Mountain West co-champions, first Lobo team to go 6-0 at home.
Then, there were the follow-up seasons. Ugh!
1965 – 3-7. Heavy graduation and an offense that scored 12.7 points per game led to the team’s undoing.
1998 – 3-9. Coach Dennis Franchione left UNM for TCU. The team had a rough transition to new coach Rocky Long, and 1997 co-WAC player of the Year quarterback Graham Leigh threw 17 interceptions.
2008 – 4-8. A difficult schedule, myriad injuries on defense, the program being hit with NCAA sanctions and a deteriorating relationship between Long and athletic director Paul Krebs led to Long’s exit after an 11-year run.
2017 – 3-9. Coach Bob Davie, who brilliantly revived the program after the sanctions and the dreadful Mike Locksley era, then lost his mind and abandoned the unique triple-option offense that averaged 350 rushing yards per game in 2016 for a spread-option offense that dozens of other schools ran – and ran better – in 2017.
2026 - ?
For the record, the Lobos had one 10-win season in 1982. Coach Joe Morrison left after that season, and the team again dipped to 6-6 under new coach Joe Lee Dunn in 1983.
The silver lining is that Eck is riding a wave of momentum each of the other coaches lacked heading into the season after nine wins.
The team returns MW Defensive Player of the Year middle linebacker Jaxton Eck and several other key players from a stellar 2025 defense.
Quarterback Jack Layne returns. Although his 2025 stats were average at best, he quietly played most of the season with a torn ligament in his throwing elbow and still helped guide the team to a six-game winning streak to end the regular season.
Also, with five teams having left the Mountain West for the Pac-12 this season - including perennially mighty Boise State - the Lobos are one of the favorites in the revamped conference in 2026.
“Internally, our goals have changed,” Eck told The Pit Press at MW Media Day earlier this month. “Last year, we went from talking about going to a bowl game, going 6-6. I wouldn’t really be content with that (this year). … We want to win the conference championship; we want double-digit wins. And if you’re going to raise your goals, you must raise your behaviors to higher levels. Be more consistent, be detail oriented. … If we want to win this conference, we’ve got to up our game, and I think the team has responded well to that.”
Despite the optimism, UNM’s legacy cautions us to tread carefully with expectations.
The MW now knows Eck’s riverboat gambling ways. Opponents should be better prepared for all the gadget plays and aggressive play calls in his bag of tricks.
Even with a repaired elbow, Layne must show that he can move the offense and score more points without relying on the defense and special teams to set him up with short fields or score for him.
The Lobos lost key pieces on offense such as running backs Damon Bankston and D.J. McKinney, tight end Dorian Thomas and wide receiver Keagan Johnson.
Not to mention standout kicker Luke Drzewiecki. And defensive end Keyshawn James-Newby.
And as always at a program like UNM, a few injuries at key positions could bring the team back to the pack quickly.
In the waning weeks of Long’s final season at New Mexico, he went on a philosophical soliloquy in front of local media about the football program needing “a miracle worker” to get it to the next level where it can earn national recognition.
Eck nearly pulled off a 10-win miracle in his first season last year. Can he finish the job in 2026 and reverse the hangover curse? We’ll start to find out Sept. 5 when UNM takes on Central Michigan in its season opener.
