Now entering his 6th season, QB James Laubstein set to compete for starting job

When the news first came in, James Laubstein was a little busy.

Working as a performance coach at NES Sports Performance in Hamden, Connecticut, New Mexico’s sixth-year quarterback was taking a video to post on the company’s Instagram page when his phone started buzzing with an incoming call.

The name on the screen? Jason Eck.

“I was like, alright, lemme finish taking the video,” Laubstein remembered. “If it’s important, he’ll leave a voicemail.”

UNM’s second-year head coach left a voicemail. Laubstein walked out to the parking lot and tried to call him back, kicking off a quick round of phone tag. Once they connected, it was a “little casual conversation,” two old friends catching up out of the blue.

“He’s like, ‘what are you doing? What are you up to? Where are you?’” Laubstein said. “That kinda thing.”

Then Eck cut to the chase.

“He’s like, ‘yeah, so you got your year back,’” Laubstein said. “‘How quick can you get in town?’

“I was like, ‘whenever you need me there.’”

After securing a waiver from the NCAA in late May, Laubstein is back with UNM for a sixth year of college football following a spring that saw some “dark” days as he waited for a decision.

A hard-nosed, run-first backup quarterback, Laubstein rushed for 360 yards as a fifth-year senior season last year, seemingly exhausting his remaining eligibility. But after spending two seasons at Sussex County Community College — a two-year junior college in Newton, New Jersey — Laubstein contended at least one of those years shouldn’t count towards his NCAA eligibility.

Upon clarifying his request with the organization this March, Laubstein returned to Connecticut to continue training and start working with NES. While he remained in limbo, he maintained his lifting and conditioning schedule, and threw to live receivers two or three times a week.

More than anything else, he waited.

“Every day, it felt like the chances got a little slimmer,” Laubstein said.

But after Eck’s call, Laubstein is — at least for now — one of the frontrunners in a quarterback competition that’s been thrown a major curveball. Wednesday, Eck announced that Jack Layne is out for the “near future” due to a nagging elbow injury that previously restricted him during spring practice.

Laubstein previously competed with Layne for the starting job ahead of last season. When asked how Laubstein might factor into this year’s competition, Eck said his experience last season would only help his case.

“I don’t think he had played a snap (on) offense here (before last season),” Eck said July 16 at Mountain West Media Days. “ … I do think he’s coming into the battle now with some game experience, and some big game experience. He made some huge plays.”

For his part, Laubstein feels similarly.

“I feel like that definitely put me in a better spot, just getting that experience in their system,” he said. “And then, I’m just worried about doing the little things right and just getting a little bit better each day.”

Through two days of practice, UNM has split reps with the first-team offense between Laubstein, Luke Moga and Toa Fa’avae. The latter two previously competed for said reps while Layne was out this spring.

If it’s far too early to tell who might have an upper hand, Eck has made it clear what he wants to see out of the group.

“I think we gotta do a good job of not making mistakes,” Eck said Wednesday. “I think we have a good team around (the quarterbacks) – I don’t think we’re gonna have a quarterback who has to feel that they have to go out there and, you know … put the team on their back and will us to victory making every play.

“They gotta take what the defense gives them, protect the football, put us in good situations and provide good leadership.”

Notes and quotes

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The winner of Thursday’s hammer, awarded to whoever Eck deems the player of the practice? Starting right tackle Tyler Lawrence, who Eck lauded for his improvement.

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I’ll reserve any declarations of whether the offense or defense won practice until UNM is in full pads. But the defense (and its pass rush) looked good Thursday. Of course, that’s the way it almost always is at the start of camp – the offense almost always takes a little longer to get on the same page.

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Speaking of pass rush: Defensive end Albert Tuakalau rotated in with the first-team defense Thursday, notching what would’ve been a sack at Laubstein during the final team period of the day. Even with Brett Karhu back, I don’t think he’s going to be buried on the depth chart anytime soon.

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Reserve offensive lineman Ken Meir is no longer with UNM, he announced late Wednesday via social media. Meir transferred in at the start of the year and is now leaving to start a career in “cybersecurity and the AI startup ecosystem.”

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Bobby Aragon, the owner of Amazing Jumps, Tents & Events, is organizing a chartered bus trip for Lobo fans looking to attend UNM’s game at Oklahoma (Sept. 19) in Norman, Oklahoma. A round-trip bus ride and two-night hotel stay (double occupancy) spanning Sept. 18-20 costs $495 per person while the single occupancy option costs $625. Aragon can be reached at 505-974-012; tickets to the game are not included in the package.

Sean Reider covers college football and other sports for the Journal. You can reach him at [email protected] or via X at @lenaweereider.

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