North Dakota State has one less top veteran starting quarterback to face this year in the Bison’s inaugural FBS season.
New Mexico quarterback Jack Layne will miss the season because of a second surgery for his throwing elbow. It’s a significant loss for the Lobos, as he completed 65.1% of his passes for 2,486 yards and 13 touchdowns versus four interceptions last season.
NDSU will play New Mexico on Oct. 24, and the Lobos will likely have a much clearer picture at quarterback by then. Lobos head coach Jason Eck told reporters on Thursday, via the Albuquerque Journal, that the starting job is now up for grabs.
“The 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,” Eck said via the Journal’s Sean Reider. “We’re excited about them — I think our guys all have different strengths, they complement each other. So we’re gonna use all the assets we have, use all the different things.
New Mexico opens with Central Michigan on Sept. 5, and the Lobos will play multiple quarterbacks in that game as Eck confirmed. Lobos senior James Laubstein, junior Luke Moga and sophomore Toa Fa’ave will get snaps.
A Look at New Mexico’s QBs
Laubstein utilized his running ability last season in nine game appearances, with 59 carries for 363 yards and a touchdown. Moga, an Oregon transfer, threw five passes for 58 yards in three game appearances last year for the Ducks. Fa’avae has yet to play a snap in his collegiate career.
“We’re still finalizing what exactly the rotation will be — who goes first and all those things — but I expect to see multiple guys in that first game,” Eck said.
New Mexico will need to make a decision within the first two games against Central Michigan and Mercyhurst on Sept. 12. The Lobos visit Oklahoma on Sept. 19.
“I don’t think this is a bad thing or something you wanna try to fix as soon as you can,” Eck said, “but … if we look after two games and one guy’s got eight touchdown passes and one’s got eight interceptions, I think that would the end of the two-quarterback system. I think we’ll use common sense and evaluate it.”
NDSU will likely have plenty of film on whichever quarterback it is by Oct. 24, a critical game in the Mountain West Conference race. The Bison will already have a clear picture of regular season title changes with the UNLV game behind them at the point, and New Mexico will have already played Hawaii.
Jason Eck Knows the Bison Well
Game preparation aside, Eck is highly familiar with NDSU from his time on coaching staffs with Western Illinois in 2012 and South Dakota State from 2016 to 2021. Eck will get the Bison at home this time in Albuquerque instead of the Fargodome.
When news of the Bison joining the Mountain West broke in February, Eck joked about hoping to be “done playing in that dome.” NDSU dominated at home in the FCS with a 199-29 record at home.
The Bison looked poised to do more of the same at home in the FBS, as loud capacity crowds in the 19,000-seat dome are lined up for this season’s six home games.
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