New Mexico · Mountain WestNew Mexico opens 2026 with 38-7 win over Central Michigan
James Laubstein scored two rushing touchdowns and Grant Glasgow made three field goals in the season-opening victory.
SEP 6, 2026
The Pate State · Editorial IllustrationNew Mexico turned last season’s 9-4 finish into a 1-0 start Saturday, Sept. 5, beating Central Michigan 38-7 in both teams’ 2026 opener.
James Laubstein ran for two touchdowns, and Grant Glasgow made three field goals for the Lobos. Central Michigan, which went 7-6 in 2025, fell to 0-1 after scoring seven points.
The result gives New Mexico momentum before its Sept. 19 trip to Oklahoma, with Mercyhurst visiting first Saturday, Sept. 12. Central Michigan hosts Colgate that day before facing Wyoming on Sept. 19 and Miami on Sept. 26.
The available report has no individual rushing or passing totals or injury information, leaving Laubstein and Glasgow as the clearest answers from New Mexico’s opener.
01 · The Detail Beneath the HeadlineWhat Most People Are Missing
The hidden test is how much of the 38-point output can travel. Laubstein’s two touchdowns and Glasgow’s three field goals account for 21 points, leaving 17 whose source is absent from the available report. Without team rushing and passing totals, the opener cannot show how New Mexico built the margin. The schedule will expose that distinction more clearly than Mercyhurst alone.
New Mexico follows Mercyhurst with consecutive road games at Oklahoma on Sept. 19 and New Mexico State on Sept. 26. The Lobos have one home date to show who else can score before that road swing. Central Michigan has the reverse setup: Colgate and Wyoming visit on Sept. 12 and Sept. 19 before the Sept. 26 trip to Miami. Those results will frame whether seven points was an opening-night floor or a larger offensive problem.
02 · The Open QuestionsQuestions to Be Answered
Can New Mexico score from enough places to hold up at Oklahoma?
The Mercyhurst game on Sept. 12 is New Mexico’s only remaining home test before Oklahoma on Sept. 19. New Mexico needs more information than two Laubstein touchdown runs and Glasgow’s nine points to establish how repeatable the opener was. The team rushing and passing totals, full scoring breakdown and distribution against Mercyhurst will provide the first tell before the schedule turns to consecutive road games.
Can Central Michigan restore its offense before the trip to Miami?
Central Michigan has Colgate and Wyoming at home on Sept. 12 and Sept. 19 before going to Miami on Sept. 26. That sequence offers two chances to raise the output before another road game, and the progression from seven points is the cleanest available measure. Point totals and scoring distribution in those two home games will show whether the opener’s offensive trouble carried into the schedule.