As summer heats up in Albuquerque, so too does the buzz surrounding the University of New Mexico athletics program — and for good reason.
The Lobo football team is turning heads before a single snap is played in the 2025 season, with seven players earning selections to Phil Steele’s Preseason All-Mountain West Team, marking a strong statement as the Jason Eck era begins. On the track, Pamela Kosgei and Head Coach Darren Gauson have swept top regional honors, capping off one of the most impressive seasons in UNM track and field history.
Football: Building Momentum Under Eck
The Lobos will kick off the 2025 campaign with optimism — and national recognition — as running back Scottre Humphrey and kick returner Abraham Williams earned First Team All-MW honors from Phil Steele, one of the most respected names in college football analysis.
Humphrey, a transfer from Weber State, enters the season with enormous expectations after a breakout 2024 campaign. He rushed for 1,386 yards and 16 touchdowns, averaging a blistering 6.96 yards per carry, a mark that led the Big Sky and ranked third in the FCS. With eight 100-yard games last season and All-America honors already on his résumé, Humphrey is poised to become the centerpiece of UNM’s offense.
Joining him on the first team is Abraham Williams, a dynamic return specialist with a knack for flipping field position in a heartbeat. Though injuries limited his 2024 campaign, Williams averaged 29.7 yards per return in 2023 and owns five career 100-yard kickoff return touchdowns. If healthy, he’s one of the most electric playmakers in the Mountain West.
UNM also placed two players on the second team: wide receiver Keagan Johnson, a Power Five veteran with stops at Kansas State and Iowa, and linebacker Jaxton Eck, the coach’s son and a tackling machine who notched 134 tackles and eight double-digit tackle games last year at Idaho. Eck’s nose for the football and leadership on the field are expected to be game-changers for the Lobo defense.
Defensive end Keyshawn James-Newby, who tallied 10.5 sacks in 2024, earned third team recognition. His relentless pass rush and disruptive presence in the backfield make him a key piece in UNM’s defensive scheme. On the offensive line, Israel Mukwiza (OG) and Tevin Shaw (OT) were selected to the fourth team. Mukwiza didn’t allow a sack in nine starts last season at Mercer, while Shaw looks to bounce back from an injury that sidelined him most of 2024.
The Lobos open the 2025 season under the primetime lights with a challenging road test at Michigan on Aug. 30, broadcast nationally on NBC, before returning home to face Idaho State on Sept. 6.
Track & Field: Kosgei’s Historic Double, Gauson’s Rare Coaching Sweep
While the football team builds toward a new beginning, New Mexico’s track and field program is already basking in the glow of historic success.
Pamela Kosgei and Darren Gauson took home major USTFCCCA Mountain Region awards this week — Kosgei as Women’s Athlete of the Year, and Gauson sweeping Men’s and Women’s Regional Coach of the Year honors.
Kosgei’s performance at the NCAA Outdoor Championships etched her name into collegiate history. She became just the fifth woman ever to win the 5,000m and 10,000m at the same national championship, and only the third to do so since 1998. Already a force in cross country, where she finished third at Nationals in 2024, Kosgei became the first Lobo woman since Weini Kelati (2019) to earn First Team All-America honors in two different events at the same outdoor championship.
Her accolades make her one of the most decorated distance runners in program history — and she still has time to add more.
On the sidelines, Darren Gauson orchestrated a masterclass in program building. With the Lobos finishing ninth in the women’s standings and fifth for the men at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, Gauson led UNM to its best combined finish ever — a staggering 56 total points, more than double the previous program high.
Gauson became just the second coach in NCAA history to win both men’s and women’s regional coach honors in the same year, joining Texas Tech’s Wes Kittley.
The Lobos also swept the Mountain West women’s titles in cross country, indoor, and outdoor track this year, and for the first time ever, both the men’s and women’s teams finished in the national Top 10 in the same season. UNM now stands as the only non-Power Five program to accomplish that feat in 2024–25.
Looking Ahead
With seven football players already on the radar, and a track and field program establishing itself among the nation’s elite, the University of New Mexico has quickly become a name to watch across multiple sports.
From the gridiron to the oval, the message is clear: The Lobos are rising.