Mercyhurst Lakers vs. New Mexico Lobos, 9/12/2026, 2:05pm

Lobos 70 – Lakers 7, Attendance: 23,874

Weather: Sunny, 93; Ticket: $27 UNM, Parking: $15

“Sure, it is a dry heat” by Tree

The University of New Mexico is in Albuquerque. A small city known for scenic high desert mountains, hot air balloons and “Breaking Bad” that will more than likely require a flight to visit. We arrived early on Thursday afternoon and did a quick check of University Stadium. Friday morning, I went for a walk and not surprisingly saw several hot air balloons floating across the edge of the city.

We grabbed an authentic New Mexico breakfast before exploring the city. A word about New Mexico cuisine. It is not exactly Mexican but a mix of Pueblo, Spanish, and Mexican influences. Chile peppers weigh heavily in the foundation of the flavors with the critical question of red or green always at the forefront. If you want both sauces, just say “Make it Christmas.” It did not disappoint.

After loading up on ranchos huevos, we hit The National Museum of Nuclear Science & History. With Los Alamos a couple of hours down the road, this had all the history of nukes. The best part were the local docents who told great stories – like that missile test where they didn’t just miss the target, they missed an entire hemisphere. It was both funny and slightly concerning. We also managed to drive by Walter White’s house and tour Old Towne Albuquerque. Other than doing some hiking, I think we saw just about everything the city has to offer.

University Stadium is on the very edge of campus. We easily parked in the East Lot for $15 about four hours before kickoff. It was well organized and there were a reasonable number of tailgaters. I would say about a fifth of the cars had tailgates. Considering it felt like we were on the surface of the sun, the number of folks partying was reasonable. When we checked out the stadium the day before, we could not fathom why this game was at two pm. It may have been a dry heat, but I easily drank a six-pack and did not feel it a bit.

We may have been the only Mercyhurst fans tailgating, but we still felt a lot of love from the locals. We had offers of food and drink and, of course, the question of where exactly Mercyhurst is (it is in Erie, Pa btw). The head of the student cheering section came over and introduced himself, offering more hospitality. Eventually, some Mercyhurst parents found our tent and hung out with us for a while. The only downside to tailgating was a sewage release valve upwind of us in the parking lot. It was quite pungent for the first hour and then thankfully the wind shifted it away.

The stadium is not anything particularly special. A concrete bowl with aluminum bench seating throughout, it is not going to win any beauty contests. The single end zone video scoreboard was adequate. There is another scoreboard on the other side, but it provides no video. The concessions were a mix of standard stadium fare and some food trucks to spice it up. They serve beer and had a decent souvenir cup. There were some cooling stations, but they were hardly adequate for the egg frying temperatures.

Our seats were on the 50 yard-line right in the middle of the section. There were not better seats in the stadium except for the sun beating down on us like a death ray. As it is on the smallish side, any of the roughly 40,000 seats in the stadium give you a good view. For that reason, by the time the 3rd quarter had started everyone had moved over to the home side to be in the shade of the press box and loges.

There are not a lot of distinct traditions at UNM. Fan participation is good and they were surprisingly loud despite facing an FCS foe. Their trademark slogan is “We are all Lobos” and they make a barking wolf symbol with their fingers (just like NC State, UConn, etc). There is also a pregame player march, but that’s very common across the FBS. Having seen that type of thing before, I passed on it. I did hear that they incorporate low-riders into the parade and its route. I am told it looked very cool. That is probably the most unique tradition at UNM games.

Inside the stadium, they did lots of bits and the mascot, to my amazement, was running around despite the fur suit. The band sounded good, probably because they were appropriately dressed for the temperature. The most entertaining thing other than the game, of course, was when one of the kids botched a tic-tac-toe game. He must have been a Communications major. The other botch was when they tried a “Mr Brightside” singalong. Like most other universities, that is best left to Michigan fans.

The fan attire is a lot of western wear with t-shirts and shorts mixed in. To their credit, a lot of the outfits incorporated a fair bit of white, which had to help with the heat. I did notice several fans in the alternate turquoise jerseys. Those were sweet. I wished I could have snagged some of that gear. You don’t see a lot of turquoise in college football, and it would have looked good in the man-cave.

Going in, I had no illusions as to how this was going to end. Mercyhurst was an FCS team looking for a payday. While historically the Lobos have not been a great program, they were not going to have a hard time with the Lakers.

To be fair, the Hurst gave the Lobos one good quarter before their depth and talent disparity caught up with them. UNM was stopped on fourth and one on their first drive. The Lakers then got a couple of first downs until they threw an interception. Surprisingly, the Lobos were unable to convert that into any points. They did flip the field though, making the Lakers start from their nine-yard line.

After one first down, it was another punt for the Hurst. The Lobos running game took over, with six straight rushes, culminating with a touchdown. The Lakers, however, did not give up the ship. On their next series, they hit a 75-yard touchdown bomb. It was the end of the first quarter, the score was tied, and for a very brief minute, there was a slight look of concern on the UNM faithful. Undoubtedly past humiliations were running through their heads.

However, their fear was short lived. The Lobos went on to score 42 points in the second quarter. Yes, you read that right, a 42 point second quarter. It was certainly over. It should be noted that several fans were kind to us, noting that they would be in Mercyhurst shoe’s next week when they headed to Norman, Oklahoma to face the Sooners. They didn’t need to worry. The Lobos gave Oklahoma all they could handle, losing only by eight, with a final score of fourteen to six.

One of things we heard from other folks was how dangerous Albuquerque was. It is true, statistically speaking, that it does have a very high crime rate relative to other cities. I would imagine that most of the crime is isolated to some very specific areas. We were in several areas in the city and I felt completely safe everywhere.

My cousin is a UNM graduate and has lived in Albuquerque for most of his life. He admits that the city does have challenges with the drug trade and homelessness is an issue. However, he also noted that most of the city is very safe.

Probably a bigger challenge is a surprising lack of water. The Rio Grande flows, well sort of, through Albuquerque. It is more of a muddy trail than a river. Given the heat, I’d be more worried about not having a bottled water in the car than running into Tuco and Lalo Salamanca making a meth drug deal.

It is probably not surprising that I wouldn’t characterize UNM as must see. Traditionally speaking the Lobos haven’t been great. They have had their moments and some great players, most notably Brian Urlacher. Still, it is a roll of a dice that the team will be good in any given year.

Nonetheless, Albuquerque has more than enough to offer that it wouldn’t be a wasted weekend. The stadium is adequate, the tailgating is easy, and attending a game is affordable. Just make sure it is either a night game or that your seat is in the shade. It may be a dry heat, but it still feels hotter than a blast furnace. And, remember to make your entree a chile Christmas.