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New Mexico HC Jason Eck previews Michigan game: 'Tom Brady's not playing on Saturday'

Originally posted on Michigan Wolverines on SI
By Trent Knoop | Last updated Aug 27, 2025 4:23 PM ET

The New Mexico Lobos come to Ann Arbor this weekend to take on the Michigan Wolverines as a massive underdogs. In fact, the Lobos are nearly five-touchdown dogs in the ball game. First-year head coach of New Mexico, Jason Eck, previewed the matchup in his weekly press conference and named a few players who stood out to him on the Wolverines.

"They're a physical, well-coached team," Eck said of Michigan. "They were very low penalized last year. Shows they have good technique, well coached, very physical front seven. Their front seven really impresses me: Barham and Hausmann, their two inside linebackers are great players. Derrick Moore is a great player, the defensive end. They lost some guys in the D-line room, but they still have a lot of good players who are left. Benny's good. Payne, the Alabama transfer is good. TJ Guy is good.

"And then on offense, return three starters in the O line. They have a good back returning. Plus, they picked up the Alabama transfer who's a good player. And then they got the number one recruit in the country at quarterback. So, they're a very good team. Their kicker is a great player. He's an All-American, First Team All Big Ten. Definitely a good test for us in the opening game to play such a great team."

It will be the first time for most of Eck's players to visit a stadium nearly as big as the Big House. Michigan Stadium holds more than 110,000 fans and will be sold out for the home opener. Eck said he plans to get his team into Ann Arbor on Friday and take them to the stadium to get the 'awe factor' out of the way.

After that, Eck said they must focus on the 11 players Michigan has on the field -- not think of Tom Brady or Michigan's history.

"We've got to focus on the 11 guys on the field," said the New Mexico coach. "They have a great crowd — 110,000. They've got great tradition, but Tom Brady's not playing on Saturday. We've got to play the 11 guys that are out there and deal with that. It's a little bit like the movie Hoosiers. Maybe you have to measure the goal post like the coach did in Hoosiers."

One of the 11 players Michigan will have on the field is freshman QB Bryce Underwood. Sherrone Moore named him the starter on Monday and it will be Underwood's first live-game action. Eck, who coached at Idaho the past three seasons, nearly beat Oregon and Dillon Gabriel last season. Eck has experience going up against talented QBs, but he said he wouldn't take Underwood lightly.

"Obviously, that's quite the investment they've made," Eck said of Underwood. "[The reported NIL figure] is probably more than all of our players, myself and all of our assistant coaches together when you talk about $12 million.

"He's a very good player, and obviously, you never know. Some young ones are pretty good. Michael Jordan and LeBron James were pretty damn good when they were 18 years old. Again, I definitely don't want to take him lightly.

"Last year coached against Dillon Gabriel, who was a fifth-year senior and had started 50 games. So, I'd probably rather take a guy in his first start versus a guy who started 50 games. But we certainly can't take this guy lightly. I mean, they're paying him all that money for a reason. He was the number one player in the country for a reason. And we'd better be ready to go against him. He'll be motivated to prove them right that they gave him all that money for good reason."

Fans can watch New Mexico and Michigan on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC.

This article first appeared on Michigan Wolverines on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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