New Mexico ended a 25-year Falcon Stadium losing streak against Air Force last November — now the series shifts to Albuquerque, and the Lobos want the sequel to look just as one-sided.
Share
Show fees
SAT NOV 28 · 3:30 PM CT
Spread
ML
Total
Air Force
New Mexico
New Mexico rolls into this one off the best season the program has had in a decade, and Saturday, November 28 sets up as a potential measuring-stick finale in a suddenly competitive Mountain West race. Air Force is on the other end of that arc — a proud program trying to prove 4-8 was a blip and not a preview of where things are headed under longtime coach Troy Calhoun, now entering his 20th season on the sideline.
The bigger swing factor for New Mexico by kickoff is whatever answer emerges at quarterback. Cole Welliver and Isaiah Chavez, who split snaps in 2025, both left for the transfer portal this offseason, leaving Oregon transfer Luke Moga as the presumptive frontrunner for a job that's still his to win. Air Force already got its version of that question answered the hard way last year, when a broken wrist knocked out breakout sophomore Liam Szarka and forced converted fullback Kemper Hodges into extended action.
However those competitions shake out over the next several months, this is a series that just flipped its home-field script. New Mexico snapped a 25-year Falcon Stadium losing streak with a 20-3 win in Colorado Springs last November, and now gets the rematch on its own field for the first time since that drought started.
Air Force Falcons
New Mexico Lobos
The numbers behind that flip say plenty about where these programs are trending. New Mexico went 9-4 and made the Rate Bowl for its first bowl trip since 2016, falling to Minnesota in overtime, and enters 2026 mentioned alongside UNLV as the Mountain West's top contender. Air Force finished 4-8 and out of the postseason picture entirely, with ugly losses to UNLV, Boise State, Utah State and Hawaii mixed in with a one-score defeat to rival Navy.
Air Force Falcons
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries to report
New Mexico Lobos
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries to report
Health and depth will matter plenty for both sides by the time this one kicks off. Szarka's wrist injury exposed how thin Air Force's option offense gets without its top playmaker, and New Mexico is replacing several key pieces — including starting tackle Travis Gray and linebacker Mihalis Santorineos — after bringing in 27 transfers to reload. Whichever team is healthier in late November should have the edge in what's shaping up as a legitimate Mountain West statement game.
