CSU-Pueblo 28, Eastern New Mexico 23
Lightning delays. Power outages. An NCAA record for
pass attempts by the opposing quarterback. It's all good for
CSU-Pueblo, because on a night of utter weirdness, the Pack emerged
victorious, winning 28-23 over Eastern New Mexico.
In a four hour, 13 minute marathon of a game, complete with a
lightning/rain delay of an hour and 45 minutes and a
campus-wide power outage five minutes before kickoff, CSU-Pueblo
did something it hadn't done in its short history after restarting
its program in 2008 - win a shootout.
Both teams combined for 917 yards, with the Pack's 402 yards its
highest offensive output since the program returned to
competition. The bulk of the Pack offense came from a running
game as Jamaal Johnson
(So., Fountain, Colo.), a cornerback in 2008 who switched
to tailback, his high school position, this season, rumbed for 145
yards on 15 carries, including a 59-yard touchdown run in the
second quarter, which put the Pack up by a 20-7 advantage at that
point.
Pack quarterback Colin Clancy (Sr.,
Longmont, Colo.) shined in his first start for the
ThunderWolves, going a healthy 18-for-31 for 175 yards and two
touchdowns, both of which went to Augustine Agyei
(Sr., Aurora, Colo.), whose only two pass receptions went
for scores, netting 67 yards on the night. All told, Agyei
accumulated 172 all purpose yards, which included 105 on kickoff
returns.
But the Pack defense emerged as the star, albeit on a night
where they gave up a total of 515 yards. Eastern New Mexico
quarterback J.J. Harp's wild night - 45-for-78 for 513 yards, three
touchdowns and five interceptions - set numerous records, including
a mark for most pass attempts in a game, but the Pack employed a
bend-but-don't-break defense that kept the Greyhounds largely in
check. The Pack defense only allowed a grand total of two
rushing yards by Eastern New Mexico, and made three huge stops in
fourth down situations, but it was a stop that didn't show up in
the box score that was the most important.
In a 2-and-3 from the CSU-Pueblo 18-yard-line with eight seconds
remaining, Chase Vaughn (Sr.,
Aurora, Colo.) and Damon Schiele (RFr.,
Aurora, Colo.) sacked Harp on the game's final play,
halting an Eastern New Mexico comeback attempt in a 28-23 ball
game.
The Greyhounds' comeback attempt came after play resumed
following the delay, which took place with 4 minutes remaining in
the third quarter and CSU-Pueblo leading 28-16. Eastern
New Mexico added a touchdown to make the game a one-score affair,
but the Pack defense was able to make the stop when it counted.
"It wasn't pretty and it was close at the end, but we won the
game and that's all that matters," CSU-Pueblo head coach John
Wristen said. "I couldn't be prouder of our guys and the
performance they put in. It was a crazy night and our guys
played a heck of a game."
CSU-Pueblo's win puts them in an early three-way tie atop the
RMAC standings with Chadron State and Fort Lewis. The Pack
will take on NAIA powerhouse Northwestern Oklahoma next Saturday
night as they look to start 2-0 for the second consecutive year.
