Pack becomes first RMAC team to move to 2-0 with convincing win.

By Anthony Sandstrom, CSU-Pueblo Athletics

PUEBLO, Colo. (GoThunderWolves.com - Sept. 4, 2010) - In 2009, CSU-Pueblo travelled to Alva, Okla. to take on a Northwestern Oklahoma State team regarded as one of the top NAIA teams in the nation, and lost a heartbreaker 34-28.

Saturday night, CSU-Pueblo showed what it looked like to purge a 365-day-old grudge, annihilating Northwestern Oklahoma State 55-13 at the Neta and Eddie DeRose ThunderBowl in the Pack's 2010 home opener.

The win vaulted the Pack to 2-0 on the young season, putting them in the enviable position of being the only RMAC squad to be undefeated through two weeks of the season.

The Pack started slow, enduring a few three-and-outs and a lackluster running game before the passing game and defense helped lift the team to the stratosphere.

The first strike came on a 63-yard touchdown toss from Ross Dausin (So., San Antonio, Tex.) to Da'Quan Cartwright (Jr., Pueblo, Colo.), to give the Pack a 7-0 first quarter lead.

In the second quarter, the ThunderWolves all but put the game away, converting another touchdown toss from Dausin to Cartwright, then breaking the Rangers' back when Grant Crunkleton (Sr., Denver, Colo.) scored on a pick-six interception return, part of a 24-point second quarter by CSU-Pueblo.  The Pack carried a 31-6 lead into halftime and never looked back.

By the time the smoke cleared, CSU-Pueblo had netted 55 points, the most points scored by a ThunderWolf squad since it hung 57 on Fort Lewis in 1965, and the passing game came within a hair of busting school records.  Dausin turned in one of the most efficient passing games in school history, going 16-for-21 with 304 yards, five yards shy of a school record, and three touchdown tosses.  As a unit, the ThunderWolves passed 19-for-26 for four scores and 316 yards, also three yards shy of a school record.

Offensively, the Pack turned in 402 total yards, and held NWOSU quarterback, Kyle Jech, to just a 13-for-31 day with one pick.  The Rangers' All-American tailback, Nate Guillory, mustered just 52 yards after torching the Pack for 130 a year ago.

With the win, CSU-Pueblo will get a bye week before hitting the field again in its RMAC opener Sept. 18 against Adams State, also at the ThunderBowl.  Despite the fast start, CSU-Pueblo coach, John Wristen, said no level of cockiness is setting in, even after putting up 55.

"We're very excited about our offensive personnel, especially with our defense playing lights out," Wristen said.  "But this doesn't send any message to the RMAC. We still have to show up and get ready for conference play."