PUEBLO, Colo. – The No. 12 Colorado State University-Pueblo football team travels to the North Area Athletic Complex in Arvada, Colorado Saturday, Oct. 25 to battle No. 11 Colorado School of Mines in a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference game set to kickoff at 12:05 p.m. The game will air live on Altitude Sports and Entertainment Network.
CSU-Pueblo (6-1, 4-1 RMAC) Game Notes (PDF)
Colorado School of Mines (7-0, 5-0 RMAC) Game Notes (PDF)
Live Stats
Live Audio
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North Area Athletic Complex Information (Parking, Tickets, Ect...)
Radio: Fox Sports Pueblo (1350 AM Pueblo) & iHeart Radio App
Television: Altitude Sports and Entertainment Network (check local listings by clicking here)
THE VENUE: Colorado School of Mines is playing its home games at North Area Athletic Complex in Arvada, Colo. this season while the new Marv Kay Stadium on campus is being constructed.
SCOUTING THE PACK: The ThunderWolves rebounded from their first regular season loss in 42 straight games with a 41-13 homecoming victory versus Chadron State Oct. 18. The Pack put up 565 yards of offense, guided by quarterback Chris Bonner's 325 passing yards and three touchdowns and running back Cameron McDondle's 135 yards and two scores. The defense held a team scoring 33.8 points per game to just 13 and were guided in tackles by corner Stephan Dickens and linebacker Joe Rosenbrock, who each tallied 12.
VS. RANKED SQUADS:CSU-Pueblo owns a 5-2 (3-2 at home) record versus ranked opponents (Division II) since 2011. The Pack rebounded from a 34-30 loss to then-No. 22 Grand Valley State in the second round of the 2013 NCAA Tournament with the win versus then-No. 11 West Texas A&M in the 2014 season opener, 35-6. The ThunderWolves defeated then-No. 21 Chadron State 51-42 in 2013, downed West Texas A&M (24th) and Indianapolis (18th) in 2012 (both at home) before falling to then-No. 16 West Texas A&M in the NCAA Quarterfinals in 2012. The 47-21 win against Sam Houston State (No. 15) this season is the team's first against a ranked FCS team.
THE POLLS: The loss to Fort Lewis dropped CSU-Pueblo is No. 14, but the Pack sit No. 12 in the latest AFCA poll and No. 11 in the d2football.com ranking. The Pack finished the 2013 season No. 7 in the AFCA Division II poll, but rose to No. 4 in the 2014 preseason poll. The ThunderWolves were No. 3 in the preseason d2football.com poll. The ThunderWolves had been ranked in the top 10 nationally for an NCAA Division II-best 37 straight weeks before the Fort Lewis loss dropped them to No. 14 in the week six ranking. It garnered its first top-ten ranking Oct. 17, 2011 (eighth).
TEAM NOTES
The ThunderWolves are 16th in the nation in turnover margin with a +9. The Pack have gained 20 turnovers (9th nationally) and lost just 11 (42nd in NCAA Division II).
CSU-Pueblo has outscored its opponent 115-54 (+61) in the second half this season and held the opponent to just 46 points in the first half.
SCOUTING COLORADO MINES
THE OREDIGGERS: The Orediggers are 7-0 and 5-0 in RMAC play this season to rank No. 11 in the AFCA poll. The 7-0 start is the best for the program since 2004, when that team finished 11-0 in the regular season. Colorado Mines is coming off a 56-14 victory at Fort Lewis on national television. The Orediggers have scored more than 42 points in six of seven games (33 points in the other game).
JUSTIN DVORAK: Sophomore quarterback Justin Dvorak is the ringleader of the offense, as he has totaled 2,665 yards and 23 touchdowns with a 66.3 completion percentage for the Orediggers. Both his passing yards and scores rank second in the nation. He also owns 256 rushing yards and six rushing touchdowns.
MINES CAN DEFEND TOO: The offense may get a lot of attention, as it leads the nation in total offense with 563.9 yards per game and are putting up more than 44 points per game, but the defense has allowed 20.6 points per game to rank second in the RMAC and top 40 nationally. The Orediggers are first in the conference and 24th nationally in rushing defense (106.4 yards allowed per game).
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING:
• Mines ranks sixth in the nation in kickoff returns with 25.9 yards per return.
• CSM is the least penalized team in the league (30 penalties) which ranks eighth in the nation.
• Senior linebacker Kole Kadavy ranks 13th in the nation in total tackles per game with 12.1, while his 7.6 solo tackles per contest is second in NCAA Division II.
CSU-PUEBLO POSITION NOTES
OFFENSE
The ThunderWolves offense has scored on 24 of 28 opportunities (85.7%) in the red zone this season (15 touchdowns) to rank 33rd in the nation in the category.
The Pack are first in the league and 21st nationally in least amount of sacks allowed (1.14).
Senior quarterback Chris Bonner ranks second in the conference and 33rd in the nation in passing yards per completion (13.6).
Junior running back Cameron McDondle sits 12th in the nation in rushing yards (882), 13th in rushing yards per game (126.0 ypg) and 22nd in NCAA Division II in rushing touchdowns (9 TDs).
McDondle owns five games with 100 or more yards rushing, including the last four straight games. He has totaled two touchdowns in four games.
Twelve different receivers have at least two receptions this season and seven own 10 or more receptions. Jarred Radebaugh and tight end Trent Thompson each own a team-best 16 receptions, while Paul Browning (271 yards) and Kieren Duncan (258 yards) lead the team in yards.
Tight ends Thompson and Zach Boyd are tied for first and tied for sixth, respectfully, in receptions. Thompson owns 16 receptions for 167 yards, while Boyd has totaled 11 receptions for 125 yards.
DEFENSE
The Pack defense ranks in the top 15 nationally in five categories: fourth in team sacks (3.71 sacks per game), sixth in team passing efficiency defense (88.3), eighth in passes intercepted (13 interceptions), 10th in tackles for loss (9.1 tflpg) and 12th in scoring defense (14.3 ppg allowed).
The ThunderWolves rank first in the RMAC and 29th nationally in total defense (315.9 yards allowed per game).
The defensive end tandem of Morgan Fox and Darius Allen are one and two, respectfully in the RMAC in sacks. Fox's 1.00 sacks per contest ranks 15th nationally, while Allen's 0.79 sacks per game is 44th in NCAA Division II. Fox is 18th nationally in tackles for loss (1.8 tfppg).
Cornerback Stephan Dickens owns five interceptions this season to rank 10th nationally in interceptions per game (0.7 intpg).
Linebacker Joe Rosenbrock leads the team in tackles with 47 (28 solo).
The Pack defense have forced 20 turnovers and held its opponents to 14.3 points per game. The ThunderWolves have allowed less than 10 points three times this season to improve to 22-0 since 2008 when holding an opponent to 10 points or less.
The ThunderWolves have forced three or more turnovers in five of seven games this season to improve to 30-3 since 2008. The Pack have also totaled at least three sacks in five of seven contests, posting eight in the win at Sam Houston State Sept. 13. Three times in 2013 CSU-Pueblo recorded eight or more sacks (10 versus Fort Lewis, Oct. 5).
The CSU-Pueblo defense has produced three touchdowns on turnovers this season, getting interception returns for scores from Dickens (30 yards) and Seth Brown (49 yards) and a fumble return for a touchdown from Josh Bredl (66 yards).
SPECIAL TEAMS
The ThunderWolves are first in the RMAC and sixth in the nation in net punting, thanks mostly to sophomore Ken Kester's 44.6 punting yards per game, which ranks fourth in the nation.
Greg O'Donnell owns 54 points, going 26-for-27 on extra points and 13-for-20 on field goal attempts. He ranks third in the nation in field goals per game (1.86 fgpg).
The Pack punt returners rank 13th in the nation with 16.22 yards per return. Senior Stephan Dickens ranks first in the RMAC and third in the nation in punt returns with 21.0 yards per return.
RMAC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK:
• Defensive, Sept. 15 - Darius Allen tied for the team lead in tackles with five (four solo) in the win Saturday. Four of his tackles went for sacks, resulting in a loss of 12 yards for the Bearkats. Allen also forced a fumble, which was recovered by the ThunderWolves and turned into a field goal, giving CSU-Pueblo a 17-0 lead early in the second quarter. The four sacks are the most by a Pack player in a game since last season, when junior Morgan Fox posted 3.5 sacks versus Colorado School of Mines (Oct. 19, 2013). He helped guide the defense to eight sacks and two turnovers.
• Special Teams, Sept. 15 - Greg O'Donnell totaled 17 points versus the Bearkats. He went 5-for-5 on extra points and 4-for-5 in field goal attempts, which includes a long of 46 yards ((43), 18, 46, 21, 39). On kickoffs, O'Donnell totaled 10 kickoffs for 611 yards (61.1 yards per kick) and five touchbacks.
• Defensive, Sept. 22 - Seth Brown returned an interception 49 yards to the end zone against Western State Saturday to tie the contest 16-16 with 10 seconds remaining in the first half. The sophomore also tied for the team lead in tackles with eight (seven solo) and recorded a sack, which forced a fumble.
• Special Teams, Sept. 29 - Stephan Dickens returned three punts for 90 yards (30.0 ypr) and setup two touchdown drives of one play each for the ThunderWolves during the 45-7 road victory at Western New Mexico University. His third return, which came just minutes after he returned an interception 30 yards for a touchdown, went for 42 yards to setup another one-play drive to the end zone by the offense, which capped a 21-point fourth quarter for the Pack and moved the score to 45-7. Dickens totaled 120 all-purpose yards and totaled two interceptions and two tackles (half tackle for loss) against the Mustangs.
• Offensive, Oct. 20 - Cameron McDondle rushed 20 times for 167 yards to average 8.4 yards per carry and help guide the ThunderWolves (6-1, 4-1 RMAC) to a 41-13 homecoming victory versus Chadron State Saturday. The junior found the end zone twice, including once for 29 yards, his long rush of the game. His other touchdown was from 18 yards out. The running back totaled 111 yards and a score in the first half.
THE STREAK: CSU-Pueblo posted three straight 11-0 seasons entering 2014 and was just one of two teams in NCAA Division II history to accomplish the feat. After starting 5-0 in 2014, the Pack owned 42 straight regular season victories, which was the second-longest in NCAA Division II history, behind only Grand Valley State, which posted 48 straight wins from 2004-09. The streak ended Oct. 11 in a 23-22 road loss at Fort Lewis.
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As a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, Colorado State University – Pueblo competes in 22 varsity sports in NCAA Division II intercollegiate athletics.
