PUEBLO, Colo. (Nov. 11, 2021) - The Colorado State University Pueblo football team (6-4, 6-2) is heading to Gunnison, Colo. for the season finale against the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) first-place team, Western Colorado University (9-1, 7-1). Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. at the Mountaineer Bowl.

The Mountaineers are fighting for a chance to get into the NCAA tournament while the Pack are looking to continue their perfect record against the RMAC foe.

THE GAME 

The ThunderWolves will conclude their season Saturday at Western Colorado coming off a tough loss at home against No. 13 Mines a week prior.

The Pack enter the match-up with Western Colorado with a history dating back 27 contests, with this being the 28th.

The Pack carry four losses into the week, the most since 2008.

CSU Pueblo has carried a 20-13 all-time record versus ranked opponents but dropped its three most recent ranked contests. No. 8 Texas A&M-Commerce and No. 14 Grand Valley State defeated the Pack to kick-off the season and No. 13 Mines defeated CSU Pueblo last week on Senior Day.

CSU Pueblo has a 57-18 record on the road since 2008 and is 4-2 while traveling this season. The Pack lost at Grand Valley State and New Mexico Highlands.

The ThunderWolves have carried a 12-0 record against the Mountaineers since 2008 depite Western Colorado's increasingly successful program.

Western is fighting for a share at the RMAC title this week as the Mountaineers and Colorado School of Mines are tied atop the league standings heading into the final week.

Western's No. 14 ranking is the highest of the season and the second highest in the conference.

Jas Bains entered his 12th season at the helm of the Western Colorado football team in 2021, the second-longest consecutive tenure in the program's history. His 9-1 season thus far is his best as the Mountaineers' head coach.

SERIES NOTES

The ThunderWolves and Mountaineers are meeting for the 13th time since 2008 with this being the 28th meeting all-time. The Pack lead the all-time series 18-9 and are a perfect 12-0 since 2008.

The Pack took the last meeting between the two teams back in 2019 at the Moutaineer Bowl. The Pack dominated their way to a 34-7 in the home opener.

The Pack are a perfect 6-0 on the road against Western Colorado since 2008.

The closest contest between the two teams has be been decided by three points. The first was 20-17 in Gunnison back in 2008 while the second was a 10-7 game decided in 2016 up in Gunnison as well. 

Out of the 11 teams on the CSU Pueblo schedule, Western Colorado is the only winless opponent against the Pack since 2008.

LAST TIME OUT 

CSU Pueblo suffered its fourth loss of the season for the first time since 2008, as the Pack fell to #13 Mines 28-12.

In the loss to Mines, the ThunderWolves still maintained a strong offensive showing and featured a defense that would not be pushed around.

QB Gunnar Lamphere has stepped back into his role under center after two consecutive weeks of 200+ yards throwing.

Lamphere passed 18-34 and threw for 186 yards while being constantly knocked down by the ferocious Orediggers defensive rush. Lamphere was sacked for a season-high six times in the loss.

RB Michael Roots ran for 110 yards during the loss off 20 rushes. Roots was unable to find the end zone but his 100+ yard performance is his fourth of the season.

OL Cade Chapman was the highlight of the day. Chapman put the game back within reach in the fourth quarter after he stepped in and took a fake punt over 30 yards to give new life to the Pack's drive. He then punched it in from five yards out to log his first career touchdown.

WR Max Fine tallied the most catches and yards in the receiving corps. Fine's 74 yards and six catches led all Pack receivers

On the defensive side of the ball, the Pack did their best to control the high-powered Mines offense.

The ThunderWolves tallied 10 tackles for loss and four sacks on the day.

DL Ikenna Onwuasoanya notched two sacks on the Mines quarterback and tacked on 16 total yards lost.

LB Trevor Philio led the defensive attack with 2 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks. Philio led the Pack with nine tackles total and broke up a pass as well.

For the third straight weeked, the Pack's offense put up over 300 yards of total offense thanks to the passing from Lamphere and powerful running from Roots.

SCOUTING #14 Western Colorado

Western Colorado has climbed through the rankings throughout the year and have pulled out strong wins and shave haved off any upset threat.

Through 10 games, Western has totaled the most quarterback sacks in the NCAA, as they average 4.5 per game. The defense also leads the country in Red Zone Defense.

The defense also sits 13th in the nation in tackles for loss at 8.3 TFLs per game.

RB Josh Cummings is currently rushing for a 15 touchdowns on the season as he leads the conference and ranks eighth in the nation in total points scored. He is second only to Mines' running back in that category. 

QB Connor Desch ranks third in the conference in yards, touchdowns, and efficiency. 

With the exception to the overtime loss to Colorado School of Mines, the Mountaineers have not had a single game decided by one score. 

The Mountaineers only surrendered nine points to No. 22 Colorado Mesa in week 9. The nine points were the fewest points scored by Colorado Mesa all season.

Jas Bains entered his 12th season at the helm of the Western Colorado football team in 2021, the second-longest consecutive tenure in the program's history. His 9-1 season thus far is his best as the Mountaineers' head coach.

THE POLLS 

The Pack entered the season No. 12 in the D2Football.com and the AFCA polls. The ThunderWolves are one of two RMAC teams with a top 25 ranking in either poll to begin the season. 

CSU Pueblo finished 2018 ranked No. 7 in the AFCA and D2Football.com polls. 

In the second week of the AFCA Coaches' Poll, CSU Pueblo dropped to No. 19 following the heartbreaking loss to No. 8 Texas A&M-Commerce and are received votes following the traveling loss to GVSU and the wins over Black Hills State, South Dakota Mines, Colorado Mesa, and Chadron State.

The Pack ranked in the AFCA top 25 for 66 consecutive polls ranging from Sept. 5, 2011 (21st) to Sept. 5, 2016 (19th).

The ThunderWolves ranked in the top 10 nationally for a then-NCAA Division II-best 37 straight weeks from Oct. 17, 2011 (eighth) to Oct. 6, 2014 (second).

TEAM NOTES

The CSU Pueblo football program and Head Coach John Wristen recorded their 100th victory since the restart of the program in 2008 when they defeated New Mexico Highlands 48-3, Oct. 6, 2018. Wristen owns a 123-31 all-time record. 

Since 2008, CSU Pueblo is undefeated when scoring 36 or more points (68-0) and when allowing 10 points or less (50-0). 

Since 2008, the ThunderWolves are 65-14 (.838) at the ThunderBowl.

The Pack won 15 straight at home from 2016-2018, which ranked as the second longest current home winning streak in NCAA Division II. CSU Pueblo had that streak broken by Mines in the home opener in 2019. 

CSU Pueblo had a league-best +23 turnover margin in 2019. The next best team was at +7. Their 1.92 turnover margin per game was good for 1st nationally, while the 35 takeaways was tied for 1st in Division II heading into the Pack's final game. 

The Pack have accumulated six defensive touchdowns so far on the season to rank second in the nation in a tie with Bowie State.

CSU Pueblo ranks in the top 10 nationally in net punting (fifth) and punt returns (sixth) on top of their top-ranked defensive touchdowns.

The Pack played in five different states this season. The ThunderWolves traveled to Michigan, South Dakota, Nebraska, Colorado, and New Mexico.

CSU Pueblo's four losses this season are the most under John Wristen since the 2008 season when the Pack finished 5-5. Of the four losses, however, three were to ranked opponents. The Pack will now have faced four programs that were in the top 25 at the time of the contests.

The team was recognized with 24 total student-athletes being recognized for All-RMAC Academic Honor Roll honors while six individuals were honored with First Team All-RMAC Academic awards. Only one other program tallied more First Team honors (Colorado School of Mines).

The ThunderWolves have now racked up one D2Ftooball.com Player of the Week, two RMAC Player of the Week honors, and two NFFCC Player of the Week honors. WR Andrew Cook tallied his first career RMAC Special Teams Player of the week honor after turning in a 73-yard touchdown off a punt return. LB Trevor Philio pulled in the NFFCC Player of the Week following his dominating defensive play against Colorado Mesa. RB Michael Roots recieved the other NFFCC honor after his stellar rushing attack against Adams State. P Justin Dwinell earned the D2Football.com and RMAC Special Teams Player of the Week honors. This marks Dwinell's fifth career RMAC honor and second D2Football.com honor.

CSU PUEBLO POSITION NOTABLES

OFFENSE 

QB Gunnar Lamphere made his triumphant return to the starting lineup against Adams State in a 35-28 win as the junior fought off a lingering injury and passed for 210 yards and a touchdown. 

Lamphere broke out of his shell last week against Fort Lewis as the junior passed for 260 yards and two touchdowns in just two quarters of play against the Skyhawks. Lamphere's 260 yards passing was a career high was achieved in just six series, passing for 11-20 in the frame.

In his stead, QBs Steven Croell and Devin Williams rotated under center duties throughout the weeks Lamphere had been absent. Williams leads the Pack with 744 yards passing and 6 Touchdowns while Croell has put together a season with 620 passing yards and six touchdowns.

Williams owns the two of the longest passes on the season as he completed an 83-yard pass to WR Andrew Cook in the win at South Dakota Mines and then another 54-yarder to WR Max Fine against Chadron.

In the loss the Highlands, Williams threw for a Pack season-high in yards (252), attempts (52), and completions (28). The attempts marked a program high and the 28 completions tied a program best.

RB Michael Roots was able to have a breakout game against South Dakota Mines. Roots compiled 145 yards off 14 carries with a game-long 53-yard rush. The senior transfer compiled two touchdown rushes in the victory to tally his first scores as a CSU Pueblo running back.

Following his breakout performance against South Dakota Mines, Roots led the way against Colorado Mesa with an 80-yard performance on the ground. He also ran for two touchdowns and 136 yards against Chadron State.

Roots has since rushed for a season-high 159 yards in the win over Adams State and put together two more two-touchdown performances. The Central Washington transfer leads the Pack with 882 yards on the ground off 128 total rushes. He has seven rushing touchdowns and another by way of receiving.

WR Nick Williams leads all Pack receivers after he has tallied up five or more catches in each of the past six weeks. Williams now leads the Pack with 40 receptions and 528 receiving yards. In the win over Colorado Mesa, Williams completed a 14-yard touchdown pass the WR Nigel Mitchell to tie up the ballgame late. Then, in double overtime, Williams received a 17-yard pass from Croell. Williams fought his way into the end zone and completed the game-winning touchdown.

Williams caught for a career-high 143 yards in the win against Adams State with much thanks to a 60-yard receiving TD. Just one week later, Williams made five receptions in just two quarters to rack up 133 yards and one touchdown (60-yards from Lamphere) receiving.

DEFENSE

The Pack have owned one of the most stingiest and unforgiving defenses in the nation the past eight seasons. Since 2011, the ThunderWolves have finished the season in the top 22 nationally in scoring defense, which includes leading the country in 2011 and 2014. CSU Pueblo has also ranked in the top 21 in turnover ratio (or turnovers gained) in all but one season in that span with the nation's best mark in 2014 and in 2018.

LB Patrick Howell turned in another touchdown for the Pack four weeks ago at Chadron State as the linebacker snagged a pass out of the air and ran it back for a 25 yard touchdown.

LB Trevor Philio has wreaked havoc for opposing offenses all year. Philio has 13.5 tackles for loss and is tied for the team-leading 8.0 sacks.

DL Ikenna Onwuasoanya highlighted the defensive efforts for the Pack against Texas A&M-Commerce as he finished with 2.5 tackles for loss and added on a sack to his line score. 

Onwuasoanya headlined his Pack debut with seven tackles. The senior transfer now has 15.0 tackles for loss. He also sits at 42 total tackles on the season. His eight sacks is tied for the most with Philio.

The defense in week one shut down the Texas A&M-Commerce offense and prevented the Lions from marching down the field. The Lions were only able to muster up 214 total yards on 64 plays. 

The stifling defense by the Pack limited the two high powered offenses of No. 8 Texas A&M-Commerce and No. 14 Grand Valley State to low passing efficiencies and limited yardage. 

The Pack rank 23rd in the nation in Scoring Defense at 18.3 points per game and sit 22nd in Defensive Pass Efficiency.

DB Sam Warren has 43 tackles on the season to lead all defensive backs. He also has tallied two pass break-ups and two interceptions to round out his defensive stat-line.

S Cory McLellan nabbed the Pack's first interception for a touchdown on the season in the loss to Grand Valley State. McLellan's pick-six almost shifted the tide against the Lakers, but not enough to overturn the final result.

S Tanner Draper tallied his first career pick six in week 5 vs. South Dakota Mines, where he ran back an interception for a 30-yard return

Since 2008, the Pack have totaled 48 interception returns for a touchdown. The most in a season is eight, occurring in 2019. The ThunderWolves produced  five in 2010, 2014 and 2017 and now sit at four for the current season. With 14 defensive touchdowns since the beginning of 2019, the Pack are first nationally. 

CSU Pueblo's rushing defense was established on game one of the program re-boot in 2008. The Pack allowed 13 yards rushing against Oklahoma Panhandle State (Sept. 8, 2008) and since have held their opponent to less than 50 yards rushing on 27 more occasions with the most recent occurring against Fort Lewis on Oct. 30 (30 yards).

Nine times since 2008 the ThunderWolves allowed 10 or fewer rushing yards, with the all-time record standing at -68 yards this season at New Mexico Highlands. The previous record was -11 yards last season at Black Hills State. 

SPECIAL TEAMS

K Dean Faithfull arrived in Pueblo after playing four years of college soccer at Florida Tech back in late 2000s. He kicked two field goals as the only points for the Pack in the loss to Texas A&M-Commerce and has since tacked on seven more to bring the total to nine.

Faithfull joins the Pack in 2021 after returning to collegiate athletics after a long hiatus since his time as a soccer player at Florida Tech. Faithfull graduated from Florida Tech in 2010 after playing four years with the Panthers as a defender.

WR Andrew Cook only had one punt return against Fort Lewis, but he made the most of it, returning the kick 73 yards for the first punt return for a touchdown for the Pack since 2018. DB Matthew Stephenson later scored a 54-yard punt return in the same game to log the first game since 2008 that a Pack team logged two punt returns for a touchdown.

Redshirt sophomore punter Justin Dwinell took over punting duties in 2019 and placed 29 punts inside the 20. He averaged 41.0 yards per kick to rank third in the RMAC and 23rd nationally. He had 14 50+ yard punts and a long of 77 yards, which was the 5th longest in NCAA Division II this season. 

The sophomore punter sits at fifth in the nation for total punting as he averages 43.7 yards per punt. He also leads the RMAC in the same category. 

So far, Dwinell already has 17 punts kicked inside the 20 and 15 over 50 yards. The 15 50+ yard punts is already a career-high set back in week eight.

Dwinell ranks fifth in the nation with an average net punt of 38.56 yards per punt as the sophomore leads the RMAC in the same category.

Dwinell clinched his fifth career RMAC Special Teams Player of the Week honor and second career D2Football.com Player of the Week honor with the performance against Colorado Mesa. The punter kicked for a season-high 374 yards off seven attempts while landing four punts inside the 20 and logging four punts over 50 yards.

Dwinell had four RMAC Special Teams Player of the Week awards and two D2Football.com Special Teams Player of the Week honors in the 2019 season.