PUEBLO, Colo. – Colorado State University Pueblo football kicks off the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference portion of its 2023 season here this coming Saturday afternoon as the 22nd-ranked ThunderWolves host 25th-ranked Western Colorado at the CSU Pueblo ThunderBowl. Kickoff is set for 2:02 p.m. and marks the second of six home games this season for the Pack.
The Pack comes into Saturday's RMAC opener sporting a 1-1 overall record after suffering a hard-fought 57-49 double overtime loss at seventh-ranked Grand Valley State, while Western Colorado comes in with an unblemished 2-0 record after collecting a 35-27 win last Saturday at home against UT-Permian Basin.
Saturday's game with Western will be the second straight game against a nationally ranked foe for the Pack as the Pack are playing its 39th all-time game since 2008 against a ranked opponent. The Pack are 21-18 all-time against ranked teams, including being 13-9 in regular season games against ranked foes. In addition, Saturday's game will mark the first time since 2008 that both CSU Pueblo and Western Colorado are ranked at the same time.
In last Saturday's nationally-ranked showdown at Grand Valley State, the Pack trailed 21-0 just 19 minutes into the game, but they would outscore the Lakers, 42-21 over the remainder of regulation and forced overtime following a nine-yard touchdown pass from graduate student quarterback
Chance Fuller (Arlington, Texas/Fort Hays State) to junior receiver
Reggie Retzlaff (Corona, Calif./Riverside City College) with no time left on the clock.
After both teams scored in the first overtime, GVSU got the ball first in the second overtime as they scored on the play and then added a 2-point conversion to take a 57-49 lead. On the Pack's ensuing possession, they drove to the four-yard line, but Fuller's fourth-down pass to redshirt sophomore receiver
Zack Rakowsky (Loveland, Colo./Loveland) was broken up in the end zone by the Lakers to preserve the victory.
"I was really encouraged by their belief and their fight. I think there a lot of teams in the country that if you get down 21 points to a Top 5 program, at their place in that type of environment would just pack it up and say it wasn't our night and move on, but not the Pack," CSU Pueblo head coach
Philip Vigil said. "We fought, we clawed and there was a sense on the sideline that no matter what the score was, we were going to make a play, and we're going to find a way to win the game, but we came up just one play short in the end."
In the opening 19 minutes of last Saturday's game, Grand Valley's offense had run 25 plays for 181 yards and scored 21 points, while the Pack offense had gained just five yards on nine plays, but over the remainder of the game, the Pack offense outgained the Lakers, 387-272. In the second half, the Pack held the Lakers to just seven points.
"I thought that after the first 19 minutes of the game, we outplayed them. We were down 21-0 and then we find a way to take them into overtime," Vigil said. "Our defense played fantastic in the second half as they (GVSU) only scored seven points the entire second half."
For the game, Fuller finished 29-for-49 passing for 338 yards and had five touchdown passes and one interception. The five touchdown passes increased his career total to 75, which is fourth-most among active Division II players. He hooked up with six different receivers in the game as Retzlaff caught a team-high seven passes for 48 yards and had two touchdown receptions. In addition to Retzlaff, senior receiver
CK Poulos (North Port, Fla./North Port) caught six passes for 48 yards, while redshirt junior receiver
Andrew Cook (Tucson, Ariz./Ironwood Ridge) caught five passes for 95 yards. Rakowsky also caught five passes for 92 yards and junior running back
Kiahn Martinez (Denver, Colo./University of Idaho) had five receptions for 51 yards, including the 25-yard reception in the first overtime.
"I can't say enough about Chance and his ability to process and his ability to take what the defense gives us and put our team in great situations to win football games," added Vigil. "I thought (Andrew) Cook had a great game. Midwestern State double teamed him, while Grand Valley decided to leave him in some one-on-one coverage opportunities and Chance saw that and got him the ball."
On the season, Fuller is 56-for-94 passing for 614 yards and has tossed eight touchdowns and has thrown two interceptions. He is completing nearly 60 percent of his passes and is averaging 307 yards passing and 300 yards of total offense per game. He enters Saturday's game sitting third in Division II in touchdown passes (8), sixth in completions per game (28.0), seventh in passing yards (614), eighth in points responsible for (48), ninth in points responsible for per game (24) and passing yards per game (307). He is also third among Division II players in career passing yards (8,709), fifth in career completion percentage (.622), sixth in career points responsible for (77) and sixth in career total offense (8,608).
"I think a lot of our resiliency last Saturday was due in part to our confidence in Chance and his ability to lead us down the field. He was putting the ball in good spots, and then there were times where our receivers were making unbelievable plays on the ball. There were a bunch of contested catches that we preached about all week long that our receivers made," Vigil said. "We're still not where we need to be or where we want to be, but we're improving every week."
One unit that really played well against a lot of strain was the Pack's offensive line, which among the starters was a true freshman,
Senon Chapple (Fort Worth, Texas/Fossil Ridge), at center.
"I thought our offensive line played well. We threw the ball 50 times and gave up three sacks, two of which were on the quarterback. To give up one sack against those guys is unheard of and I thought the fight they showed was awesome against a very talented Grand Valley defense," the Pack coach said. "A lot of our success this season is going to be due to our offensive line, so it was super encouraging to see the way they played as a unit."
Perhaps the biggest difference in Saturday's game came on the kickoff return as the Lakers retuned five kickoffs in the game for 216 yards and had Kellen Reed score on a 95-yard return late in the second quarter to give GVSU a 35-21 halftime lead. The kickoff return by Reed was reviewed as it appeared that his knee touched after he caught the ball, but on replay, the play was upheld. The Pack returned four kicks for 54 yards.
"Our special teams, especially our kickoff unit hurt us on Saturday. We gave them a short field at times and then allowed a kickoff return for a touchdown that really hurt us," said Vigil when asked about his special teams play. "I was pleased with both the offense and the defense and even at times the special teams as they blocked a field goal and returned it for a touchdown. There was a lot of be proud of last week, but obviously, you walk into every game wanting to win and we expected to win that game."
One of the biggest plays of the night for the Pack came late in the second quarter when redshirt sophomore defensive back
Keith Mckaney (Avondale, Ariz./Desert Edge) blocked a 36-yard field goal attempt from Josh Gorball and the ball was picked up by redshirt junior defensive back
Eli Pittman (Peoria, Ariz./Liberty) and returned a school-record 72 yards for a touchdown to bring the Pack within seven at 21-14 with 2:40 left in the first half. The 72-yard blocked field goal return for a touchdown was the longest in school history as it bettered the old record of 69 set by Dan DeRose against New Mexico Highlands in 1983.
In fact, the Pack also scored on defense against Grand Valley State as true freshman linebacker
Gary Seidenberger (Fredericksburg, Texas/Fredericksburg) picked off a pass from Alex Thole and returned it 40 yards for a touchdown to tie the game at 35 in the fourth quarter.
Coming into the Grand Valley State game, Vigil challenged his defense to put more pressure on the quarterback after not recording a sack in the opener against Midwestern State. The Pack defense did just that on Saturday against a stout Grand Valley offensive line as they recorded four sacks and had eight tackles for loss against the Lakers.
"I thought our defense did a good job and responded to the challenge. Grand Valley's offensive line is very big, but we still found ways to create pressure on two quarterbacks that were very mobile. We were able to get those guys off the field when we needed to and give the ball back to our offense," Vigil said. "I can't tell you the last time somebody put 49 points on Grand Valley. It was a total team effort, and I was proud of our guys' fight."
The 49 points allowed by Grand Valley were the most in a game since Ferris State scored 54 in the second round of the 2021 NCAA Division II Playoffs.
Saturday's opponent, Western Colorado, will present Vigil's team with a lot of the same challenges his team has seen the past two weeks.
"I have a ton of respect for Coach (Jas) Bains, Coach Auer and Coach McLain, their coordinators, and their coach. They do a good job of getting their guys into the right position and they play extremely hard and are a very disciplined football team," Vigil said. "They are a savvy team, and it shows why they've been successful under Coach Bains' tenure at Western Colorado as they are really good at what they do."
Vigil said he is excited about beginning RMAC play this Saturday.
"I'm excited to play Western Colorado and excited to start RMAC play. I think it's been really encouraging to see what the league has done in non-conference play, especially against Lone Star Conference schools. We've played a lot of Lone Star schools this season and have had a lot of success. We beat one of them, Western's beaten two, New Mexico Highlands beat one last weekend and Mines also beat one last weekend. I think we've lost one game to the Lone Star Conference and that was Adams losing to West Texas A&M, so I think that goes a long way to prove that our conference has some good teams this season," added Vigil. "All of our goals for this season are still intact, we have four goals and all four of those are still in front of us right now."
Among some of the keys for this weekend for the Pack are to play clean football, be able to adjust on the fly and on defense, we got to be able to stop the run, according to Vigil.
"Offensively, it's about us doing what we do because they do a good job at mixing up their calls. We also must be able to have answers for what they do and being able to do that on the fly and we must take care of the football, because they are opportunistic on defense as they do a good job at getting their hands up, especially in the quick game," the coach said. "Defensively, we've got to find a way to stop the run. I think that will be a huge key to victory for us. If we can stop their running attack with their running back and quarterback, I think we'll have a good shot to be in the football game on Saturday."
Through two games this season, the Pack has been able to take care of the ball as they have committed just turnovers and are currently 10th in Division II in turnover margin at +5 as they have forced seven turnovers – four fumbles and three interceptions.
"Our defense has been opportunistic and has created some turnovers that have led to scores and on offense, we've also taken care of the ball for the most part," Vigil stated.
While the Pack has been able to take care of the ball on offense, the Pack offense has also gotten off to a strong start in red zone this season as they are 9-for-11 (81.8 percent) on red zone opportunities this season. The Pack have scored six touchdowns and had three field goals in the red zone this season.
"We want to be 100 percent in the red zone from a scoring standpoint. That's the goal. Every time we get in the red zone, we want to score a touchdown," the coach added. "We've got some room to work, and we have to continue to grow in that area."
Saturday's game with Western Colorado marks the 30th all-time meeting between the two schools and the fifth time the two schools will open RMAC play against each other since the Pack rebooted its football program in 2008. The Pack lead the all-time series, 18-11, but the Pack has lost two straight games in the series, including suffering a 17-10 in last year's RMAC opener at the ThunderBowl. The Pack are 11-4 at home and are tied 7-7 in Gunnison against the Mountaineers.
"Our guys are hungrier now, because we're coming off a game that they felt like they should have won. Western is a very good opponent and is well coached. They've beaten us the past two years and if we take these guys lightly, it's going to be a bad deal on Saturday," added Vigil. "We've got to come in focused and be able to hit the reset button and put last week's game behind us and focus on the Mountaineers."
ABOUT WESTERN COLORADO
Western Colorado, who is ranked 25th in this week's latest AFCA Division II Coaches' Poll, comes into Saturday's RMAC opener with the Pack sporting a 2-0 record on the season after opening the year with back-to-back home wins against West Texas A&M (28-6) and UT-Permian Basin (35-27). The Mountaineers, who have won four straight games dating to the final two games of the 2022 season, are one of only remaining undefeated teams in the league with No. 2 ranked Mines being the other unblemished team through the first two weeks of the season.
In last Saturday's win over UT-Permian Basin, the Mountaineers, who are coached by Jas Bains, jumped in front 28-13 at the half and then held off a second rally by the Falcons to seal the win and open the season 2-0 for the first since 2021 when Western opened the season with four straight wins en route to posting a 10-2 overall record and advancing to the NCAA Playoffs.
Against the Falcons, Western finished with 312 yards of offense as they rushed the ball 35 times for 127 yards and redshirt sophomore quarterback Drew Nash was 20-for-35 passing for 185 yards and tossed four touchdowns and had two interceptions. UTPB recorded 416 yards as they passed for 295 yards and rushed for 121 yards.
"Offensively, they do a really good job. They've got a mobile quarterback this year. He's a new starter for them, but he's very mobile. He can beat you with his legs and with his arm. They're also solid up front and they've got a good tailback and have some good receivers," added Vigil.
Among the key offensive players for Mountaineers are senior running back Deyvon Butler, who has carried the ball 26 times for 153 yards and leads the RMAC in rushing touchdowns with three. Butler averages 77 yards per game and is averaging 5.5 yards per carry. In addition to Butler, Nash is 33-for-52 passing for 343 yards with four touchdowns and two interceptions. He averages 171.5 yards passing per game and has added 48 rushing yards for 391 yards of total offense and is averaging 195.5 yards per game.
Nash's top target in the passing game through two games has been sophomore receiver Andrew Montez, who has caught seven passes for 57 yards and has had one touchdown reception. Butler has caught six passes for 37 yards and is averaging 76.5 yards of total offense.
"Defensively, they're very chaotic and you don't know where Coach Auer is going to bring pressure from, but you know he going to bring it. He always has answers. They are very good at forcing turnovers and getting their hands up in the passing lanes," Vigil said about Western's defense.
Some of the key defensive players for the Mountaineers are graduate student linebacker Trevor Riters and senior linebacker Kendall Lightfoot. Both Riters and Lightfoot have each recorded 11 tackles each and have combined for 2.5 tackles for loss, 0.5 sacks and an interception. Senior strong safety Andrew Arterburn is third on the team in tackles with eight and has picked off a pass and broken up three passes.
As a team, Western has picked off three passes, broken up 23 passes, has had seven quarterback hurries and has recorded nine tackles for a loss and four sacks.
On special teams, the Mountaineers are second in the league in kickoff returns as they average 22 yards per return and are averaging 8.5 yards per punt return. In addition, freshman punter Zac Grable is second in the league in punting as he is averaging 44.3 yards per punt and has put five punts inside the 20-yard line, while sophomore Adam Tasei is averaging 61.5 yards on kickoffs and is 0-1 on field goals and is a perfect 8-for-8 on extra points.
In the Preseason RMAC Coaches' Poll, Western Colorado was tabbed to finish third as they earned 62 points and a first-place vote from the league's head coaches. Last season, Western went 7-4 and tied with CSU Pueblo for second place in the RMAC with a 7-2 record.
Bains is in his 13th season as the Mountaineers head football coach and has compiled a 46-79 record and is the second longest consecutive tenure in the program's history. He has been awarded the RMAC Coach of the Year and Region 5 Coach of the Year in his career with both coming in the 2021 season. Over the past two-plus seasons, Bains has recorded a 19-6 record as they went 10-2 in 2021 and 7-4 in 2022.
PACK FOOTBALL NOTES