PUEBLO, Colo. – No. 22 ranked Colorado State University Pueblo opened its 2023 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference slate here Saturday afternoon with a gut wrenching 30-14 setback to No. 25 ranked Western Colorado in front of 5,240 fans in the CSU Pueblo ThunderBowl.
 
With the setback, the ThunderWolves have lost two straight games to nationally ranked foes as they fall to 1-2 overall on the season, while Western Colorado collects its third straight win over the Pack and improves to 3-0 on the season. Last Saturday, the Pack fell 57-49 in double overtime at No. 7 ranked Grand Valley State.
 
The series, which has featured close games the last two seasons as Western won 17-10 last season at the ThunderBowl and won 14-7 in Gunnison in 2021, was not a close one Saturday as the Mountaineers never trailed in Saturday's game as they led 10-7 after the first quarter and held a 27-7 lead at the half. In the second half, the Pack could only muster a touchdown on its first possession of the second half, before Western's defense would keep the high-powered Pack offense in check the remainder of the game.
 
"Obviously, we didn't play the way we wanted to play today and that's a credit to Western Colorado and Coach (Jas) Bains. They did a great job over there and we didn't match that today and it showed," CSU Pueblo head coach Philip Vigil said following the game. "We didn't play well enough on offense or on special teams to beat a Top 25 team today. Three punts blocked today; you can't have that happen. Offense was stagnant for the entire game. I thought the defense played well but, were on the field for way too long."
 
The Pack, who entered the game averaging 389 yards and 43 points per game, were held to season low totals in points (14), yards (218), first downs (13) and passing yards (151) as the Pack rushed 27 times for 67 yards and passed for 151 yards as graduate student quarterback Chance Fuller (Arlington, Texas/Fort Hays State) was 18-for-44 passing with an interception and was held without a touchdown pass for the first time this season.
 
After going three-and-out on its first possession of the game, sophomore punter Andre Haddad (Littleton, Colo./University of New England) had his punt blocked and was recovered at the CSU Pueblo 4-yard line by Malcom Wesley. Three plays later, Deyvon Butler put the Mountaineers on the scoreboard with his 2-yard touchdown run. The extra point by Adam Tasei was good to give the visitors a 7-0 lead just two-and-half minutes into the game.
 
On the ensuing kickoff, redshirt junior running back Jordan Jones (Pueblo, Colo./Wheat Ridge) returned the kickoff and on the return, he fumbled the ball, and it was recovered by WCU's DJ Allen, Jr., on the CSU Pueblo 15-yard line. Four plays later after the Pack defense pushed WCU back three yards, the Mountaineers made it 10-0 thanks to a 35-yard field goal by Tasei.
 
The went three-and-out on its first two offensive possessions but would finally get on the board about midway through the first quarter as redshirt junior receiver Andrew Cook (Tucson, Ariz./Ironwood Ridge) returned a punt 70 yards for a touchdown to bring the Pack within 10-7. The punt return by Cook was the second of his career and he is now second for second with Stephan Dickens for career punt return touchdowns. It was the first punt return for a score since Matt Stephenson returned a punt 69 yards for a score at Fort Lewis on Oct. 30, 2021. Ironically, in that same game, Cook returned a punt 73 yards for a score in that same game.
 
WCU would add to its lead midway through the second quarter as Butler scored on a 5-yard touchdown run to give the Mountaineers a 17-7 lead.
 
On the ensuing Pack possession, the Pack offense would run eight plays and lose eight yards on a fourth-down play, Haddad's gotten get a punt off and was tackled for a 13-yard loss to set up another short field for the Mountaineers as they took the ball at the CSU Pueblo 17-yard line.
 
The Pack defense, though, would step up again and hold the Mountaineers to a field goal as Tasei hit a 24-yard field goal to give WCU a 20-7 lead with 3:42 left in the opening half.
 
On the next possession, Fuller would throw just his third interception of the year and WCU would take advantage of that miscue as they drove 53 yards in six plays and capped the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run by Drew Nash with 18 seconds left to give the Mountaineers a 27-7 lead.
 
The Pack defense would force WCU to punt on its first drive of the third quarter and following the punt, the Pack had one of its best offensive drives of the game as they ran eight plays and gained 60 yards and capped the drive with a 6-yard touchdown run by junior running back Kiahn Martinez (Denver, Colo./University of Idaho). On the drive, Fuller was 4-for-5 passing for 46 yards.
 
Martinez finished the game with 84 yards rushing on 20 carries and averaged 4.2 yards per carry and caught four passes for 32 yards and tallied 116 all-purpose yards. Fuller's top target in the passing game was Cook, who caught seven passes for 50 yards and returned four punts for 75 yards and finished with 125 all-purpose yards.
 
After gaining 60 yards on its first offensive possession of the second half, the Pack offense would gain just 99 yards the remainder of the game.
 
WCU would add three more points to its lead with 2:27 left in the third quarter as Tasei hit his third field goal of the game as he connected on a 35-yard attempt to give the Mountaineers a 30-14 lead.
 
Tasei would misfire on a 37-yard field goal just a little under two minutes into the fourth quarter to give the Pack the ball on their own 21-yard line. After the next two Pack possessions ended with a total of just four yards, the Pack would mount a drive late in the fourth quarter as they drove 59 yards in nine plays, but the drive stalled on the WCU 31-yard line after Fuller's fourth-down pass intended for redshirt sophomore receiver Zack Rakowsky (Loveland, Colo./Loveland) was incomplete to turn the ball over on downs.
 
While the Pack offense finished with 218 yards, Western's offense finished the game with 295 yards as they rushed the ball 44 times for 113 yards and passed for 182 yards.
 
Butler finished the game with 17 carries for 76 yards rushing, while Nash was 17-for-31 passing for 182 yards and he did not throw an interception or a touchdown in the win.
 
The Pack defense finished with three sacks, including two from redshirt sophomore defensive lineman Monty Hamrick (Denver, Colo./Vista Peak) and had 11 tackles for loss. Redshirt junior defensive back Eli Pittman (Peoria, Ariz./Liberty) tallied nine tackles and had three tackles for loss and two pass break-ups, while redshirt junior defensive back Daniel Bone III (Colorado Springs, Colo./Pine Creek) had eight tackles for the Pack.

For the game, the teams combined to commit 17 penalties as the Pack were flagged 10 times for 76 yards, while Western Colorado was called for seven penalties for 62 yards. The Mountaineers also held a 36:09 to 23:51 advantage in time of possession. 
 
CSU Pueblo will look to rebound next weekend (Sept. 24) as they face its third straight nationally ranked team as the Pack host to No. 2 ranked Colorado School of Mines for a 2 p.m. RMAC contest in the CSU Pueblo ThunderBowl. Mines (3-0, 1-0 RMAC), who are the defending NCAA Division II National runners-up, opened league play with a 70-7 home win Saturday over Adams State.
 
"We must regroup. Got to go back and watch tape. We've got a really good opponent in Mines coming in here next week," Vigil said. "We are going to learn from this and get better."