PUEBLO, Colo. – Poor field position, big plays and two turnovers were difference here Saturday afternoon as Colorado State University Pueblo fell 55-14 to No. 2 ranked Colorado School of Mines in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action on Band Day at the CSU Pueblo ThunderBowl.
 
Saturday's setback was the third straight for the ThunderWolves as they drop their record to 1-3 overall and 0-2 in the RMAC, while Mines improved to 4-0 overall and 2-0 in league. Mines was the third straight nationally ranked foe the Pack as they played two weeks ago at then No. 7 ranked Grand Valley State and then hosted then 25th-ranked Western Colorado last weekend.
 
"That's the best football team we've played so far this season and I don't know if it's even close. No. 10 (John Matocha) is a very good football players and their receivers are very underrated," CSU Pueblo head coach Philip Vigil said following the game. "We had some opportunities today against them, but you can't miss opportunities against the No. 2 team in the country and expect to come out on top. They're the No. 2 team in the country for a reason."
 
The Pack started the 2022 season with an identical  1-3 record against the same four opponents, before reeling off seven straight wins in the regular season to tie for second in the RMAC and earn a berth in the NCAA Division II Playoffs.
 
Mines' offense scored on three of its four first quarter possessions as they began each drive near midfield after punts of 17 yards, 37 yards, 24 yards and 21 yards into a stiff breeze blowing nearly 20 miles per hour by sophomore punter Andre Haddad (Littleton, Colo./University of New England). For the game, Haddad averaged 30.7 yards on his seven punts.
 
"We got behind the ball early from a field position standpoint. The wind was swirling in the first quarter and that caused us to get into some bad positions early on," Vigil said about the poor field position for his defense in the first quarter. "I thought the defense was doing a good job, but we put them into some tough situations with our punting struggles into the wind."
 
In Saturday's contest, the Pack offense gained 301 yards as they rushed for a season-high 207 yards on 30 carries and averaged 6.9 yards per rush, while passing for a season-low 94 yards as graduate student quarterback Chance Fuller (Arlington, Texas/Fort Hays State) and redshirt junior quarterback Steven Croell (Broomfield, Colo./Broomfield) going a combined 17-for-32 for 94 yards and tossing one interception. Fuller was 13-for-27 passing for 80 and had the lone interception and was held without a touchdown pass for the second straight game, while Croell was 4-for-5 for 14 yards against the Orediggers.
 
Both Pack touchdowns came on big plays as junior running back Howard Russell (Phoenix, Ariz./Eastern New Mexico) scored on an 87-yard touchdown run right at the end of the first quarter. The 87-yard touchdown run was the longest offensive play of the season for the Pack and brought CSU Pueblo within 17-7 after the opening 15 minutes of play. It was the longest run in a game since Austin Micci had two 80-yard runs against Dixie State in 2018.
 
Russell finished the game with 137 yards rushing on nine carries and averaged 15.2 yards per carry, while junior running back Kiahn Martinez (Denver, Colo./University of Idaho) had 54 yards on 11 carries and Croell gained 42 yards on two carries. Russell finished with 161 all-purpose yards as he caught one pass for four yards and returned one kickoff for 20 yards.
 
The other score by the Pack came early in the third quarter as on a fourth-and-three play from the Mines 38-yard line, Croell carried the ball on a quarterback keeper and was able to outrun the Mines secondary for a 38-yard touchdown run to bring the Pack within 31-14 just three-plus minutes into the second half.
 
Following Croell's score, the Mines offense would score on its final four possessions of the game as they scored three touchdowns and added a field goal to post the 41-point win. The 55 points were the most scored in the series by Mines since tallying 57 in a 57-21 win in Golden, Colo., to open the 2016 season.
 
Mines won the toss and deferred to the second half, so they kicked off and after holding the Pack to four yards on three plays, Haddad recorded a 17-yard punt that went out-of-bounds at the CSU Pueblo 46-yard line. Mines would drive 39 yards in seven plays, but the Pack defense stepped up on the goal line as they kept the Orediggers out of the end zone after a fourth-down resulted in a bad snap fumble by Landon Walker that he was able to recover, but the ball was turned over on downs to the Pack.
 
After the next Pack possession stalled on their own 23-yard line, Mines took the ball at their 40-yard line following a 37-yard punt by Haddad. Six play later, Mines got on the scoreboard thanks to a 7-yard touchdown run by Noah Roper.
 
On the ensuing possession, the Pack offense lost nine yards on three plays and punted the ball back to the Orediggers as Haddad recorded a 24-yard punt that gave Mine the ball at the Pack's 40-yard line. On the first play of the drive, John Matocha hit Flynn Schiele for a 40-yard touchdown pass to give the visitors a 14-0 lead with 4:40 left in the opening quarter.
 
After the Pack's fourth offensive possession gained just five yards on three plays, Haddad's punt went just 21 yards as Mines took over on its own 49-yard line. The Orediggers would drive 24 yards in eight plays, but the Pack defense would hold Mines to a 44-yard field goal by Hunter Pearson with seven seconds left on the first quarter to give Mines a 17-0 lead.
 
On the ensuing Pack possession, Russell would score on the first play on his 87-yard touchdown run to cut Mines' lead to 17-7.
 
In the quarter, Mines gained 169 yards on offense, while the Pack had 98 yards on 16 plays with 87 coming on Russell's touchdown run. The Pack also averaged 24.8 yards on its four punts in the quarter.
 
The Pack would get the wind in the second quarter, but failed to took advantage of wind as they had three possessions in the quarter and gained a total of 26 yards and their defense held Mines to just 64 yards.
 
In the quarter, the only points came with 32 seconds left in the quarter as the Pack had driven 11 yards in its first two plays of the possession, before Jaden Healy picked off a Fuller pass and returned it 37 yards for a touchdown to give Mines a 24-7 lead at the half.
 
Mines pushed its lead to 31-7 on its opening possession of the second half as Landon Walker took the direct snap and sprinted down the field for a 67-yard touchdown run.
 
The Pack, though, would respond on its first possession of the second half as they drove 58 yards in five plays and capped the drive on Croell's 38-yard run. All five plays on the drive were rushes as Martinez ran three times for 18 yards, while Russell had a 2-yard run and Croell ran one time for 38 yards.
 
On the next Mines possession, it appeared that the Pack defense had come up with a turnover as Matocha threw pass that was caught by Max McLeod and on the play, it appeared McLeod had fumbled the ball, but Mines challenged the ruling of a fumble, and the play was overturned on review and the Orediggers kept the ball. Mines would eventually score on the drive on a 26-yard field goal by Pearson to give the Orediggers a 34-14 lead.
 
The next Pack possession ended in a Pack fumble at midfield by Croell and four plays later, Mines would extend its lead to 41-14 following a 25-yard touchdown pass from Matocha to McLeod.
 
CSU Pueblo would have a scoring chance on its next possession as they drove 67 yards in 11 plays, but the Pack decided to go-for-it on fourth down and on the play, Fuller's pass to redshirt sophomore receiver Zack Rakowsky (Loveland, Colo./Loveland) was imcomplete to turn the ball over on downs to Mines.
 
Mines would add a touchdown on its next possession on a 14-yard pass from Matocha to Schiele to give the Orediggers a 49-14 lead. The Orediggers would then cap the scoring on a 12-yard run by Evan Foster with 1:51 left in the game. Foster's score made the score 55-14.
 
Matocha, who is the NCAA Football active leader in career touchdowns responsible for and the reigning Harlon Hill Trophy Award winner, was 27-for-35 passing for 328 yards and he had three touchdown passes and gained 43 yards rushing on six carries.
 
Walker gained 87 yards rushing in the game as they the Orediggers finished with 231 yards rushing on 35 carries. Mines passed for 328 yards in the win.
 
McLeod, who is second in NCAA Division II in receiving yards this season, caught eight passes for 106 yards, while Schiele caught five passes for 101 yards and had two touchdown receptions.
 
The Pack defense sacked Matocha twice in the game and they had seven tackles for loss in the game. Redshirt junior linebacker Jon Nuschy (La Junta, Colo./Northern Colorado) paced the Pack defense with 11 tackles, including a tackle for a loss, while senior defensive back Cory McLellan (Monument, Colo./Palmer Ridge) added 10 tackles and a tackle for a loss.
 
Mines defense finished with three sacks and seven tackles for a loss.
 
Both teams had an interception as Pack senior defensive back Donyai Dixon (Baltimore, Md./UNLV) picked off a Matocha pass early in the second quarter and Healy had that interception return for a score late in the second quarter. The interception by Matocha was his first of the season.
 
Mines also held a 34:21 to 25:39 edge in time of possession and held the Pack to a 3-for-14 effort on third-down conversions. They also scored touchdowns on both of the Pack's turnovers.
 
The Pack will look rebound next Saturday, Sept. 30 as they travel to Durango, Colo., for a 12 p.m. RMAC contest against Fort Lewis College. FLC fell to 0-4 on the season and 0-2 in the league following its 25-24 road loss Saturday at Adams State.
 
"We've got to get back to the drawing board, regroup and get back to work and get ready to play next Saturday at Fort Lewis," added Vigil.