PUEBLO, Colo. – After playing its last two games in the comforts of the ThunderBowl, Colorado State University Pueblo football will hit the road for the first time in three weeks this Saturday as the ThunderWolves travel to Durango, Colo., for a 12 p.m. Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference match-up against Fort Lewis College at Ray Dennison Memorial Field.
The Pack, who have played three of its first four games at home this season, comes into Saturday's first road game in RMAC play sporting a 1-3 overall record and an 0-2 mark in the RMAC after falling 55-14 at home last Saturday to No. 2 ranked Colorado School of Mines. The game with Mines marked the Pack's third straight game against a nationally ranked foe. Meanwhile, Fort Lewis comes into the contest amid a 32-game overall losing skid that dates to 2019 as the Skyhawks are 0-4 overall and 0-2 in the RMAC after suffering a hard-fought 25-24 road loss last Saturday at Adams State.
In last Saturday's game against Mines, the Pack struggled offensively for the second straight game as they were held to 311 yards of offense as they rushed for a season-high 217 yards on 31 carries and passed for a season-low 94 yards as graduate student quarterback
Chance Fuller (Arlington, Texas/Fort Hays State) and redshirt junior
Steven Croell (Broomfield, Colo./Broomfield) were a combined 17-for-32 in the game. Croell added 42 yards rushing on two carries, including scoring on a 38-yard run early in the third quarter on a fourth-down play. Croell's score brought the Pack within 31-14.
The Pack's other touchdown against the Orediggers came on the final play of the first quarter as junior running back
Howard Russell (Phoenix, Ariz./Eastern New Mexico) scampered down the sideline for an 87-yard touchdown run to pull the Pack within 17-7 after the opening 15 minutes of play. Russell's touchdown run was the longest play of the season for the Pack and tied for the second longest run in school history behind a 95-yard run by Frank Hester against Pittsburg State on Oct. 15, 1965. In addition, the 87-yard run is the fourth longest run from scrimmage in Division II football this season.
"I thought there were some encouraging things offensively that happened against Mines. I thought we ran the ball very well against a very good defense that entered the game allowing just 80 yards rushing on the season. We had over 250 yards rushing without the sacks," CSU Pueblo head coach
Philip Vigil said. "I thought our offensive line did a nice job and took a step forward. I also thought our running backs ran hard."
Vigil said his team's running game against Mines was a product of the running backs getting after things in practice during the week.
"We challenged our backs in practice last week. We told them they needed to stick their head down, get dirty with it a little bit and be okay with picking up four or five yards a pop," the Pack coach said. "And if you do that, the big runs were going to come and that's exactly what happened on Saturday. When they Kiahn (Martinez) and Howard (Russell) had opportunities to make a big play, they did it."
"We've got to get on the same page, whether it be, the quarterback and receivers or the quarterback reading it the correct way," added Vigil.
"I thought our special teams from an operational standpoint played much better against Mines than they did the previous week. The wind really hurt us in the first and fourth quarter from a field position standpoint," Vigil said. "As you looked throughout the game, they (Mines) have a punter that's probably going to be an All-American, but when he punted into the wind, it was a struggle for him as well."
The Pack's schedule this season has been very strong as they have played two of the Top 5 teams in the country and another team now ranked inside the Top 20 and that schedule has caused some growing pains for the players, according to Vigil.
"In my opinion, we've played the hardest Division II schedule in the country as the three teams we've lost to are a combined 10-1. We're going through some growing pains against a hard schedule," said Vigil. "We've got some things we need to fix and get better at and that takes time for the guys to understand the scheme and really thrive. We're going to get there."
Vigil said that his defense played well last week against Mines, but they've also got to improve and play better moving forward.
"We played a good offensive team last week. (John) Matocha is a very good football player, arguably the best in the country and their two receivers were making plays all over the field, but I thought our defense played well, but at the end of the day we still gave up over 50 points. The objective on defense is to keep teams out of the end zone," Vigil stated. "We've got to play better. I'm not going to make any excuses for the offense. I'm not going to make any excuses for the defense, but we've got to play better."
Vigil preaches to his team every week that their opponent is nameless and the most important thing for the Pack to focus on themselves getting better each day.
"It should not matter who we're playing. That should not be relevant in our minds at all. It should be about us getting better. If we must motivate our guys to get ready to play Fort Lewis or any other opponent, we don't have the right guys. We train and practice all year long for 11 opportunities," the Pack coach said. "We are 1-3 right now, so we can't take anyone lightly."
Among the keys for success this coming weekend for the Pack according to Vigil are to prepare to be our best on Saturday.
"We're going to get everyone's best shot every time we step on the field, so we've got to prepare to be our best on Saturday. And just like it's been the last four weeks, if we take care of us, it doesn't matter who we play and that's got to be our focus right now," Vigil stressed. "We need to protect the football and we want to continue to dominate the line of scrimmage and we've got to be able to run the football and if they give us some man coverage on defense, we've got to go and win the one-on-one battles with our receivers. On defense, we've got to be able to stop the run, be able to get off the field on third downs, which is something we did not do a good job of against Mines and have got to limit explosive plays."
Last season, the Pack also started the season 1-3 playing the exact same schedule and following the loss to Mines in week four, the Pack would close the regular season by winning seven straight games to finish with an 8-3 record and a 7-2 mark in the RMAC en route to earning an NCAA Playoff berth.
"Last year is last year. This is new season. The only thing I'm worried about is winning on Saturday and controlling what we can control to be great and let the results take care of themselves," the coach said.
Saturday's game with Fort Lewis will mark the 36th all-time meeting between the two schools and the 16th time since CSU Pueblo restarted football in 2008. The Pack leads the all-time series, 28-7 and they have won four straight games in the series, including scoring 148 points in the last two games as they tallied 75 points last season and 73 points in 2021. The last time Fort Lewis defeated the Pack was in 2017 when the Skyhawks posted a 35-24 win in Durango, Colo. The Pack lead the series 13-5 in Durango, 14-2 at home and 1-0 on a neutral field.
"Look back at our history with Fort Lewis. In 2017, the Pack won the RMAC championship and lost at Fort Lewis and in 2014, the Pack won the national title and lost to Fort Lewis that year as well," Vigil said when asked about the Fort Lewis series.
Following Saturday's game at Fort Lewis, the Pack will return home next Saturday (Oct. 7) to the CSU Pueblo ThunderBowl to host Adams State in its annual Homecoming and Hall of Fame Game.
ABOUT FORT LEWIS
Despite its 0-4 overall record and a 32-game losing skid that dates to Oct. 12, 2019, the Skyhawks have shown signs of improvement this season as they have posted four straight games with 300 yards of total offense for the first time since 2016. Additionally, the Skyhawks have scored 72 points in its first four games, which is just 10 points less than the team scored in its 10 games last season.
As a team, FLC is averaging 345.3 yards per game offensively as they have rushed 112 times for 366 yards and has scored three rushing touchdowns, while they have passed for 1,015 yard and are averaging 253.8 passing yards per game. The Skyhawks, who are averaging 18 points per game and have a high scoring game of 25 points at Arizona Christian, have thrown five touchdown passes and five interceptions through four games.
"Coach Cox has done a great job at Fort Lewis. They've completely overturned their roster from last season and their kids are playing hard and if we go in with anything other than our best on Saturday, we're going to be in for a long day," Vigil said. "Offensively, they are very balanced. They've played two quarterbacks who bring different dynamics as one is a good thrower and, in the run, their other quarterback is very athletic and do a lot of zone read with him. Defensively, they play an even front, which is like our defense. They do a good job and play hard on both sides of the ball."
Leading the way for Fort Lewis' offense is senior quarterback Braden Wingle, who is 75-for-123 passing for 894 yards as he is averaging 223.5 passing yards per game and is completing 61 percent of his passes. He has tossed five touchdowns and three interceptions. Wingle has gained 63 yards rushing, has scored a rushing touchdown, and is averaging 239.3 yards of total offense per game. The other quarterback is redshirt freshman Sam Jones, who has passed for 99 yards and is averaging 101 yards of total offense per game.
The Skyhawks running game is paced by sophomore running back Cameron Mack, who has gained 187 yards on 50 carries and is averaging 62.3 yards per game and has had one of FLC's three rushing touchdowns on the year.
Three Skyhawk receivers have caught 10 or more passes with sophomore Jamille Humphrey and senior Peyton Monson having each caught 16 passes and sophomore Christopher Thomas, Jr., has caught 10 passes. Humphrey leads the team in receiving yards with 192 yards and is averaging 12.0 yards per reception, while Monson has had 145 receiving yards and is averaging 9.1 yards per reception and has had one touchdown reception.
Meanwhile, on defense, the Skyhawks are allowing 451.8 yards and 36.8 points per game. Leading the defensive effort is sophomore free safety Parker Cunningham, who has recorded 24 tackles, while sophomore linebacker Christopher Ponce has had 23 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and a sack. As a team, the Skyhawks have recorded three sacks and 15 tackles for loss and are allowing 52 percent conversion on third downs this season.
One of the strengths of the Skyhawks is their special teams as sophomore kicker/punter Hunter Villavicencio is averaging 40.5 yards per punt and is 4-for-7 on field goals and is a perfect 6-for-6 on extra point attempts.
Along with Villavicencio, Monson and Humphrey have been strong on kick returns as they are averaging a combined 23.5 yards per return as Monson has returned 11 kickoffs for 278 yards and has returned one kickoff for a score this season and is averaging a team-best 110.3 all-purpose yards per game, while Humphrey has returned four kicks for 75 yards and is averaging 18.8 yards per return.
Fort Lewis is coached by second year head coach Johnny Cox, who returned to his alma mater in 2022 after serving as the Associate Head Coach at UNC Pembroke. Cox began his tenure at UNC Pembroke as the offensive coordinator in 2014. As a player at Fort Lewis, Cox was a two-time All-American as a receiver, along with being the RMAC Player of the Year in 1993 and was inducted into the FLC Athletics Hall of Fame in 1999. He was also a two-time finalist for the Harlon Hill Trophy.
