PUEBLO, Colo. – Colorado State University Pueblo football opened the Philip Vigil era in a big way here Saturday as the ThunderWolves scored 27 first half points as the Pack began the 2023 season with an impressive 37-8 victory over Midwestern State in front of 5,398 fans at the CSU Pueblo ThunderBowl.

With the victory, the Pack improved to 13-2 in season openers since the program's reboot in 2008 and improved to 3-0 all-time against Midwestern State as they opened last season with a 59-27 victory over the Mustangs. The Pack are also now 8-1 in home season openers since 2008.

"College football wins are hard, so we're going to enjoy it. I'm proud of this team. There's a lot we need to clean up. We got a lot of penalties, a lot of mistakes, but man, it was fun when we were going tonight," Vigil said following the win. "We've got to find a way to maintain that for four quarters. I was disappointed in our second half performance. I challenged these guys all week to play regardless of the scoreboard and I felt like in the second half we took a step back."

The Pack held the Mustangs without a score for three-plus quarters as their defense forced six turnovers, including five in the first half. Those six turnovers led to 20 points for the Pack. The Pack defense allowed just 283 yards with 107 of those yards coming in the fourth quarter after CSU Pueblo had taken a 34-0 lead.

While its defense was suffocating most of the night, the Pack offense was also effective at times against MSU as they finished the game with 386 yards of offense as they rushed 33 times for 110 yards and passed for 276 yards and had three passing touchdowns. The Pack was also 7-for-8 on red zone opportunities in the game and scored on seven of its 15 possessions.

"It was awesome to see the defense tonight, especially in the first half," said Vigil. "They were opportunistic, caused a lot of turnovers. It was fun to watch."

The Pack wasted little time scoring as they took the opening possession of the game and drove 75 yards in nine plays and capped the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run by junior running back Kiahn Martinez (Denver, Colo./University of Idaho). The ensuing extra point from junior kicker Jacob Willig (Fort Collins, Colo./Rocky Mountain) was good to give the Pack a 7-0 lead.

"We want to start fast, there's no doubt about that and we were able to do that tonight as we went down and scored offensively on our first drive of the game," the Pack coach added.

MSU's first two drives results in punts, while its next four offensive possessions that spread into the second quarter resulted in three straight fumbles and an interception.

The first fumble, which came one play after Jaylen Shaw intercepted Pack senior quarterback Chance Fuller (Arlington, Texas/Fort Hays State), led the Pack getting the ball at the MSU 11-yard line. The offensive drive would stall, but Willig gave the Pack a 10-0 lead with his 29-yard field goal with 3:47 left in the opening quarter.  

MSU's third fumble which came just four seconds into the second quarter when Jalen March fumbled the ball on the MSU 20-yard line. Two plays later, Fuller connected with redshirt sophomore tight end Tyler Dvorak (Englewood, Colo./Cherry Creek) for a 20-yard touchdown to give the Pack a 17-0 lead following Willig's extra point.

The Pack would mount its longest drive of game midway through the second quarter as they drove 61 yards in 12 plays and capped the drive with a 26-yard field goal by Willig. On the drive, Fuller was 5-for-7 passing for 47 yards with junior receiver Reggie Retzlaff (Corona, Calif./Riverside City College) catching three of those passes for 38 yards.

Fuller finished the night 27-for-45 passing for 276 yards and had three touchdown passes and one interception in his Pack debut. Fuller is playing his final season of college football at CSU Pueblo after playing the past five years at Fort Hays State.

"Chance is a baller. We knew what we were getting when we got Chance here. He processes things so well, and that is what makes him elite. The guy has 70 touchdowns in his career for a reason. I'm proud of him," added Vigil when asked about Fuller's play in Saturday's opener.

Fuller would add his second touchdown pass of the game with 1:05 left in the second quarter as he hooked up with redshirt sophomore receiver Zack Rakowsky (Loveland, Colo./Loveland) for a 6-yard touchdown pass to give the Pack a 27-0 lead. The touchdown pass came one play after redshirt junior defensive back Eli Pittman (Peoria, Ariz./Liberty) picked off a James Cooper, Jr., pass and returned it 49 yards before being stopped six yards from the end zone.

In the first half, the Pack gained 286 yards on 48 plays, while MSU was held to 112 yards on 36 plays and had committed five turnovers.

The Pack's first two second half possessions resulted in punt, but the third possession which began after the defense held the Mustangs on down after forcing an incomplete pass from Zachary Keen on a fourth-and-five play from the Pack 39-yard line. Keen replaced Cooper, Jr., at quarterback in the third quarter.

That play set up a four-yard touchdown pass from Fuller to redshirt senior receiver CK Poulos (North Port, Fla./North Port) just a little less than two minutes into the fourth quarter. Poulos' score gave the Pack a 34-0 lead.

After being held without a point for nearly 50 minutes, the Mustangs would finally find the end zone thanks to a 21-yard touchdown by Devin Cross to cap a seven-play, 75-yard drive. March would tack on a two-point conversion on a run to cut the Pack's lead to 34-8 with 10:01 left in the game.

Another turnover, this time a fumble with about 3:13 left in the game would lead to a 23-yard field goal by Willig to give the Pack a 34-8 lead with 1:17 remaining.

Willig became the first CSU Pueblo player to make three field goals in a game since Mitchell Carter also made three field goals at South Dakota Mines on Oct. 5, 2019. The school record for field goals in a game is four which was set by both Brian O'Donnell against Midwestern State in 2015 and tied by Nathan Taylor against Colorado Mesa in 2016.

Martinez paced the Pack's ground game with 77 yards on 16 carries and averaged 4.8 yards per carry. He also caught three passes for six yards.

Rakowsky was Fuller's top target through the air as he caught five passes for 77 yards, including a 44-yard reception in the first quarter. That 44-yard reception was the longest offensive play of the game for the Pack. In addition to Rakowsky and Retzlaff,  Poulos and redshirt junior receiver Andrew Cook (Tucson, Ariz./Ironwood Ridge) each caught four passes for a combined 60 yards.

On the night, Fuller completed his 27 passes to 10 different receivers.

Defensively, redshirt freshman linebacker Miles Sprague (Holyoke, Colo./Holyoke) paced the Pack with eight tackles and two quarterback hurries. In addition to Sprague, redshirt junior Preseason Division II All-American defensive back Daniel Bone III (Colorado Springs, Colo./Pine Creek) and redshirt junior linebacker Darius McMoore (Pago Pago, American Samoa/Samoana) each had six tackles.

Pittman and senior defensive back Cory McLellan (Monument, Colo./Palmer Ridge) combined to each pick off a pass and return them for a combined 86 yards.
Perhaps one of the biggest negatives for the Pack in the game came on the penalty front as the Pack was whistled for 10 penalties for 131 yards. MSU didn't fare much better as they had 11 penalties for 83 yards.

March paced the Mustangs ground game with 87 yards on 25 carries, while Cross added 59 yards on 12 carries, while Cooper, Jr., was 8-for-20 passing for 65 yards and had two interceptions. Keen was 2-for-7 passing for 44 yards in relief of Cooper, Jr.

The Pack will look to make 2-0 on the season next Saturday, Sept. 9 as they travel to Allendale, Mich., for a 7 p.m. ET match-up in Lubbers Stadium against No. 3 ranked Grand Valley State. The Lakers opened the 2023 season with a 31-28 setback on Thursday, Aug. 31 at No. 2 ranked Colorado Mines. Last season, Grand Valley State earned a 35-10 home win over the Pack.

"We've got to things cleaned up and get better because we've got a good opponent in Grand Valley State next week. And if we make the same mistakes we made tonight, next week, it's going to be a long night," Vigil said.