PUEBLO, Colo. – The Colorado State University Pueblo football team extended its win streak in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play to nine straight games following its 38-14 victory over Colorado Mesa University in front of 6,528 fans on Band Day Saturday inside the CSU Pueblo ThunderBowl.
 
With the victory, the No. 22 nationally ranked Pack improved to 3-1 overall on the season and 2-0 in the RMAC, while Colorado Mesa fell to 1-2 overall and 0-1 in the RMAC. Saturday's game completed a three game homestand for the Pack as they went 2-1 on the homestand.
 
The nine straight wins in RMAC play is tied for fourth longest active conference win in Division II football and the longest conference win steak for the Pack since winning 11 straight league games from 2019-2021.
 
"These guys battled and came out swinging today, which is something we did not do last weekend," CSU Pueblo head football coach Philip Vigil said following his 11th win as the Pack head coach. "I am proud of our growth. Last year at this time, we lost in overtime at Grand Valley State and came back and really suffered a hangover from that, but today these guys responded well. We're a more mature team than we were last year, and they showed that in the first quarter by coming out with the start that we had today."
 
Following the Pack's 57-49 double overtime loss last season at Grand Valley State, the Pack dropped two straight home games against nationally ranked foes - Western Colorado (30-14) and Colorado School of Mines (55-14) - before ending the season by winning seven straight games.
 
In Saturday's RMAC home opener against the Mavericks, who received votes in this week's AFCA Division II Coaches Poll sponsored by Hudl, the Pack got off to a fast start as they scored 21 points in the first quarter, including scoring of their first two offensive possessions and adding its third scored on a blocked punt return for a touchdown on CMU's first offensive possession.
 
"We want to be aggressive and were that from the start of the game today. We even scored points on special teams on a blocked punt, and we also had a fake punt that got us a first down, which led to a score. Again, I was proud of our execution today," Vigil added.
 
The Pack wasted little time in getting on the scoreboard as they took the opening kickoff and drove 75 yards in nine plays and capped the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run on a fourth-and-goal play by senior running back Howard Russell V (Phoenix, Ariz./Eastern New Mexico) just a little under four minutes into the game. The first play of the game for the Pack was a 57-yard run by Russell, which is the longest running play of the season for the Pack.
 
After forcing a three-and-out on CMU's first drive of the game, the Pack special teams would step up as redshirt freshman Matteus Bugg (Gilbert, Ariz./Williams Field) returned a blocked punt 23 yards for a touchdown to give the Pack a 14-0 lead just a little over five minutes into the game. The punt by CMU's Sullivan Moon was blocked by redshirt freshman linebacker Shallum Peter (Dallas, Texas/Lake Highlands). The blocked punt for a score was the first for the Pack since Kyle Rosenbrock returned a blocked punt 35 yards against Adams State in 2017.
 
The Pack pushed its lead to 21-0 with 3:09 left in the opening quarter on an 18-yard run by Russell to cap a 10-play, 87-yard drive. The drive continued when senior linebacker Noa Purcell (Kalihi, Hawai'i/Riverside City College) carried the ball 16 yards to give the Pack a first down at CMU's 36-yard line. Four plays later, Russell scored his second touchdown of the game.
 
In the opening quarter, the Pack offense outgained the Mavs, 167-14.
 
CMU, who has now lost seven straight games in the series to the Pack, would get on the scoreboard just a little over three minutes into the second quarter on a 28-yard touchdown run by Brandon Belgrave to cut the Pack's lead to 21-7.
 
The Pack would get another scoring opportunity on its second drive of the second quarter as they drove 42 yards in 10 plays, but the drive was stalled at the CMU 33-yard line, but a 51-yard field goal attempt by sophomore kicker Evan Lyons (Superior, Colo./Monarch) was wide right to keep the score 21-7 in favor of the Pack.
 
After leading 21-7 at the half, Russell added his third touchdown of the game on a 11-yard run with 5:41 left in the third quarter to give the Pack a 28-7 lead. The run capped an 8-play, 38-yard drive by the Pack that featured five straight runs by Russell to cap the drive.
 
Russell, who finished the game with a Pack career-high 142 yards rushing on 18 carries and added two catches for 10 yards to tally a game-high 152 all-purpose yards, became the first Pack player to score three touchdowns in a game since Marche Dennard also scored three rushing scores against New Mexico Highlands in 2018.
 
The Pack extended its lead to 35-7 just three seconds into the fourth quarter on a 1-yard touchdown run by senior running back Korien Burrell (Beaumont, Texas/Henderson State).
 
Following Burrell's score, the Pack defense held the Mavs to a three-and-out on offense and following the three-and-out, the Pack offense would drive 38 yards in a 11 plays and cap the drive with a 35-yard field goal by Lyons to give the Pack a 38-7 lead with 9:03 left in the game.
 
On the Mavs ensuing possession, the Pack defense would step up again as senior defensive back Isaiah Hereford (Peoria, Ariz./Cooper Canyon) collected his third career interception and first this season. The Pack defense has now collected four interceptions on the season.
 
The Pack offense, though, couldn't take advantage of the interception and the Mavs would get the ball back on offense and they would proceed to march 87 yards in eight plays and cap the drive with a 43-yard touchdown pass from Liu Aumavae to Jack Burke with 1:24 left in the game to set the final score at 38-14.
 
The Pack offense finished the game with 367 yards of total offense as the No. 2 ranked passing offense in Division II was held to a season-low 156 yards passing on a 20-for-31 effort through the air, but they rushed for a season-high 211 yards on 41 carries and averaged 5.1 yards per carry. It marked the first time the Pack had rushed for more than 200 yards in a game since gaining 227 yards rushing on 33 carries last season at New Mexico Highlands.
 
"We feel like offensively right now, we've got the tools and the people to be able to run or throw the football and today was about running the football," Vigil added. "When you let Howard and those guys go to work, they're pretty special."
 
CSU Pueblo scored all four of their offensive touchdowns on the ground and that snapped a streak of 10 consecutive games with a touchdown pass for the Pack that had dated to last season's game at Fort Lewis. The four rushing touchdowns for the most in a game for the Pack since also scoring four rushing scores last season at New Mexico Highlands.
 
Senior quarterback Devin Larsen (Gilbert, Ariz./Western New Mexico) was 19-for-30 passing for 149 yards in the win. Senior receiver Taylor Tosches (Temecula, Calif./Southwestern Oklahoma State) caught four passes for 61 yards, while redshirt senior receiver Nigel Mitchell (Red Bank, N.J./Red Bank Regional) hauled a team-high five passes for 41 yards. The Division II's leading receiver this season, senior Reggie Retzlaff (Corona, Calif./Riverside City College) was targeted seven times and finished with two catches for six yards.
 
The Pack defense held the Mavs to 281 yards of offense as they rushed 30 times for 49 yards and passed for 232 yards.
 
Aumavae was 20-for-35 passing for 232 yards and had one touchdown and one interception. Trevin Edwards led the Mavs in receiving as he caught six passes for 54 yards and Belgrave led the rushing attack with 52 yards on six carries.
 
For the game, the Pack defense recorded three sacks to push their season total to 12 and added eight tackles for a loss and nine pass break-ups.
 
Two-time senior All-American defensive back Daniel Bone III (Colorado Springs, Colo./Pine Creek) led the Pack defense with nine tackles, including 1.5 tackles for a loss, 0.5 sacks and a pass break up. Senior linebacker Jon Nuschy (La Junta, Colo./Northern Colorado), who had 17 tackles last Saturday against Grand Valley State, added seven tackles and a tackle for a loss.
 
Purcell and sophomore linebacker Bryson Torrie (Denver, Colo./Vista Peak) each had a sack, while Bone and senior defensive lineman James Turrentine (Elk Grove, Calif./American River College) were credited with a half-a-sack in the win. Senior defensive back Eli Pittman (Peoria, Ariz./Liberty) tallied three pass break-ups to push his career total to 19.
 
The Pack will look to make it 10 consecutive RMAC wins next Saturday, Sept. 28 as they travel to Alamosa, Colo., for a 1 p.m. game against Adams State. Adams State (0-3, 0-1 RMAC) fell 38-0 on Saturday night at 15th-ranked Western Colorado.