PUEBLO, Colo. – The sixth-ranked Colorado State University Pueblo football team opened its 2025 season here on Thursday evening by posting an impressive 43-0 shutout Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference victory over South Dakota Mines on Red Out Night at the CSU Pueblo ThunderBowl.

With the win, the ThunderWolves extended their RMAC win streak to 17 consecutive games and opened the season 1-0 for the fourth straight season. The 17-game conference win streak ties them with Kutztown (Pa.) for the longest active conference win streak in Division II.

Along with winning its 17th straight RMAC game, the victory was also the Pack's ninth straight regular-season win since suffering a 24-21 loss at home on Sept. 14, 2024, against Grand Valley State. The Pack improved to 14-3 in conference openers since the program rebooted in 2008.

"It's hard getting college football wins, and when we get them, we've got to enjoy them," added Vigil. "We've got some things we need to get fixed. We have way too many self-inflicted mistakes tonight, whether it's penalties, drop balls, or protection on some things, but we scored 43 points first time out against a really good team."

The shutout was the first for the Pack since earning a 38-0 win on Nov. 12, 2022, at Black Hills State and is the 29th shutout in program history and the 16th since the 2008 season.

"I am really proud of these guys. Obviously, there are some week one things that we've got to clean up, but, overall, just really proud of their effort tonight," third-year Pack head coach Philip Vigil said following his 19th win as the Pack's coach. "They didn't let the scoreboard dictate how they played tonight, which was one of our goals going into the game."

The Pack offense picked off where they left off last season as they finished the game with 397 yards of total offense as they passed for 256 yards and rushed for 141 yards.

In Thursday's season opener, the Pack scored six touchdowns, including five on offense and sixth on defense, thanks to a 64-yard fumble return from sophomore defensive lineman A.J. Jordan (Colorado Springs, Colo./Vista Ridge) with 1:07 left in the second quarter to give the Pack a 22-0 lead at the half. The fumble return for a score was the first for the Pack was Trevor Philio at South Dakota Mines on Sept. 25, 2021.

After holding South Dakota to a three-and-out on the opening possession of the game, the Pack used eight plays and 61 yards to score the first points of the season on a 12-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Roman Fuller (Decatur, Texas/University of Tulsa) to redshirt senior receiver Reggie Retzlaff (Corona, Calif./Riverside City College) and senior tight end Seth Bozzi (Hawthorne, Nev./American River College) added a two-point conversion to give the Pack an 8-0 lead less than five minutes into the game. The touchdown reception by Retzlaff was his school record 25th of his career. He was tied with Paul Browning with 24 career touchdown receptions entering the 2025 season.

The Hardrockers had a scoring opportunity a little less than five minutes into the second quarter, but Sam Eccles missed on a 40-yard field goal attempt with 10:12 left in the quarter. The missed field goal came four plays after the Hardrockers took over possession following a fumble by Fuller.

Following Eccles' missed field goal, the Pack drove 77 yards in 13 plays and capped the drive with a 1-yard plunge into the end zone by Fuller with 4:26 left in the opening half. On the drive, Fuller was 8-for-8 passing for 55 yards.

On the ensuing Mines possession, the Hardrockers had moved to the Pack 31-yard line, but on a fourth-and-2 play, Ashur Carraha was sacked by junior safety Kahden Rullo (Denver, Colo./Grandview), and on the play, Carraha fumbled the ball, and Jordan scooped up the ball and rumbled down the field for a 74-yard touchdown.

In the first half, the Pack outgained the Hardrockers, 160 to 63.

The Pack extended its lead to 29-0 with 5:21 left in the third quarter on a 22-yard touchdown run by redshirt freshman running back Russell Patton (Denver, Colo./MLK Jr. Early College). The possession was set up by a 21-yard punt return from senior receiver Reece Robinson (Los Angeles, Calif./Antelope Valley) and a 28-yard pass from Fuller to Retzlaff.

Later in the quarter, junior kicker Evan Lyons (Superior, Colo./Erie) missed a 42-yard field goal, and seven plays later, which began with a 52-yard interception return by redshirt freshman Johnathan Gonzales (Pueblo, Colo./Pueblo County), the Pack took a 36-0 lead on a 34-yard touchdown pass from Fuller to Retzlaff. The touchdown catch was the 26th of Retzlaff's career. On the night, Retzlaff caught six passes for 99 yards.

The Pack capped the scoring midway through the fourth quarter on a 31-yard touchdown run by junior running back Moosah Alsaffar (Aurora, Colo./Grandview). Alsaffar finished the game with six carries for 42 yards, while Patton also gained 42 yards on 10 carries in the win.

While the Pack offense gained 397 yards on 77 plays, the Pack defense held South Dakota Mines to 203 yards of offense on 72 plays for an average of 2.8 yards per play.

The Pack defense picked off two passes, forced a fumble, and recorded seven sacks and eight tackles for a loss.

Junior defensive lineman Samuel Odelami (Dallas, Texas/Cisco College) paced the Pack with two sacks for 17 yards in loss, while Rullo and junior defensive tackle Micah Lutu (Kalihi, Hawai'i/Saguaro) each had a sack. Since the beginning of last season, the Pack has recorded 47 sacks and picked off 13 passes. 

Fuller, who led Division II in completion percentage last season with a school record 70 percent, went 23-for-35 passing for 231 yards and had two touchdowns. Redshirt freshman Cam McGuire (Dallas, Texas/Woodrow Wilson) was 3-for-3 passing for 25 yards in his collegiate debut.

The Pack's two quarterbacks recorded complete passes to nine different receivers as along with Retzlaff's six catches for 99 yards, senior receiver Zack Rakowsky (Loveland, Colo./Loveland) added six catches for 51 yards, and sophomore Marcellus Honeycutt, Jr. (Aurora, Colo./Eastern Washington) caught three passes for 32 yards.

Gage Baker, who was the second quarterback to play for the Hardrockers, was 13-for-25 passing for 123 yards and had one interception, while Carraha was 9-for-20 passing for 51 yards and also tossed an interception.

Ty Harris and Dawson Dunbar combined for 41 yards on 13 carries on the ground, while Jacoby Ogbonna was targeted 14 times and caught seven passes for 93 yards.

The Pack will look to move to 2-0 on the season next Thursday, Sept. 4, as they host Fort Hays State (0-1) in a 6 p.m. non-conference tilt on Throw Back Night in the ThunderBowl. The Tigers, who earned votes in the Preseason AFCA Division II Coaches' Poll, opened the season with a 28-7 home loss Thursday night to 13th-ranked Angelo State.