PUEBLO, Colo. (October 27, 2026) – Following a hard-fought road victory last weekend in challenging playing conditions, the No. 4/No. 5 ranked Colorado State University Pueblo football team returns home to the CSU Pueblo ThunderBowl on Saturday, Oct. 31, to host Black Hills State in a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference contest. Kickoff for the Halloween and Breast Cancer Awareness Day matchup is scheduled for 1 p.m.
The ThunderWolves, who are ranked fourth in this week's American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Division II Coaches Poll, fifth in the D2Football.com Top 25 Poll and third in the latest NCAA Division II Super Region Four NPI rankings, enter Saturday's game sporting a perfect 8-0 overall record and a 6-0 mark in the RMAC following a 28-21 victory last Saturday at Fort Lewis. Meanwhile, Black Hills State comes to Pueblo with a 5-3 overall record and a 3-3 mark in league play following a 42-10 home loss last Saturday against sixth-ranked Western Colorado.
Saturday's contest will be the fifth home game of the season for the ThunderWolves, who are a perfect 4-0 at the ThunderBowl this season and have outscored their four home opponents, 201-82. The Pack is looking to remain unbeaten as it enters the final three weeks of the regular season with an opportunity to capture a third consecutive RMAC championship under fourth-year head coach
Philip Vigil.
With last Saturday's victory at Fort Lewis, CSU Pueblo extended its overall winning streak to eight consecutive games, its regular-season winning streak to 17 straight games and its NCAA Division II-leading conference winning streak to 31 consecutive games. The ThunderWolves also extended their Division II-leading road winning streak to 19 straight games.
The Pack has not suffered a conference loss since the 2023 season and has won back-to-back RMAC championships in 2024 and 2025 under Vigil. The ThunderWolves are looking to remain atop the league standings heading into their final two regular-season games, which include a Nov. 7 road contest at South Dakota Mines and a Nov. 14 home showdown against sixth-ranked Western Colorado, which, like CSU Pueblo, is one of the 10 remaining undefeated teams in NCAA Division II football this season.
CSU Pueblo enters Saturday's game boasting one of the nation's most explosive and balanced offenses, as the ThunderWolves are averaging 46.1 points and 537.5 yards of total offense per game. The Pack is averaging 295.5 yards passing and 242.0 yards rushing per game and has scored 47 offensive touchdowns through eight games, including 27 passing touchdowns and 20 rushing scores.
The ThunderWolves are also converting 53 percent of their third-down opportunities and are averaging 7.4 yards per offensive play. Defensively, CSU Pueblo is allowing just 16.6 points and 293.4 yards of total offense per game, including 128.9 rushing yards and 164.5 passing yards per contest.
The Pack has outscored its first eight opponents by a combined 369-133 margin and has held six of its eight opponents to 23 points or fewer.
"We have to come out and play to our standard," Vigil said when asked about Saturday's game against Black Hills State. "I'm excited to be able to get back on the football field and play the way I know we can play."
Vigil said the experience of playing in last weekend's difficult conditions at Fort Lewis provided an opportunity for his team to learn and grow, but he is looking forward to seeing the ThunderWolves execute their preparation and game plan against the Yellow Jackets.
The Pack remained undefeated last Saturday after overcoming extremely wet and muddy playing conditions to post a 28-21 victory over Fort Lewis at Ray Dennison Memorial Field in Durango.
The ThunderWolves jumped out to an early lead when sophomore receiver
Nyir Jones (Camden, N.J./St. Thomas Aquinas), who was named this week's RMAC Special Teams Player of the Week, returned the opening kickoff 89 yards for a touchdown just 15 seconds into the contest. After Fort Lewis tied the game at 7-7 on a 25-yard touchdown run by KhaVontae Paul, the Pack regained the lead on a 29-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback
Navi Bruzon (Peoria, Ariz./Highland CC) to junior tight end
Colton Rose (Castle Rock, Colo./Valor Christian).
Sophomore running back
Russell Patton (Denver, Colo./Dr. MLK Jr. Early College) added a 13-yard touchdown run in the second quarter to give the Pack a 21-7 halftime advantage.
The ThunderWolves extended their lead to 28-7 with 10:53 remaining in the third quarter when sophomore quarterback
Evan Powell (San Bernardino, Calif./Chaffey College) broke loose for a 57-yard touchdown run.
Fort Lewis, though, scored the final 14 points of the game on a 23-yard fumble return for a touchdown and a one-yard touchdown run by Baylor Seabolt early in the fourth quarter. The Pack defense helped preserve the victory by preventing the Skyhawks from completing the comeback.
Powell led CSU Pueblo's rushing attack with a career-high 139 yards on 11 carries and one touchdown, averaging 12.6 yards per attempt. Senior running back
Moosah Alsaffar (Aurora, Colo./Grandview) added 75 rushing yards on 15 carries, while Patton finished with 44 yards and a touchdown on nine attempts.
With his 44 rushing yards against Fort Lewis, Patton became the 23rd player in CSU Pueblo football history to join the program's 1,000-Yard Club. The sophomore has now rushed for 1,040 yards in his Pack career.
The game was played in conditions that made throwing the football extremely difficult and forced both offenses to rely heavily on their rushing attacks.
"I think first, it was unlike anything I've ever been a part of," Vigil said about the conditions at Fort Lewis. "The field conditions, the weather, the ball was about as slippery as you could imagine. It really made both offenses extremely one-dimensional."
Vigil was particularly pleased with his team's physicality and ability to establish its rushing attack despite Fort Lewis knowing the ThunderWolves would be running the football.
"To be able to rush the ball as well as we did when they know that we're going to run it every single down, I think says a lot about the physicality of our group and the ability to make people miss," Vigil said.
The Pack finished the game with 367 yards of total offense, including a season-high 54 rushing attempts for 277 yards. CSU Pueblo was held to a season-low 90 passing yards, but the ThunderWolves' ability to establish their ground game proved critical in securing the victory.
The Pack's defense was equally impressive, especially after allowing a 75-yard touchdown drive on Fort Lewis' opening possession. Following that drive, CSU Pueblo limited the Skyhawks' offensive opportunities and prevented them from establishing a consistent attack. Fort Lewis finished the game with just 135 yards of total offense, including 82 rushing yards and 53 passing yards.
One of the primary catalysts behind CSU Pueblo's undefeated start has been the play of Bruzon, who continues to establish himself as one of the top quarterbacks in NCAA Division II football.
Through eight games this season, Bruzon has completed 131-of-200 passes for 2,170 yards and 24 touchdowns against just three interceptions. He is completing 65.5 percent of his passes, has a passing efficiency rating of 193.2 and is averaging 271.3 passing yards per game.
Bruzon, who was a two-time Arizona Gatorade High School Player of the Year, has also scored five rushing touchdowns and has accounted for 174 points on the season. He is averaging 286.3 yards of total offense per game and has accounted for 29 touchdowns through the Pack's first eight contests.
The sophomore signal caller leads the RMAC in passing yards, passing yards per game, touchdown passes, total offense, points responsible for, passing efficiency, yards per pass attempt (10.85) and yards per completion (16.56).
Nationally, Bruzon ranks second in Division II in passing efficiency, fourth in points responsible for and points responsible for per game, fifth in touchdown passes, fifth in yards per pass attempt and yards per completion, and 12th in passing yards.
Bruzon has earned RMAC Offensive Player of the Week honors three times this season, including following the Pack's 77-17 Homecoming victory over New Mexico Highlands on Oct. 17, when he threw for 282 yards and a career-high five touchdowns while adding a rushing score.
The ThunderWolves have also benefited from one of the league's most productive receiving tandems in junior
Marcellus Honeycutt, Jr. (Aurora, Colo./Eastern Washington) and senior
Dedrek Taylor-Akins (Fontana, Calif./Northeastern State).
Honeycutt leads the RMAC with 619 receiving yards and six touchdown receptions and is averaging 88.4 receiving yards per game and 19.3 yards per catch. Taylor-Akins ranks second in the conference with 605 receiving yards and has caught five touchdown passes while averaging 75.6 receiving yards per contest.
On the ground, the ThunderWolves have received production from several running backs, including Patton, Alsaffar and sophomores
Jaedon Matthews (Goodyear, Ariz./Cal Poly) and
AJ Merrida (Houston, Texas/Adams State), along with the dual-threat abilities of Bruzon and Powell.
Patton ranks among the national leaders in rushing yards per carry, averaging 6.58 yards per attempt, while Powell's performance against Fort Lewis provided another example of the Pack's offensive versatility.
Vigil credited the ThunderWolves' offensive line for its consistent physical play and the development of the team's offensive identity this season.
"Those five, six, seven guys that are playing for us are doing an unbelievable job," Vigil said. "They are physical every single week. They play extremely hard every single week."
"Everything that we do starts up front. We don't throw the way we throw without those guys. We don't run the way we run without those guys. And they've done a fantastic job all year long."
While CSU Pueblo's offense has received considerable attention for its explosive production, the ThunderWolves' defense has been equally important in the team's 8-0 start.
Through eight games, the Pack is allowing just 16.6 points per game and has limited opposing offenses to 293.4 yards per contest. CSU Pueblo has also intercepted 10 passes and has held opponents to a 26 percent conversion rate on third down, which leads the RMAC and ranks sixth nationally in Division II.
Sophomore linebacker
Carter Daniels (Centennial, Colo./Mountain Vista), senior safety
Kahden Rullo (Denver, Colo./Grandview) and senior defensive end
Jaylen Booth (Merced, Calif./Merced College) have helped anchor the defensive unit.
Booth leads the RMAC in both sacks per game (0.69) and tackles for loss per game (1.19), while junior defensive back
Oliver Welch (Los Angeles, Calif./Venice) is second in the league in interceptions with three. Rullo is second on the team in tackles with 34 and is tied for the team lead in pass breakups with five.
Daniels, who leads the team in tackles with 58, opened the season with a 16-tackle performance and a 38-yard interception return for a touchdown against Central Missouri, earning RMAC Defensive Player of the Week, D2Football.com National Defensive Player of the Week and National Football Foundation Colorado Chapter Player of the Week honors.
The ThunderWolves have also been effective at creating turnovers and capitalizing on opponents' mistakes, scoring 70 points off turnovers through their first eight games.
Saturday's game will also recognize Breast Cancer Awareness Month, a cause that has special significance to Vigil and the ThunderWolves football program.
Vigil said his team will spend part of the week recognizing individuals and families who have been affected by cancer, including writing letters to survivors and others impacted by the disease.
"This weekend is obviously very special to me, being that it's Breast Cancer Awareness," Vigil said. "We're going to talk about those heroes in our lives that have battled cancer, my mom being one of those."
Vigil said the opportunity to honor cancer survivors and those affected by the disease gives Saturday's contest additional meaning beyond the football field.
In addition to the Breast Cancer Awareness recognition, Saturday's game will feature a Halloween celebration at the ThunderBowl. Any fan wearing a Halloween costume will receive free admission to the contest and access to ThunderHill. A best Halloween Costume Contest will also be held during the game, with the winning costume announced at the beginning of the fourth quarter.
Saturday's game will mark the 14th all-time meeting between CSU Pueblo and Black Hills State in a series that began in 2012. The Pack has dominated the series, holding a perfect 13-0 record against the Yellow Jackets, including a 7-0 mark at the ThunderBowl and a 6-0 record in Spearfish, S.D.
CSU Pueblo is also a perfect 23-0 all-time against football-playing institutions from South Dakota and will play two South Dakota opponents during the final three weeks of the regular season, with a road contest at South Dakota Mines scheduled for Nov. 7.
Following Saturday's game, the Pack will return to action on Saturday, Nov. 7, with a 2 p.m. RMAC contest in Rapid City, S.D., against South Dakota Mines.
ABOUT BLACK HILLS STATE
Black Hills State comes into Saturday's game sporting a 5-3 overall record and a 3-3 mark in the RMAC under seventh-year head coach Josh Breske, who is a 2010 graduate of Black Hills State and a former two-time NAIA All-American offensive lineman for the Yellow Jackets.
Breske has compiled a 31-34 overall record and a 19-25 mark in RMAC play at his alma mater. He has guided the Yellow Jackets to three winning seasons in the last four years, including a 7-4 record in 2022 and consecutive 6-5 seasons in 2023 and 2024.
After finishing 3-8 overall and 3-6 in the RMAC last season, Black Hills State has already surpassed its 2025 victory total and enters the final three weeks of the regular season seeking another winning campaign.
The Yellow Jackets, who were picked to finish tied for eighth in the 2026 RMAC Preseason Coaches' Poll, opened the season with three consecutive victories, including a 24-21 road win over Sioux Falls, a 44-31 home victory over Dakota State and a 44-8 conference-opening win over Adams State.
Since that start, Black Hills State has gone 2-3 over its last five games, with victories over Fort Lewis (28-20) and South Dakota Mines (21-13). The Yellow Jackets' three losses have come against New Mexico Highlands (44-36), Colorado School of Mines (38-13) and sixth-ranked Western Colorado (42-10).
In last Saturday's home loss to Western Colorado, the Yellow Jackets were limited to 245 yards of total offense, including 47 rushing yards, while the Mountaineers accumulated 562 yards of offense and scored 42 points.
Through eight games, Black Hills State is averaging 27.5 points and 329.8 yards of total offense per game, including 199.1 passing yards and 130.6 rushing yards per contest.
Defensively, the Yellow Jackets are allowing 27.1 points and 401.6 yards of total offense per game. Opponents are averaging 258.9 passing yards and 142.8 rushing yards against the Black Hills State defense.
Black Hills State has scored 12 rushing touchdowns and 12 passing touchdowns this season and has accumulated 145 first downs through eight contests.
The Yellow Jackets feature a versatile quarterback and several talented skill-position players, including a dangerous return specialist in sophomore receiver Bryce Coulson, who has the ability to make plays both as a receiver and in the return game.
Coulson has caught 13 passes for 96 yards this season and is averaging 26.9 yards per kickoff return and an RMAC-best 17.1 yards per punt return. He has returned both a kickoff and a punt for a touchdown this season, making him one of the league's most dangerous special teams players.
Vigil said the Yellow Jackets present several challenges, particularly because of their quarterback's ability to both throw and run the football.
"I think this is a team that has done a good job rebounding from last year," Vigil said. "They're 5-3 right now, and they had a big rivalry win a couple of weeks ago at South Dakota Mines. I think they did a good job in recruiting. They've got some talented playmakers."
Vigil also highlighted Coulson's explosiveness and the challenges Black Hills State presents with its offensive scheme.
"He's really, really difficult in the open field. He's one of the best returners in our conference, if not the best," Vigil said about Coulson.
The Yellow Jackets' offense is directed by redshirt junior quarterback Kade Weber, who has completed 126-of-206 passes for 1,470 yards and 10 touchdowns against four interceptions. Weber has also gained 359 yards rushing and scored six rushing touchdowns, giving him 16 total touchdowns on the season. He is averaging 228.6 yards of total offense per game.
In addition to Weber, other key offensive players for Black Hills State include redshirt sophomore running back Wyatt Trembly, senior receiver Jayden Williams and redshirt junior receiver Joe Randle.
Trembly has rushed for 323 yards, is averaging 4.6 yards per carry and has scored three touchdowns. Williams and Randle have combined to catch 59 passes for 844 yards and nine touchdown receptions.
Williams leads the Yellow Jackets with 35 receptions for 482 yards and four touchdowns and is averaging 80.3 receiving yards per game, while Randle has caught 24 passes for 362 yards and a team-leading five touchdown receptions. Randle is averaging 15.1 yards per catch.
On defense, Vigil expects Black Hills State to play with discipline and physicality while presenting several different looks.
"Defensively, they're always going to be sound in what they do," Vigil said. "They're always going to have 11 guys that are pursuing the football and that play really, really hard."
Leading the way defensively for Black Hills State are redshirt freshman rush end Jayshon Liles and redshirt sophomore linebacker Caden Stansbury.
Liles leads the team with 55 tackles and 9.5 sacks, while Stansbury has tallied 51 tackles, four tackles for loss, one sack and three pass breakups.
Other key defensive players for the Yellow Jackets include redshirt sophomore defensive end Jeramiah Singleton, redshirt senior linebacker Cole Marquez and redshirt freshman cornerback Joshua Faulkner.
Singleton has recorded 20 tackles, eight tackles for loss, four sacks and 10 quarterback hurries, while Marquez has collected 33 tackles and 3.5 tackles for loss. Faulkner has tallied 24 tackles, four pass breakups and three interceptions, including returning one of those interceptions for a touchdown.
On special teams, redshirt freshman kicker Madden Aquino has connected on 8-of-10 field goal attempts and 20-of-22 extra-point attempts. Aquino is 3-for-4 on field goals of 40 yards or longer, including a season-long 47-yard field goal in the Yellow Jackets' season opener against Sioux Falls.
The punting duties have been shared by sophomore Mason Crosby and freshman Ryder Ferguson. Crosby has punted 21 times for an average of 34.2 yards per attempt and has placed four punts inside the opponent's 20-yard line.
Ferguson has punted eight times for an average of 45.3 yards per attempt, including three punts of 50 or more yards, and has placed two punts inside the opponent's 20-yard line.
PACK FOOTBALL NOTES