COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Colorado State University Pueblo sophomore linebacker Carter Daniels (Centennial, Colo./Mountain Vista) has been named this week's inaugural Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Defensive Football Player of the Week as announced by the league office Monday afternoon.

Daniels earns his first career RMAC Player of the Week accolade after his standout performance on defense in the Pack's season-opening 44-25 home win in the ThunderBowl this past Thursday over Central Missouri.

Against the Mules, Daniels, who was making his first career start, recorded a game and career-high 16 tackles, including five solo stops and added 1.5 sacks, 1.5 tackles for a loss and a fourth-quarter pick six to lead the Pack to its season opening victory. The 16 tackles were tied for third most in Division II for the week and tied for the most by a Pack player in a season opener since Lee Meisner recorded 16 tackles in the 2010 season opener against Oklahoma Panhandle State. Daniels capped off the scoring for the Pack in the game as he returned an interception 38 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter to give the Pack a 44-18 lead with 6:10 left in the game. The interception return for a score was the 56th for the Pack since 2008 and the 20th interception return to a score since the beginning of the 2019 season.

In addition to Daniels, the league named Adams State senior running back Andre Branch as the Offensive Player of the Week and Western Colorado redshirt sophomore kicker JT Miller as the Special Teams Player of the Week.

Branch earns this week's inaugural RMAC Offensive Player of the Week honor after his 282 yard rushing performance in Adams State's 62-45 season opening loss to Western New Mexico. The 282 rushing yards was the second-best in Division II in week zero. For the game, he carried the ball 21 times for 282 yards and scored three touchdowns on runs of 58, 55 and 76-yards and averaged 13.4 yards per carry. Branch's 282 rushing yards accounted for nearly half of ASU's 627 yards of total offense against the Mustangs.

Meanwhile, Miller takes home the inaugural RMAC Special Teams Player of the Week honor after providing 10 points on a perfect kicking day in Western Colorado's 52-21 season opening victory at West Texas A&M. Against the Buffs, Miller went 7-for-7 on his point-after attempts and provided a 32-yard field goal late in the second quarter that put the Mountaineers in front 17-0.

Daniels and sixth-ranked ThunderWolves (1-0 overall, 0-0 RMAC) return to action this coming Thursday, Sept. 3 as they travel to Hays, Kan., for a 6 p.m. MT non-conference game against Fort Hays State. Fort Hays State, who is ranked No. 23 in this week's D2Football.com poll, opened the 2026 season last Thursday with an impressive 35-14 win at Angelo State.