PUEBLO, Colo. (Sept. 2, 2026) – The nationally sixth-ranked Colorado State University Pueblo football team will hit the road for the first time in the 2026 season here Thursday, Sept. 3, as the ThunderWolves travel to Lewis Field Stadium for a non-conference Super Region Four showdown against Fort Hays State. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. MT / 7 p.m. CT.

CSU Pueblo, which is ranked No. 5 in this week's AFCA Division II Coaches Poll and No. 9 in the D2Football.com Media Poll, comes into Thursday's game sporting a 1-0 record after opening the season last Thursday with a 44-25 victory over Central Missouri at the ThunderBowl. Meanwhile, Fort Hays State is also 1-0 after opening its season with an impressive 35-14 road victory over Angelo State. The Tigers are ranked No. 23 in the D2Football.com poll and are receiving votes in the AFCA poll.

The victory over Central Missouri extended the Pack's regular season winning streak to 10 consecutive games dating back to last season. In addition, the Pack enters Thursday's game riding a Division II-best 15-game road winning streak. CSU Pueblo has not lost a road game since suffering a 57-49 double-overtime setback at Grand Valley State on Sept. 9, 2023.

"I thought for the most part our guys did a really good job last Thursday night against a really quality MIAA opponent in Central Missouri," CSU Pueblo fourth-year head coach Philip Vigil said about the season-opening win. "They (UCM) came out firing, and it took us a little bit to settle in, but once we settled in offensively and defensively, we really did a good job and executed. I was really proud of our guys, their preparation and the way they approached that game."

The Pack offense finished the opener with 445 yards of offense, including 321 yards through the air, while scoring six touchdowns. CSU Pueblo had eight plays of 20 or more yards in the victory, with six of those eight plays resulting in touchdowns.

Making his first collegiate start at quarterback, sophomore Navi Bruzon (Peoria, Ariz./Highland CC) completed 18-of-29 passes for 321 yards and four touchdowns while adding eight rushing yards to finish with 329 yards of total offense. Bruzon's four touchdown passes are tied for the Division II lead following the opening week of the season.

"I thought Navi had an unbelievable first start," the Pack coach said. "He threw the ball really well, got us out of some trouble with his legs when we needed it and did a really good job finding our playmakers and making people pay when we got one-on-one coverage."

Three of Bruzon's four touchdown passes went to senior receiver Dedrek Taylor-Akins (Fontana, Calif./Northeastern State), who caught nine passes for a career-high 200 yards. Taylor-Akins scored on receptions of 76, 40 and 27 yards, while junior Marcellus Honeycutt, Jr. (Aurora, Colo./Eastern Washington) caught the other touchdown pass, a 26-yard pass from Bruzon with 1:08 left in the third quarter. Honeycutt's score gave the Pack a 30-12 lead. Honeycutt finished the game with five catches for 57 yards.

Taylor-Akins' 200 receiving yards are the most by an RMAC player through the opening week of the season, while his three touchdown receptions are also tops in the league. Bruzon leads the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference in passing yards, passing touchdowns and total offense heading into Thursday's game against the Tigers.

The Pack also received 87 rushing yards on 14 carries from junior running back Russell Patton, including a 48-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter to give the Pack a 37-18 lead.

Vigil was especially pleased with the performance of an offensive line that entered the season with five new starters. The offensive line starters in Thursday's season opener were junior left tackle Evin James (Los Angeles, Calif./Sierra Canyon), sophomore left guard Odin Johnston (Lakewood, Colo./Lakewood), junior center Vlad Dabovich (Pueblo, Colo./Colorado State), senior right guard Ryan Cheesman (Elk Grove, Calif./Northern Arizona) and redshirt freshman right tackle Slater Warren (Colorado Springs, Colo./Mesa Ridge).

"We had five new starters on the offensive line, and there's no substitute for experience, but those guys really looked like they'd been playing together for a very long time," Vigil added. "I thought they protected really well and we ran the ball really well, especially late in the game. I thought they did a great job."

Defensively, the ThunderWolves continued their recent trend of creating turnovers and making disruptive plays as they recorded five sacks, eight tackles for loss, 10 pass break-ups and two interceptions against the Mules in the debut of new defensive coordinator Neema Behbahani.

"I am very proud of Coach Behbahani. It was his first college games he's ever called, and it came against the best offensive team in the MIAA last year," Vigil said about Behbahani's debut as the defensive coordinator.

In addition to the five sacks, eight tackles for a loss, 10 pass break-ups and two interceptions, the Pack defense got its first score of the game on a safety just five-plus minutes into the second half as sophomore defensive end Aiden Alefosio (Temecula, Calif./Chaparral) and senior defensive end Micah Lutu (Kalihi, Hawai'i/Saguaro) sacked UCM quarterback Jordan Pachot in the end zone.

Sophomore linebacker Carter Daniels (Centennial, Colo./Mountain Vista), who was named this week's RMAC Defensive Player of the Week, NFF Colorado Chapter Player of the Week and the D2Football.com National Defensive Player of the Week, led the way in his first collegiate start as he recorded a game-high 16 tackles and added 1.5 sacks, 1.5 tackles for a loss, and returned an interception 38 yards for a touchdown. Daniels' 16 tackles are tied for the most in a season opener by a Pack player since Lee Meisner also tallied 16 tackles in the 2010 opener against Oklahoma Panhandle State. Additionally, the 16 tackles were the most by a Pack player since Jon Nuschy posted a career-high 17 tackles in a 2024 game against Grand Valley State. Daniels' 16 tackles are tied for third-most in Division II.

"He's very instinctive. He's always around the football and that showed up Thursday night," Vigil said about Daniels. "He had 16 tackles, one-and-a-half sacks, and a pick-six. He was flying around and making plays, and that's no different than what we've seen him do in the spring and fall camp. There's a reason he's wearing the green dot on his helmet. He's a very instinctive, smart football player. He gets people lined up, knows what to do, and plays fast."

In addition to Daniels, senior safety Kahden Rullo (Denver, Colo./Grandview) had nine tackles and two pass break-ups, while senior defensive end Jaylen Booth (Merced, Calif./Merced College) added five tackles, including three tackles for a loss, a sack and a forced fumble.

While pleased with the victory, Vigil said the Pack has spent this week addressing several areas that need improvement before facing the Tigers, including eliminating procedural penalties, avoiding unnecessary sacks and improving its tackling.

"I challenged our team to really focus on learning from the mistakes that we had Thursday night," Vigil said. "It's easy to say, 'We won the game, let's move on to Hays,' but there are some things that we need to correct and fix. We don't want those mistakes to become habitual. We want to make sure we're learning and growing from them."

Vigil said one of the challenges in Thursday's game will be handling what he expects to be one of the more difficult road environments the ThunderWolves have encountered during his tenure.

"We've got to be ready for a physical football game, and we've got to execute," added Vigil. "It's going to be very loud. It's going to be a true road environment. I think probably the best road environment we've seen since 2023 when we went to Grand Valley. Hays, America, on a Thursday night with two ranked teams, that place is going to be rocking.

"We've been practicing with the offense on the opposite side next to the ThunderTron so they can't hear, and they can't communicate. We've been putting some things in motion for that. It's going to be a great environment against a really good team, and we're looking forward to going there and playing on Thursday night."

For Vigil, the keys will be continued improvement from week zero, protecting the football offensively and creating takeaways defensively against Fort Hays State.

"I think the biggest jump you see with teams from an improvement standpoint is from week one to week two," Vigil stressed. "We need to address first and foremost the issues that we had last Thursday and make sure that comes to fruition this week in Hays. We've got to protect the ball on offense, and we've got to go get the ball on defense. If we can do those things, I think that's going to put us in a position to compete on Thursday."

Thursday's game will be the second consecutive season the ThunderWolves and Tigers have met after Fort Hays State handed the Pack its only regular-season loss a year ago with a 36-35 victory at the ThunderBowl. Following that loss, CSU Pueblo reeled off nine consecutive victories to close the regular season and capture its second straight RMAC Championship.

CSU Pueblo and Fort Hays State have met 18 times previously on the gridiron, with the Pack holding a slight 9-8 advantage following Fort Hays' win last season in Pueblo. The two schools have split their eight previous meetings in Hays. Thursday will mark CSU Pueblo's first game in the state of Kansas since earning a 29-6 victory at Fort Hays State to open the 1978 season.

Following Thursday's game, the Pack will return home to the ThunderBowl as they open their nine-game RMAC schedule with a 2 p.m. Throwback game against Colorado School of Mines. The Pack picked up a 41-34 overtime win over the Orediggers in Golden, Colo.

ABOUT FORT HAYS STATE
Vigil is plenty familiar with Fort Hays State and head coach Chris Brown, as he spent four seasons from 2015-18 as the Tigers' passing game coordinator and recruiting coordinator. During those four seasons, Fort Hays State posted a 36-12 record, advanced to the postseason each year, and captured back-to-back Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) Championships in 2017 and 2018.

"When you turn on the tape with Fort Hays, you're going to see a very physical, well-coached football team," Vigil said. "I'm a big believer that teams take on the identity of their head coach, and Coach Brown was a physical safety and a three-time All-American at Pitt State. His guys play like that. They're going to fly to the football, they're going to try to establish the run offensively, and they've got some really dynamic athletes."

Fort Hays State, which is ranked 25th by AFCA and 23rd by D2Football.com, comes into Thursday's home opener with a 1-0 record following its impressive 35-14 road victory over Angelo State last Thursday. The Tigers, who were picked fourth in the Preseason MIAA Coaches Poll, are coming off a 6-5 campaign in 2025 that included a 5-4 mark in MIAA play.

In the victory over Angelo State, the Fort Hays State defense limited the Rams to just 227 yards of offense and held ASU to 1-of-9 on third-down conversions.

"To go down to Angelo and beat them the way that they did, I think it's a testament to Hays and what they were able to do defensively," Vigil said. "They have a defensive end, number 8, that's a really, really good football player. Their D-line is very talented, they can cover on the back end, and their linebackers are really solid. Anytime you can hold an offense to 227 yards and 1-of-9 on third down, you're going to have an opportunity to win that football game."

The defensive end Vigil referenced is fifth-year senior Gaven Haselhorst, who is one of several veterans on the Tigers' defense and was named an Honorable Mention All-American and a First-Team D2CCA Super Region Four selection last season. Fort Hays' projected defensive unit also features fifth-year defensive lineman Kayson Dietz, senior Taderian Partee, senior linebacker Legend Robinson, fifth-year safety Jaxon Kolzow and fifth-year cornerback Darell Jones.

Offensively, the Tigers are expected to start junior Major Cantrell, an Iowa State transfer, at quarterback. The Fort Hays backfield is led by sophomore AG Floyd. At receiver, the Tigers feature junior Jaylen Hardy along with seniors Keyshawn Dooley and Ayden Robinson-Wayne.

In the season-opening win at Angelo State, the Tigers finished with 440 yards of offense as they rushed the ball 38 times for 211 yards, including Floyd rushing for 96 yards and Cantrell adding 56 yards on the ground. In the air, Cantrell was 18-for-28 passing for 229 yards and had one touchdown pass and one interception and amassed 285 yards of total offense. Cantrell completed 64.3 percent of his passes and averaged 12.7 yards per completion.

"Their tailbacks are really talented and can make people miss or run you over," Vigil said. "Their quarterback is extremely athletic, and they're going to use him in the run game as well. They do a really good job with motions and formations and give you a lot of eye candy. We've got to be really good with our eye discipline and communication on the defensive side to make sure we can keep everything in front of us."

On special teams, the Tigers punter, junior Logan Russell, averaged 41.6 yards on his five punts in the season opener and put two punts inside the 20-yard line, while sophomore kicker Zane Colson missed his lone field goal attempt and was 5-for-5 on extra points. Junior Colton Coleman is the primary kick returner, while Dooley is the top punt returner.

Brown is in his 15th season as Fort Hays State's head coach and owns a 95-63 record with the Tigers. He has led FHSU to two MIAA Championships and four postseason appearances, including back-to-back NCAA Division II Playoff appearances in 2017 and 2018, and has twice been named the MIAA Coach of the Year.

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