Complete Notes in PDF

The No. 21 Colorado Mesa University football team will play its final game of the regular season at Western State Saturday (Nov. 14). Mesa can earn a share of the RMAC title with a win Saturday and a loss by Pueblo at New Mexico Highlands. 

Series
CMU leads the all-time series with WSCU 23-19 with an 11-6 mark in Gunnison. 

Polls
After last weeks loss at CSU-Pueblo, Mesa fell to No. 21 in the AFCA Coaches Poll. The Mavericks also dropped from fourth to eighth in the latest NCAA Regional Poll. The top-seven teams in the regional poll qualify for the NCAA Div. II Playoffs. The NCAA will announce the teams that qualify for the playoffs during a selection show on www.ncaa.com at 3 pm Sunday. Complete polls located on page four. 

Quarterback Situation
Aric Kaiser will start at quarterback this week for CMU. Kaiser replaced Sean Rubalcaba at quarterback last week after Rubalcaba left in the first quarter with an injury. Kaiser completed 16-of-36 passes for 113 yards and one touchdown. Kaiser has appeared in seven games this season completing 44-of-87 passes for 439 yards and two touchdowns. He has ran for 21 yards on 18 carries (1.2 ypc). 

Turnovers
CMU ranks second in Div. II in turnover margin at +1.7. Texas A&M - Commerce leads the nation at +2.0. Mesa has turned the ball over 10 times this season, 10th fewest in Div. II, and has forced 27 turnovers, 16th most in Div. II. 

Blocked Kicks
Dustin Rivas moved up to sixth in Div. II in blocked kicks with three. Last week he blocked two kicks on extra point attempts. CMU has blocked six kicks as a team, 12th most in Div. II. Western State has not had a kick blocked this season. 

Punt Returns
Dustin Rivas is averaging 18.1 yards on punt returns this season, fourth best in Div. II. He has a long of 85 yards and has returned one punt for a touchdown. 

Interceptions
CMU has intercepted 19 passes, sixth most in Div. II, this season. Mesa has had seven different players intercept a pass this season. Jackson Burrell, Dustin Rivas and Salim Cleghorne each have a team-high five interceptions. The CMU defense leads the RMAC and ranks ninth in team passing efficiency defense at 98.7. 

Offensive Line
Nick Leonard and Zeth Ramsay have started a combined 68 games on the offensive line for CMU. Leonard's first start for CMU came in the second game of his freshman year. The game he did not start since was the game against CSU-Pueblo in 2013. Ramsay started the last five games of his freshman year at defensive end before switching to the offensive line where he has started 32 straight games. 

Passing
CMU attempted a season-high 38 pass attempts at CSUP last week. The 36 pass attempts by Aric Kaiser was the most by CMU quarterback this season. 

Halftime Lead
CMU is 7-0 this season when leading at halftime and 1-2 when trailing. 

Scoring Defense
The Mavs rank 10th in scoring defense allowing 16.8 points per game. Mesa allowed 51 points at Pueblo last week, the most it has allowed since Pueblo scored 52 points last season. 

Score 17
Last week's loss at Pueblo was the first this season for the Mavericks when they scored more than 14 points.  

Nine
With a win Saturday, CMU will have nine on the season, the most since 2007 when the team finished 10-2 and qualified for the playoffs. 

Looking Ahead
Colorado Mesa will find out if it qualifies for the playoffs Sunday.