Complete Notes in PDF

The Colorado Mesa University football team will open the 2015 season at Dixie State on Sept. 5th at 6 pm. The Mavericks finished the 2014 season with a 6-5 record. 

Picked Fourth
Colorado Mesa was picked to finish fourth in the RMAC Preseason Coaches Poll. Defending national champion CSU-Pueblo was picked first. Colorado Mines was tabbed second and Chadron State was third. Complete poll on page three. 

Starters
Colorado Mesa University returns 20 of 22 starters from its 2015 squad. The Mavericks also return their kicker and punter from a year ago. Complete game-by-game starting line-ups listed on page three. 

Quarterbacks
Junior transfer Sean Rubalcaba has been named the starting quarterback for the Mavericks. Rubalcaba has two years of eligibility remaining after transferring from NCAA FCS Northern Colorado. The Grand Junction, Colo., native appeared in 10 games and threw for nearly 2,000 yards last season at UNC. Junior Aric Kaiser will be the back-up after starting four games and completing 50-of-106 passes for 576 yards, five touchdowns and one interception last season. 

Offensive Line
CMU returns four of five offensive linemen from last year. Zeth Ramsay returns at right tackle where he has started the last 22 games. Nick Leonard has started 22 of the last 23 games on the offensive line for CMU, including the last 11 at center. Eric Sander-Cederlof, Aaron Simons and Austin Beswick have started a combined 22 games on the line. The Mavericks lone loss on the offensive line is Teddy Silano who started the last 22 games at left tackle. 

Defense
The CMU defense ranked in the top-five in the RMAC in six different categories last season. The Mavericks ranked second in both pass defense (239.9) and pass defense efficiency (114.0). CMU finished third in the league in red zone defense with opponents scoring 72.5% (37-51) of the time. Opponents scored 29 touchdowns and were 8-of-13 on field goal attempts. The Mavs caused two fumbles, intercepted one pass and stopped their opponents five times on downs. The team ranked fourth in scoring defense (29.4 ppg) and total defense (447.4). The Mavericks recorded 23 sacks last season, fourth most in the RMAC. 

Return Game
Colorado Mesa finished second in the RMAC last season in punt returns at 11.9 yards per return and fourth in kick returns at 22.5 yards per return. DJ Hubbard was the Mavericks top kick returner averaging 25.5 yards per return. Last season he returned the opening kick-off 95 yards for a touchdown against Dixie State. Hubbard averaged 115.3 all-purpose yards last season, ninth best in the RMAC. 

Turnover Margin
Colorado Mesa finished last season with a +7 turnover margin, second best in the RMAC. The Mavericks intercepted 16 passes, second most in the RMAC, and recovered nine fumbles. 

All-RMAC
Marcus Cross was named to the all-conference preseason team. Cross, a native of Colorado Springs, Colo., led the team with 81 total tackles, including a team-high 45 solo tackles. He had a team-high five and a half sacks and 10 tackles for loss. Cross intercepted three passes and forced one fumble.

Blocked Kicks
Colorado Mesa established its self as one of the top kick blocking teams in Div. II blocking a combined 11 kicks. CMU led the RMAC and ranked seventh in Div. II with eight blocked kicks and 13th in Div. II with three blocked punts.