The Mavericks suffered their first-ever loss ever to the South Dakota Mines Hardrockers on Saturday afternoon at Stocker Stadium. CMU was 4-0 against SDMT before a stalled out offensive performance and costly turnovers gave the Mavericks their first loss of the season in the 24-9 contest.
 
Compared to a week prior, where CMU accumulated over 500 yards of total offense and 56 points by the time the fourth quarter clock hit triple zeros, this week was a turn in the wrong direction. CMU ended the day with only 261 yards of offense as well as turning the ball over three times.
 
In the first half, freshman quarterback Gavin Herberg struggled to find a rhythm in his second collegiate start, completing only one pass for five yards. He finished the game 16-for-40 for 156 yards and two interceptions.
 
The first interception CMU coughed up came in the first quarter when SD Mines defensive back Dominic Jackson picked off Herberg and returned it for a 32-yard pick-six with 8:32 remaining.
 
All of CMU drives in the first 15 minutes started and ended on their own side of the field.
 
In the second quarter, the Hardrockers would get the ball back two drives following the pick-six, at the CMU 18-yard line, capitalizing on a solid punt return and a CMU personal foul. Shortly after, Ahmad Lewis got the first of his two touchdowns run with a one-yard dive into the endzone to put the Mavericks down 14-0.
 
Eight minutes later, the lead extended to 17-0 after an Enis Sefa 27-yard field goal.
 
The first score on the board for CMU would come with 2:38 remaining in the first half. Redshirt junior Brian Rattery and junior Cross Poyer exploded through the SD Mines offensive line to put Ahmad Lewis down in the endzone for a safety making the score 17-2 going into halftime.
 
The third quarter saw more production from the CMU offense as they finally broke into SDMT on their first drive of the half, however Adrian Eastman cut the effort short picking off Herberg. Four plays later, CMU responded with an interception of their own when Bryant Bowen snatched a tipped pass out of the air for his first takeaway of the season.
 
The defense was one of the few bright spots on the afternoon for the Mavericks. Bowen and Damar'ren Mitchell led the team with 20 combined tackles. Mitchell had 11 total stops which is a season-high for the redshirt senior. Greyson Matalus had another solid outing with eight total tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss. D'Angelo Lindsey also had 1.5 tackles for a loss of yardage. 
 
Nine different players recorded four or more tackles. Collectively, CMU put up 10.5 tackles for loss.
 
Lewis racked up his second touchdown with 0:33 remaining in the third to cap a six-play, 62-yard Hardrocker drive to make the score 24-2.
 
The Mavericks got their first and only touchdown with 13:49 remaining in the fourth quarter. Justice Ogueri got CMU inside the SDMT five-yard line with a 23-yard dash following back-to-back Herberg first-down completions to Sean Apiki and Sam Horneck. Rodriquez got his call from the one-yard line after a Hardrocker targeting penalty and brought the score to the final 24-9.
 
Rodriquez finished the day leading the Mavericks with 72 yards and the TD off 21 carries to average 3.4 yards per attempt.
 
Sam Horneck led the team in catches and receiving yards with four grabs for 39 yards.
 
The loss puts the Mavericks at 2-1 on the year as they now look ahead to rival Western Colorado who will be in town at Stocker Stadium on Nov. 1. CMU will try to avenge the 30-28 loss to Western from 2019 that saw the Mountaineers beat the Mavericks on a field goal as time expired.