The Colorado Mesa football team opens the abbreviated 2020 season on Saturday at Stocker Stadium as they take on the Chadron State Eagles at noon. A limited number of fans will be allowed to see the game in person with others being able to listen on the radio or viewing the live stream.
 
THE SEASON
The Mavericks will play a five-game schedule that begins this weekend against Chadron State at Stocker Stadium. A majority of the schools in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference have opted to play this spring or not at all this season.
 
Colorado Mesa, Chadron State, Black Hills State, South Dakota Mines, and Western Colorado are all playing at least three games this fall.
 
THE HEAD COACH
During the offseason, Colorado Mesa made a change at the head coach position…enter Tremaine Jackson. Coach Jackson will be making his head coaching debut on Saturday against Chadron State. He coached last season at Division I Texas State as the defensive line coach and made previous stops at Abilene Christian, Sioux Falls, Texas Southern, and Texas A&M-Kingsville.
 
He served in the defensive coordinator role at Texas Southern, Sioux Falls and Abilene Christian leading those programs to huge turnarounds on the defensive side of the ball with his 212 approach.
 
THE COORDINATORS
Coach Jackson's first move as head coach was to get his coordinators hired and he got a pair of good ones in Brandon Andersen and Nick Fulton.
 
Brandon Andersen will serve as the defensive coordinator after spending time previously at Lindenwood and Sioux Falls. He served under Coach Jackson at Sioux Falls as the linebackers coach after a successful playing career for the Cougars.
 
Some Maverick fans may have seen offensive coordinator Nick Fulton's offense in action as he served in the same role from 2015 to 2018 with Colorado School of Mines. He led the Oredigger offense that saw quarterback Justin Dvorak win the Harlon Hill Trophy in 2016, the equivalent to the Heisman Trophy in Division II.
 
QB1
Redshirt Junior Aaron Howard took control of the quarterback position midway through camp and hasn't looked back. He will be backed up by Logan Bollinger in week one with freshman Gavin Herberg likely the No. 3 and emergency quarterback.
 
Last season, Howard threw for 968 yards and 12 touchdowns while splitting time with Rope Ruel and Hayden Bollinger. His best game came against Western Colorado at home where he was 2-for-31 for 223 yards and two touchdowns through the air and added another on the ground.
 
GROUND AND POUND
Colorado Mesa has a bevy of backs that return to the backfield this year. Redshirt junior Isaac Maestas will get the start for the second straight season after leading the team in rushing a year ago. The Palisade High School product rushed for 687 yards and six touchdowns a year ago with 52 of those coming against Chadron State in last season's matchup in Nebraska.
 
Redshirt sophomore Jesse Rodriquez will backup Maestas once again. Rodriquez rushed for 519 yards and three touchdowns last season. He had 89 yards rushing against Chadron State a season ago.
 
BIG MEN UP FRONT
The Mavericks will feature a somewhat revamped offensive line that position coach Mike Barela has worked diligently on. Redshirt sophomore Jack Metcalf anchors the line from the left tackle position and is the veteran of the group. Redshirt senior Justin Cobbley returns along with a trio of newcomers. Redshirt freshman Edward Hill jumps into the starting lineup along with newcomers Caelan Keenan and Osvaldo Torres.
 
FUN NOTE: The two-deep depth chart for the offensive lineman weight averages out to 297 pounds.
 
NO FLY ZONE
The defensive backfield has been a source of strength on the defensive side of the ball and it might be better than ever this season. A newcomer, a returning starter, and two others that missed last season comprise the secondary.
 
Devante Loggins is the lone returning starter from a year ago where he had 43 tackles, an interception and 15 passes defended.
 
D'Angelo Lindsey and Damar'ren Mitchell both return after a one-year hiatus. Lindsey will start opposite Loggins at a corner, had 59 tackles and six PBUs while Mitchell returns to a safety position after having five interceptions and seven PBUs during the 2018 season.
 
Arkansas Tech transfer Deeandra Ervin will man the other safety position. Ervin had 42 tackles, a sack, an interception, and five passes broken up during the 2019 season for the Wonder Boys.
 
JUST FOR KICKS
The duo of redshirt juniors Lucas Ruiz Diaz and Blake Moore will handle the kicking duties this year for the Mavericks. One will handle the punting while the other will do the place kicking and it could change mid game depending on situations.
 
Ruiz Diaz is 21-for-28 with a long of 51 yards on his kicks and has never punted in his career while Moore is 2-for-2 with a long of 39 yards and has averaged 42.1 yards on his punts in his career.
 
MAVERICKS vs. EAGLES HISTORY
Colorado Mesa and Chadron State have met each year since 1991 with the Eagles holding a 20-9 edge in the all-time series. The Mavericks are 4-6 in their last ten against Chadron and are coming off a 42-20 win in last season's meeting in Nebraska after a pair of pick-six's late in the game sealed the decision.
 
In the last five meetings, the visiting team is 4-1 in the series with Colorado Mesa claiming the lone home win during the 2016 contest.
 
Last Five Meetings
Sept. 28, 2019 – Colorado Mesa 42, @ Chadron State 30
Sept. 22, 2018 – Chadron State 38, @ Colorado Mesa 34
Sept. 9, 2017 – Colorado Mesa 24, @ Chadron State 10
Sept. 10, 2016 – @ Colorado Mesa 47, Chadron State 33
Sept. 26, 2015 – Colorado Mesa 23, @ Chadron State 13
 
SCOUTING CHADRON STATE
Offensively, stalwart Dalton Holst will quarterback the Eagles and is one of the most veteran signal callers in the RMAC. He returns with the most passing yards of any quarterback in the RMAC, fourth-most in the South Central Region and the 11^th most in NCAA Division II.
 
Holst will have to get used to a pair of newcomers this year with new offensive coordinator Micah Smith as he comes over from Mayville State and Jalen Starks, the starting running back who transferred from UCLA.
 
On defense, the RMAC leader in tackles returns in Travis Wilson. Wilson had 124 tackles a season ago and he will be joined by an up and comer in Noah Kerchel who finished last season with 74 tackles.
 
The secondary will be almost entirely new with a pair of transfer corners and while a trio will look to fill the safety positions.
 
Fun Fact: Former NFL running back Danny Woodhead called Chadron State home for four years. During his time as an Eagle, he nearly re-wrote the entire NCAA record book. He finished his career with 7,962 rushing yards and 101 touchdowns and had 9,480 scrimmage yards. All were NCAA records at one point.
 
He spent nine seasons in the NFL with the New York Jets, New England Patriots, San Diego Chargers and finished up with the Baltimore Ravens in 2017.
 
THIS WEEK IN THE RMAC
With only 10 NCAA Division II teams playing football this fall, RMAC schools provide fans with two options this week as the Mavericks take on Chadron State and Black Hills State and South Dakota Mines are playing for the Homestake Trophy in the Black Hills Brawl.
 
The Hardrockers and Yellow Jackets are matching up for the 135^th time in the two programs history. It is one of the longest standing rivalries in all of college football.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
Colorado Mesa will head off on their longest road trip of the season when they face Black Hills State next Saturday October 17 in Spearfish, S.D.