The Colorado Mesa football team returns home and is looking to get back on the winning track as they take on the Adams State Grizzlies on Saturday at 6pm over at Stocker Stadium. The Mavericks are coming off a tough 19-13 overtime loss to CSU Pueblo while the Grizzlies a 45-42 loss to South Dakota Mines in Alamosa.
 
A FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING
Saturday's game will be a first for the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference as it will feature a game when two black head coaches will oppose each other in a football contest. The conference boasts three black head football coaches with this being the first matchup.
 
Read the full release here
 
The South Atlantic Conference (SAC) is having the same thing happen in their conference as well as Carson Newman's Mike Clowney takes on Catawba's Curtis Walker.
 
BREAST CANCER AWARENESS NIGHT
Saturday's game will be Breast Cancer Awareness Night at Stocker Stadium. Colorado Mesa alum Kathy Howa will be on hand with her Swing 4 Life Foundation that benefits the Huntsman Cancer Research Institute.
 
To date, the Swing 4 Life Foundation has raised over 1.1 million dollars for cancer research and Colorado Mesa has helped Swing 4 Life raise over 35,000 dollars over the last 15 years of events.
 
HIT THE GROUND RUNNING
The Mavericks had over 200 yards rushing in their first two games of the season but those totals dipped quite a bit in the past two weeks. You can probably chalk that up to playing two of the better defenses in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. Look for the Mavericks to get back to the strong run game this weekend as Adams State comes in allowing over 252 yards per game on the ground.
 
Avian Thomas and Morian Walker are set to return this week after being held out last week due to injuries. Thomas ranks third in the RMAC averaging 99.7 yards per game while Walker is 16^th at 38.0 yards per game.
 
PROTECTING THE BALL
Colorado Mesa sits atop the national leaders in turnovers lost. They are currently tied with Indiana (PA) with one lost turnover on the season. The Mavericks lone turnover was an interception against New Mexico Highlands that came on a 3^rd-and-17 in the third quarter of the game.
 
The Mavericks are +6 in the turnover margin this season.
 
212
You may hear or have heard the defense chanting "212" during the game or in practices last season and this season. This refers to the motto of the defense and we will try to give you a brief explanation where that comes from.
 
Water boils at 212 degrees and creates steam. Steam is extremely powerful and can power a locomotive which doesn't stop for anything in its path.
 
DRE DAY
After missing most of the first two games of the season, safety Deeandra Ervin has come back with a force and may have come up with his biggest game as a Maverick in the win over CSU Pueblo. The senior from Daphne, Ala. Finished the game with a career-high 10 tackles with two of those going for a loss and intercepted his first pass of the season. The pick came late in the fourth quarter that stopped a potential game-winning drive for CSU Pueblo.
 
Ervin has 18 tackles and two tackles for loss this season.
 
DEFENDING THE PASS
The Mavericks had a pretty good idea that they were going to be pretty tough against the pass this year but they are exceeding the already high expectations. They have three defensive backs that rank in the top five in the RMAC in passes defended.
 
Darrien Young leads the conference in passes defended with eight (7 PBUs, 1 INT) while Bryce Stevenson is third with six pass break ups. Most teams have tried throwing away from Devante Loggins yet he still ranks fifth in the RMAC with five pass break ups.
 
SERIES HISTORY WITH ADAMS STATE
Colorado Mesa owns a 28-17 record against Adams State and are 16-4 in matchups that occur in Grand Junction in the series. The Mavericks have been winners in the last six matchups in the series including a 35-13 win in Alamosa.
 
The Mavericks last loss to Adams State came in 2013, a 19-17 loss in Grand Junction. The Grizzlies kicked a 39-yard field goal with just five second left seal the win.
 
SCOUTING THE GRIZZLIES
Despite Adams State's 0-5 record this year, the Grizzlies are dangerous offensively. They are averaging over 45 points per game and over 500 yards of offense in their last two games against Black Hills State and South Dakota Mines.
 
That secondary will get tested as Grizzly quarterback John Buksa has thrown for 802 yards and six touchdowns with no interceptions this season. His best day came last week where he threw for 348 yards and five touchdowns against South Dakota Mines.
 
The Adams State defense features one of the best defensive players in the conference in Bryce Hampton. The freshman from Las Vegas plays both ways as he has five carries on the year along with four catches including one touchdown. Defensively, he is second on the team with 36 tackles and is tied for the RMAC lead with four interceptions including at least one in three straight games.
 
THE COACH
Head coach Tremaine Jackson enters his second season at the helm of the Maverick football team. He guided Colorado Mesa to a 2-1 mark during the COVID shortened 2020 season.
 
He was hired in December 2019 just prior to the COVID pandemic and thus has had to wait almost 19 months to compete in his first game that could go towards a championship.
 
Coach Jackson has made several stops along his coaching path that ranges from all levels. Most recently he made stops at Texas State as the defensive line coach and at Abilene Christian as the defensive coordinator.
 
RMAC PRESEASON POLL
Colorado Mesa was picked to finish in fourth place in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference as voted on by the coaches. The Mavericks finished last season's abbreviated schedule with a 2-1 mark with wins over both Chadron State and Black Hills State. Their lone setback came to South Dakota Mines at home in what turned out to be the final game of the season.
 
Colorado School of Mines was selected to win the conference with seven first place votes and 76 points. Mines finished the 2019 season with a 12-1 mark and a perfect 10-0 mark in the RMAC.
 
CSU Pueblo was second in the poll followed by Chadron State to round out the top four.
 
ON THE HORIZON
Colorado Mesa will head out on the road to face the Fort Lewis Skyhawks in Durango on Saturday October 16. The Skyhawks have struggled this year, opening the year at 0-5 and scoring 31 total points in their five games.
 
The following week the Mavericks will return home for homecoming and a date with nationally ranked Colorado School of Mines.