WEEKLY REWIND
Colorado Mesa picked up their first win of the 2023 season and their first win over an FCS opponent since September 8, 2001 (at Southern Utah) when they defeated the University of San Diego 28-21 in overtime.
The Maverick offense combined for 338 yards passing between three players and the biggest beneficiaries of that were Keenan Brown and Noah Sarria who both finished with over 100 yards receiving. Brown caught six passes for 157 yards and two touchdowns while Sarria caught two passes for 104 yards and a score.
The Maverick ground game got going as they rushed for 126 yards between seven different ball carriers. That mark is up from last week when they gained just 26 yards on rushing attempts. Gianni Hurd currently leads the way with 79 yards on 12 attempts.
Levi Krebs was a man possessed on defense as he finished with a game-high 15 tackles including two and a half tackles for loss and two sacks. The performance earned him RMAC Defensive Player of the Week honors, a first for the Mavericks this season.
The defense was able to get four sacks in the game with two coming from Krebs and one each from Cam Nathan and Colin Stuhr.
THE MATCHUP
Colorado Mesa and South Dakota Mines will square off for eighth time in the two programs' history. The Mavericks lead the all-time series 5-2 with an uncharacteristic 3-0 record in Rapid City. The Hardrockers won last year's contest 31-17 in Grand Junction that opened Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action.
The first matchup between the two schools came on November 5, 2016 as Colorado Mesa defeated South Dakota Mines 48-38 in Grand Junction. The win gave the Mavericks a share of the RMAC Title and propelled them into the NCAA Playoffs for the first time since 2007.
Colorado Mesa's largest margin of victory came early in the series as they defeated the Hardrockers 69-7 during the matchup on November 4, 2017 while South Dakota Mines largest margin of victory was on October 24, 2020 when they defeated Colorado Mesa 24-9 in Grand Junction during the COVID season.
Last Five Matchups with S.D. Mines
Sept. 17, 2022: L, 31-17 in Grand Jct.
Nov. 13, 2021: W, 13-10 in Rapid City
Oct. 24, 2020: L, 24-9 in Grand Jct.
Sept. 7, 2019: W, 37-33 in Rapid City
Sept. 1, 2018: W, 36-33 in Grand Jct.
KNOW YOUR FOE
The Hardrockers are 1-1 to open the season as they picked up a win over NAIA Valley City State 31-14 in their home and season opener before falling to Truman State 28-24 last weekend on the road. Truman State entered the contest receiving votes in the AFCA National Poll.
The Hardrockers are coached by Charlie Flohr who is 16-12 in his fourth season in Rapid City. Flohr spent a majority of his coaching career at Northwest Missouri State on the offensive side of the ball including seven seasons as the offensive coordiantor. He is the 37th head coach in the program's deep history.
Jayden Johannsen is one of the top quarterback in not only the conference but all of Division II football. He has thrown for 479 yards and four touchdowns and has completed nearly 71 percent of his passes. His favorite target is Ben Noland who has 20 catches for 241 yards and all four of Johannsen's touchdowns.
Kaleb Tischler leads the Hardrocker defense with 17 total tackles, an interception and a pass break-up. He had a team-high 12 tackles in the season-opening win over Valley City State.
GOING VIRAL
At the start of the second quarter, the Mavericks were nearing the end zone when they decided what looked to be an end around/reverse to Trevin Edwards. The ball was fumbled and left tackle Cooper Mumford picked it up and began to run around left end before throwing the ball to Keenan Brown for a 9-yard touchdown.
The play went viral on social media almost immediately including being featured on several prominent channels including Sportscenter's X account. As of Tuesday (Sept. 12)morning, the play had over five million views.
The play was featured on Sportscenter's Top-10 and rose to as high as the No. 2 play Sunday morning. Former NFL player Marcus Spears discussed the play at length on NFL Live on Monday morning.
DEFENSE AT ALL LEVELS
The Maverick defense has been getting strong play from every level of the defense beginning on the defensive line moving to the linebackers and finally to the secondary.
Ryan Randall and freshman Corbin Thorgmorton have been providing a solid push up front. Randall has five total tackles on the year along with a sack while Thorgmorton started this last week at nose and had three tackles against San Diego.
Junior Levi Krebs and Senior Cam Nathan have provided a nice 1-2 punch with the linebackers. Krebs, this week's RMAC Defensive Player of the Week, has 26 total tackles and two sacks on the season while Nathan has 14 tackles and a sack. Both are among the team's top four tacklers.
The other two of the top tacklers reside in the secondary for the Mavericks in Liban Shongolo and Kash Bradley. Shongolo has 14 tackles while Bradley also has 14 tackles and the lone interception for the defense. JaCari Williams leads the team in passes defended with three.
MAVS ON THE TUBE
It was recently announced that the final four home games will be broadcast on KREX/KGJT in Grand Junction. It will be on channels 5.1 and 27.1 via antenna and channel 16 for Spectrum users. Ethan Jordan will provide play-by-play with Paxton Ritchey providing the color commentary.
While those games will be broadcast on TV, fans may still also watch the game on the RMAC Network by visiting CMUMavericks.com/TV
ON THE HORIZON
CMU will return home for their first home conference matchup on September 23 when they play host to Black Hills State at Stocker Stadium at 1pm. The Yellow Jackets were victorious for the first time this season as they defeated Southwest Baptist 39-33 on the road in Missouri last weekend.
The Mavericks will embark on their shortest road trip of the season the following week as the make the trek up the mountain to Gunnison for a matchup with their rivals, the Western Colorado Mountaineers. Western entered the AFCA National Rankings this week after defeating West Texas A&M and Texas Permian Basin at home to open the season.
