WEEKLY REWIND
Colorado Mesa fell to 2-2 on the season and 1-1 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference after a heartbreaking 25-23 narrow defeat to the Black Hills State Yellow Jackets at Stocker Stadium. It was the Yellow Jackets first-ever win at Stocker Stadium.
The Mavericks took the lead with 38 seconds left in the game but the Yellow Jackets drove the ball 32 yards to setup the game-winning 50-yard field goal with one second remaining in the game.
The offense went for more than 400 yards of offense in the loss with a season-high 347 yards passing and picked up 12 of their 17 first downs through the air. But, the downside was they were just 3-for-11 on third down.
Keenan Brown was on the receiving end of 152 yards of those passing yards on four catches which included an 84-yard touchdown catch off the hand of Gavin Herberg. He had six targets in the game just one behind Trevin Edwards who was targeted seven times.
Jason Thome continues to impress on the defensive end as he had three solo tackles and his fourth interception of the season. He picked off a Tanner Carlson pass early in the second quarter. He also added a forced fumble on the next drive by Black Hills State.
Henry Katleman remained perfect on his field goal attempts this season as he drilled his lone attempt from 36-yards out which is his longest of the season. The field goal gave the Mavericks the lead with just 38 seconds left in the game.
THE MATCHUP
Colorado Mesa and Western Colorado will link up for the 48th time since 1975. The Mavericks own a 25-22 all-time record in the series between the two schools that are seperated by just 126 miles.
The series began back in 1975 with Colorado Mesa, then Mesa College, falling 61-14 in a neutral site affair. The Mavericks fell in the first six contests before earning their first win in the series 31-18 on October 2, 1982 in Grand Junction. The largest margin of victory for the Mavericks came in 1988 when they won 54-14 in Gunnison.
Colorado Mesa is 14-8 all-time in Gunnison and have not won at Western Colorado since 2016 which was the season opening game for both schools and the year the Mavericks last played in the NCAA Playoffs. The win in 2016 was also a part of a five game win streak for the Mavericks against Western Colorado.
Last Five Matchups with Western
Oct. 1, 2022: L, 42-34 OT in Grand Jct.
Oct. 30, 2021: L, 23-9 in Gunnison
Sept. 21, 2019: L, 30-28 in Grand Jct.
Sept. 15, 2018: W, 24-20 in Gunnison
Aug. 31, 2017: W, 49-23 in Grand Jct.
KNOW YOUR FOE
The Mountaineers have had an outstanding start to the season as they are ranked No. 17 in the latest AFCA national poll. They opened the season with back-to-back wins against Lone Star Conference foes Texas-Permian Basin and West Texas A&M at home. They backed that up with wins over CSU Pueblo and Chadron State to open up Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play.
Western Colorado is coached by one of the longest tenured head coaches in the RMAC in Jas Bains now in his 13th season with the Mountaineers. He is 48-79 all-time with Western Colorado but is 17-5 in the last two years. He was the Region Coach of the Year in 2021 when he led the Mountaineers to a home NCAA Playoff game against former RMAC member Nebraska-Kearney.
One fun coaching note about the Mountaineers coaching staff is that defensive coordinator Todd Auer was a former coach for the Mavericks and wide receivers coach Virnel Moon was an All-American kick returner for the Mavericks from 2014-17.
The Mountaineers are getting outstanding play from several members of their offense but this week quarterback Drew Nash was named the NFFCC Player of the Week for his play against Chadron State. He was 28-of-41 for 320 yards and two touchdowns against the Eagles last week. Earlier this season, he had four touchdown passes against Texas Permian Basin in a win.
Senior linebacker Kendall Lightfoot is the top player on the Mountaineer defense as he leads the team with 26 tackles. The Las Vegas native had a season-high eight tackles and an interception in last weekend's game against Chadron State.
BIG PLAY BROWN
Junior Keenan Brown is the leading receiver for the Mavericks with 16 catches for 406 yards and three touchdowns which is tied for the team lead. For his career, he has 41 catches for 915 yards and eight touchdowns. When he reaches the 1,000 yard mark for his career, he would enter the top-12 on the all-time receiving list.
Brown is a home run threat every time he touches the ball as he has six catches of 20-yards or more this year with one going for 48 yards and one going for 49 yards while he also has touchdown catches of 76 and 84 yards a piece.
He is currently third in the RMAC in receiving yards and No. 11 nationally while he is tops in the RMAC and No. 6 nationally in yards per reception at 25.38. He trails the national leader of Rahiem Bowens of West Chester who is at 33.10 yards per catch.
THOME TANKS
Freshman Jason Thome has given the Mavericks some stability, alongside Liban Shongolo, at the safety position this season. He is gaining a name for himself as a defender and a player that can go and get the ball.
After earning RMAC Defensive Player of the Week honors for his three interception game last week, he had the chance to go back-to-back. Thome finished with another interception, his fourth of the season and a forced fumble along with three tackles against Black Hills State.
Thome ranks second nationally in interceptions per game at 1.0 and first in the RMAC. Tanner Volk of Central Washington leads the country in interceptions per game at 1.2.
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
Colorado Mesa will be back at home next week and will be up against the 2023 National Runner-up, and current No. 2 ranked, Colorado School of Mines on Saturday October 7 at 1:05pm. The annual Steak & Crab Fest will be that day as well with tickets available at CMUMavericks.com/Tickets.
Colorado Mesa will head back on the road the following week in a rather short trip south as they will take on the Fort Lewis Skyhawks on Saturday Oct. 14 in Durango. The Skyhawks are currently 0-4 on the season and 0-2 in the RMAC.
