FIRST AND TEN
Colorado Mesa will head out on the road this weekend to take on the Adams State Grizzlies at 1pm at Rex Stadium in Alamosa. This is one of the final two Colorado road trips of the season.

The Grizzlies are coming off a 52-3 loss to Chadron State last weekend and have been outscored 156-13 in their last three games which include Western Colorado, CSU Pueblo, and Chadron State.

The Mavericks are coming off their much heralded win over Colorado School of Mines 14-13 at Stocker Stadium to reclaim the Nyikos Cup. The Mavericks survived the first portion of their schedule with a 3-2 mark facing three ranked teams and another that was receiving votes.

The Mavericks are entering a stretch of games where the combined records of their next five opponents is 8-21. We will dive into what that means later in the notes.

ROUNDUP
Colorado Mesa pulled off one of the biggest upsets in NCAA Division II Football when they defeated the No. 4 ranked and two-time defending national runner-up Colorado School of Mines 14-13 last Saturday at Stocker Stadium to reclaim the Nyikos Cup.

The Maverick defense was simply suffocating in the win. They allowed just 267 yards of offense to a team that was averaging over 460 yards of offense. They limited the Orediggers to just 159 yards passing after averaging over 300 yards to that point.

Redshirt junior Colin Stuhr was named the RMAC Defensive Player of the Week after finishing with eight tackles, 2.5 sacks, and a hurry while Jason Thome continues to intercept passes, snarring his RMAC leading fourth interception of the season.

Quezon Villa's touchdown with 5:29 to play put the Mavericks down one but decided to go for two with former Oredigger Logan DeArment finding Sam Horneck on the CMU version of Philly Special for the go-ahead score.

The win over the Orediggers snapped their 23-game winning streak in the RMAC and 24 wins over RMAC foes.

THE MATCHUP
The Mavericks and Grizzlies are meeting up for the 49th time in the two program's history with Colorado Mesa holding a 30-18 edge over Adams State. The Mavericks have won eight of the last nine meetings dating back to the 2014 season. The only loss in that string came in 2022 when they fell in Alamosa 45-31. 

Despite the recent success over Adams State, the Mavericks have not fared well in Alamosa at Rex Stadium. They lost the aforementioned matchup in 2022 but are just 11-11 all-time in Alamosa. Prior to the 2014 season, the Mavericks had lost five straight in the San Luis Valley including back-to-back matchups in 2005 and 2006. 

The Mavericks won last season's matchup with the Grizzlies 42-7 at Stocker Stadium. Colorado Mesa scored four rushing touchdowns, a passing touchdown and one on a fumble recovery in the win.

Last Five Matchups with Adams St.  
Oct. 1, 2023: W, 42-7 in Grand Jct.
Oct. 22, 2022: L, 45-31 in Alamosa
Oct. 9, 2021: W,49-14 in Grand Jct.
Nov. 9, 2019: W, 35-13 in Alamosa
Nov. 3, 2018: W, 64-63 (OT) in G.J.

KNOW YOUR FOE
Adams State has had tough sledding for the first half of their schedule as they have started 0-5. They had a solid outing in their opener but eventually fell to Western New Mexico 46-36 at home. They then dropped contests to Texas Permian Basin, Western Colorado, CSU Pueblo, then Chadron State. They have been outscored 269-63 on the season but have faced some of the top teams in the conference and region.

The Grizzlies are coached by Jarrell Harrison in his fourth season as the head coach and eighth season on staff at Adams State. He is 6-27 in his tenure in Alamosa and has a win over Colorado Mesa on his resume. As a player, he started his career at City College of San Francisco and finished his final two seasons at Missouri where he was an honorable mention All-Big12 performer.  

Adams State has five pass catchers with double-digit receptions that have given quarterbacks Chase Nelson and Alex Grado options to distribute the ball. On defense, Seth Shaw leads the team iin tackles with with 31 with Josh Sparks at 29 and Seth Moss at 28 are right behind him. Aaron Cyrus is the top defensive back with three pass break-ups on the season.

STUHRING IT UP
Redshirt junior outside linebacker Colin Stuhr had been having a quiet but productive season heading into last Saturday's matchup with Colorado School of Mines. He unleashed his fury against the Orediggers finishing with eight tackles, which tied a career-high. He added two and a half sacks and a quarterback hurry which led to him earning RMAC Defensive Player of the Week honors.

Stuhr was also recognized as the National Football Foundation Colorado Chapter Player of the Week which includes Air Force, Northern Colorado, Colorado State and the University of Colorado. Stuhr is the first Maverick to be honored by the National Football Foundation since Cooper Mumford's touchdown pass against University of San Diego.

For his career, Stuhr has 61 tackles, 12.5 tackles for loss, eight sacks, three interceptions and five pass deflections. 

PROGRESSION
The Colorado Mesa offense continues to steadily improve as the season progresses. Take it for what its worth but the Maverick offense outgained the vaunted and heralded Oredigger offense last weekend 285-267 and helped win the time of possession battle 31:29-28:31. The only are where Mines had a big edge came in 3rd down conversions 50%-31%.

Redshirt sophomore Liu Aumavae has been given the reins to the offense and continues to get comfortable in the system. He is completing nearly 60 percent of his passes and is up to 654 yards and four touchdowns against two interceptions. His favorite two targets on Saturday were Trevin Edwards and Quezon Villa who both finished with six catches and a touchdown.

Brandon Belgrave was the bell-cow back for the Mavericks against Mines as he finished with 92 yards on 13 carries (7.1 yards per carry) to help the Mavericks gain 126 yards in the game. Aiden Taylor and Myles Newble combined for 41 yards on 18 carries as the other two feature backs for the Mavericks.

WHAT'S A P-I?
Through five games season, there is plenty of data to see where the Mavericks stand compared to the rest of the region and some may be surprised where the Mavericks stand. 

Colorado Mesa ranks No. 3 in the whole region when it comes to Performance Indicator. They have the No. 1 strength of schedule with opponents record at .713 and No. 7 in strength and schedule plus winning percentage.

Several factors go into the Performance Indicator or PI. Strength of Schedule, In-Region Record, Results vs. teams above .500, and winning percentage plus strength of schedule all factor into each school's PI. 

Colorado Mesa has played four of their five games against teams with just one loss on their schedule to this point in Texas A&M-Kingsville, Central Washington, CSU Pueblo and Colorado School of Mines. Those opponents are weighing heavily on the Mavs' strength of schedule.

MAVS ON THE TUBE
Colorado Mesa and KREX/KGJT TV are continuing their partnership by allowing patrons to view all RMAC and home games this year through the RMAC Network. Viewers will be able to access the video broadcasts through CMUMavericks.com/TV along with WesternSlopeNow.com.

While those games will be broadcast on TV, fans may still also watch the game on the RMAC Network by visiting CMUMavericks.com/TV
 

RMAC PRESEASON POLL
Colorado Mesa was picked to finish fourth in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference this season after finishing with a 6-5 record a season ago. The Mavericks finished in a tie for fourth place with Black Hills State last season with a record of 5-4. CMU started the conference season with a 1-3 record but closed out the season by winning four of their final five games that included a season finale win over New Mexico Highlands. 

2023 National Runner-up Colorado School of Mines was the unanimous selection to win the RMAC again as they garnered seven first-place votes. They were followed by Western Colorado, who qualified for the 2023 NCAA Playoffs, and CSU Puebl0 to round out the top three teams.

COACHING STAFF QUICKIES
Offensive line coach and Offensive Coordinator Trevor Wikre is back where his college football career took place in Grand Junction. Wikre played both defensive and offensive line and holds a place in college football lore after an incident during his playing days. Wikre damaged his pinkie finger at the end of practice during his senior year and had to get it surgically repaired. His options were to get it repaired right and lose his final season of football or amputate and miss one game and play the remaining four. He chose the latter and his story reached People Magazine, Sports Illustrated, the New York Times and ESPN.

Assistant Defensive Line Coach Austin Berk is a former Colorado State Ram player who prepped at Grand Junction High School. His father, Mike Berk, was an All-American offensive lineman for the Mavericks in 1985.

Colorado Mesa added Darrell Funk to the coaching staff during the offseason and he is slated to assist Trevor WIkre with coaching the offensive line. Funk will be making his second appearance on the Maverick sidelines as he coached then Mesa State in the early to mid-90s. Funk has made stops at Colorado State, Ball State, San Diego State, Michigan, Akron, Purdue, Indiana State, Texas-San Antonio, and most recently at BYU.

SIGHTS ON THE SCHEDULE
This will be the second straight season the Mavericks will play a full 11-game schedule and are one of six schools taking advantage of the new zero week in Division II college football. After their season-opening game, Colorado Mesa will have a 'bye' week next week before their home opener with Central Washington. 

The Mavericks will play in five games that feature teams ranked or receiving votes in the preseason AFCA poll and the two Super Region IV finalists from a season ago. They will play three of those five teams at home beginning with the home opener on September 14 against No. 8 Central Washington. Texas A&M-Kingsville (RV), CSU Pueblo (RV), Colorado School of Mines (5), and Western Colorado (15) are all on this season's schedule. 

This season's homecoming game is set for Saturday October 19 as Colorado Mesa will play host to New Mexico Highlands at 1pm from Stocker Stadium. The Mavericks will look to make it 11 in a row against the Cowboys.

OUT ON THE RANGE
The NCAA membership passed a proposal to permit football games to be played a week prior to the Thursday preceding September 6. The change allows schools the flexibility to schedule and play 11 contests over 12 weeks. It provides the ability to schedule a bye week during the season, benefiting student-athlete health and safety.

New this season all across college football, tablets will be allowed on the sideline to help with game planning and scheme adjustments. In the RMAC, coaching staffs are allowed five tablets to be used with two in the coaching box and three on the sidelines. 

ON THE HORIZON
The Mavericks will return home for the annual homecoming game when they take on New Mexico Highlands at 1pm at Stocker Stadium. The Cowboys take on Chadron State in Las Vegas this week in their homecoming game.

Colorado Mesa will head back out on the road when they head South to take on Fort Lewis at Ray Dennison Memorial Field. The Skyhawks snapped a long losing streak when they defeated Arizona Christian earlier this season.