FIRST AND TEN
Colorado Mesa will compete for the final time in the regular season on Saturday as they take on arch rival Western Colorado with their playoff chances hanging on by a thread. Kickoff is set for 1pm at Stocker Stadium with students having the opportunity to enter a drawing for a free Qdoba Burrito or Taco Bar for 25.

The Mavericks are coming off a road loss to the South Dakota Mines Hardrockers in Rapid City 17-14 last Saturday. The loss made the playoff picture look a little different heading into the final week of the season.

The Mountaineers are coming off a hard fought home win over Chadron State 21-17 in their final regular season home matchup. 

Prior to the game, the Mavericks will honor 14 players who will be playing in their final home game of the Mavericks. Eight of those Mavericks are seniors while six other have eligibility left.

ROUNDUP
Colorado Mesa snapped their six-game winning streak on the road in South Dakota last weekend as they fell 17-14 to the South Dakota Mines in Rapid City. It was the Mavericks first-ever loss at O'Harra Stadium and dropped the Mavericks record to 7-3 on the season and 6-2 in the conference.

The Mavericks outgained South Dakota Mines 288-266 in the game with 99 of those yards coming in the fourth quarter of action. They ended the game with 130 yards coming on the ground and 158 through the air. Liu Aumavae threw for 91 yards and Leslie Richardson had 67 yards all in the fourth quarter. 

The Colorado Mesa defense still had a solid day despite giving up 219 yards on the ground as they limited one of the better passing games in the RMAC to just 47 yards. Charlie Smith led the way with 10 tackles while senior Liban Shongolo finished with nine tackles and a pass break-up.

The Maverick had opportunities in the end to take back control of the game late as redshirt junior kicker Coby May successfully converted two onside kicks. The first, CMU was flagged for being offsides before a fully successful second attempt.

THE MATCHUP
The Mavericks and Mountaineers have one of the more richer history's in the battle for the Western Slope. The Mavericks have a slight edge in the two schools all-time history as four-year institutions 25-23 but the Mountaineers have won the last four matchups dating back to the 2018 season.

Despite the perceived home field advantage in this matchup, the Mavericks have an 11-11 record at home and a 14-9 record in Gunnison. Colorado Mesa had won eight games in a row in Grand Junction from 2001 until the 30-28 loss at Stocker Stadium during the 2018 season. 

The last time the two teams played in Grand Junction, the two teams played to two overtimes. Western Colorado scored and successfully made their two-point conversion in the second overtime while the Mavericks failed to score for a 42-34 setback.

Last Five Matchups with Western
Sept. 30, 2023: L, 43-7 in Gunnison
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

KNOW YOUR FOE
Win or lose, Western Colorado is almost assured a spot in the NCAA Playoffs. If the Mountaineers defeat Colorado Mesa, they have the opportunity to host a playoff game for the second straight season. There only loss on the season came two weekends ago at the hands of the CSU Pueblo ThunderWolves in Gunnison. The Mountaineers defeated both Midwestern State (38-33) and West Texas A&M (26-17) to open the season.

Western Colorado is coached by one of the longest tenured head coaches in the RMAC in Jas Bains now in his 14th season with the Mountaineers. He is 63-82 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.

Redshirt junior quarterback Drew Nash is one of the top signal callers in the RMAC and he does it through the air and on the ground. Nash had 133 yards rushing and three touchdowns against West Texas A&M and has a 400-yard passing game with four touchdowns in the loss to CSU Pueblo on November 2.

It starts up front for the Western Colorado defense and Ricky Freymond is the leader of that front. The Chino, Calif. native has 50 tackles, 18.5 tackles for loss and nine sacks on the season. He had back-to-back three sack games against the Mines schools on October 19 and October 26.

PLAYING FOR SOMETHING
The Colorado Mesa Mavericks are still playing for several different achievements as they take on their rivals from Gunnison.

The Mavericks have the ability to reach eight wins this season which would be the first since 2021, the fifth 8-win season in the last 10 years, and the 15th since the institution changed to a four-year school in the mid 1970s. 

A win over the Mountaineers would be the first for the departing seniors as 2018 was the last time the Mavericks defeated Western.

A strong effort against Western Colorado could land the defense in the top ten nationally in up to five different categories.

SENIOR DAY
The Colorado Mesa has 14 student-athletes that will be playing in their final regular season home game on Saturday against Western Colorado at 1pm at Stocker Stadium.

Xavier Brayboy, Alex Bruns, Wendell Cole, Levi Krebs, Aaron Ramirez, Liban Shongolo, Aaron Whear, and Ja'Cari WIlliams are all seniors and have exhausted their eligibility. They will be graduating either in December or May. 

Gus Campbell, Ian De La Vara, Coby May, Ryan Randall, Christian Speller, and Colin Stuhr have eligibility remaining but will be graduating in either December or May. 

PLAYOFFS START NOW
Despite the loss to South Dakota Mines last weekend, the Mavericks still have a shot at the NCAA Super Region IV Playoffs with a win over the Western Colorado Mountaineers on Saturday. The Mavericks remained at No. 9 in the official NCAA Rankings. this week with the top-7 teams advancing to the playoffs which start next week.

Here is a list of things the Mavericks need for them to make the NCAA Playoffs for the first time since 2016: 1. Win on Saturday against rival Western Colorado 2. An Augustana win over, No. 7 in the rankings, Bemidji State 3. Not likely but Southwest Minnesota State to get their first win of the year over Sioux Falls. 4. A Central Washington win over Western Oregon in an effort to strengthen our schedule further.

CSU Pueblo wrapped up a share of the RMAC TItle with their win over Colorado School of Mines this week and with a win in the regular season finale will clinch the likely top seed in NCAA Super Region IV. This would also help strengthen the Mavericks schedule and leave it up to the committee. 

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 Pueblo 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 precedeing 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, benefitting 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. 

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.

ON THE HORIZON
The Mavericks will await the word from the NCAA as to whether or not they make the field of 28 teams for the NCAA National Tournament. The selection show is scheduled for Sunday November 17 on NCAA.com.