FIRST AND TEN
Colorado Mesa will return home this weekend for their first Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference home contest when they host the Chadron State Eagles at Stocker Stadium with kickoff set for 1:00pm. 

This weekend is Parent's Weekend at Colorado Mesa with several activities setup for families on campus. Saturday's football game is one of the highlights of the weekend.

Chadron State enters the weekend as the first opponent Colorado Mesa has faced that isn't ranked in the AFCA Top-25 or receiving votes.

The Mavericks will play the first of two consecutive Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference home games. They will take on Colorado School of Mines next week at home as one of two schools (Adams State) in the conference to do such this season. 

ROUNDUP
Colorado Mesa went on the road for their Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference opener and fell to No. 22 CSU Pueblo 38-14 at The ThunderBowl in Pueblo, Colo. It was the seventh straight loss to the ThunderWolves in the series as the Mavericks have not won in the Steel City since 2009, the second year the school brought the program back.

Liu Aumavae got his first start at quarterback for the Mavericks as he stepped in for the injured Leslie Richardson. The San Diego State transfer finished 20-for-35 passing for 236 yards with a touchdown and an interception. He found Jack Burke for a 43-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter. 

Senior safety Liban Shongolo led the defense with 15 tackles from the secondary. He had some help from sophomore linebacker Charlie Smith who finished with 12 tackles and one tackle for loss.

The defense held the ThunderWolves to 25 percent (4-for-16) on third down but 4-for-4 on fourth down which included a converted fake punt in the first half. 

THE MATCHUP
The Mavericks and Eagles are meeting for the 34th time in the two program's history which dates back to the 1991 season. The Mavericks won the first-ever matchup with Chadron State on October 5, 1991 where they were victorious 33-28 in the Cornhusker State. The Eagles hold the all-time 20-13 that includes an 11-game win streak from 2004 until 2014.

The Mavericks won last season's matchup 38-22 in Grand Junction on November 4. The defense ignited a surge as they created turnovers on four straight Eagle possessions that included a pick-6 from then junior JaCari Williams.

The last Chadron State win came on September 22, 2018 when the Eagles defeated Colorado Mesa 38-34 in Grand Junction. The Mavericks played with somber hearts that day as they found out one of their teammates had passed away tragically early that morning.

Last Five Matchups with Chadron St 
Nov. 4, 2023: W, 38-22 in Grand Jct.
Nov. 5, 2022: W, 38-37 (OT) in Chadron
Sept. 25, 2021: W, 24-17 in Grand Jct.
Oct. 10, 2020: W, 10-7 in Grand Jct.
Sept. 28, 2019: W, 42-30 in Chadron

KNOW YOUR FOE
Chadron State opened the season with three straight home games, including back-to-back Thursday tilts, and will be making their first road trip this weekend. They renewed their rivalry with Nebraska-Kearney and wound up on the wrong end of an 18-6 decision. The following week they picked up a win over future NCAA Division II foe Jamestown 17-10 before falling to No. 4 Colorado School of Mines last weekend 13-12 in a closely contested battle in Nebraska.

The Eagles are coached by one of the longest tenured coaches in the conference in Jay Long. Long is in his 13th season as the head coach of his alma mater and has a 60-58 record at Chadron State and a 75-73 mark in his career that includes a three-year stint at Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference member Black Hills State.

True freshman Wyatt Sprague has taken the reins of the Chadron State offense after a pair of early season injuries thwarted him into service. Against Mines, he had a season and career-high 16-for-25 for 144 yards and a touchdown. The Holyoke, Colo. native has also rushed for 85 yards in his two games played.

Despite the 1-2 record after three games, Chadron State has one of the strongest defenses in not only the RMAC but the entire region. They have the No. 1 scoring defense in the RMAC and are No. 2 in total defense. That is in large part to their defensive line and Hunter O'Connor. The senior from Broomfield led the country in sacks as a sophomore and had two sacks against Colorado School of Mines last week. Tanner True and William Stemler are also scheduled to start across the defensive front.

HOLDING STRONG
The defense is being credited with allowing 26.3 points per game but that number is extremely misleading as they are only allowing 324 yards of offense per game while allowing opposing offenses to be on the field over 33 minutes per game. The Mavericks have the 16th best pass defense in all of Division II Football currently allowing 137 yards per game.

Sophomore linebacker Charlie Smith continues to impress everyone with his play. He leads the team in tackles with 35, one ahead of defensive back Liban Shongolo. Smith had 12 tackles in the loss to CSU Pueblo but extended his streak to three games with double digit tackles.

Junior defensive back Kash Bradley had one of his better games as a Maverick in the loss to the ThunderWolves. The Bushland, texas native finished with just three tackles and one pass break-up but that doesnt tell the whole story. Bradley had the task of covering one of the top receivers in DII football in Reggie Retzlaff. Bradley, along with his teammates, limited Retzlaff to just two catches for six yards after being targeted seven times.

GAINING STEAM
The Colorado Mesa offense is off to a very slow start but appeared to find some things in the game against CSU Pueblo. They had both a six-play and an eight-play drive that finished with touchdowns against the ThunderWolves.

The passing game started to show signs in teh game as Liu Aumavae got his first start and finished with 232 yards through the air. He trageted Trevin Edwards eight times and he finished with six catches for 54 yards. Aumavae targeted 12 different receivers in the game and never truly locked onto an one receiver. 

The running game has had a different guy show promise every week of the season and is on the verge of exploding. Brandon Belgrave had the best game of the weekend as he finished with six carries for 52 yards and a 28-yard touchdown run. Aiden Taylor had the hot hand in the season opener and Myles Newble showed a burst against Central Washington.

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 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. 

ON THE HORIZON
The Mavericks will remain at home next week as they play host to two-time defending NCAA National Runner-up Colorado School of Mines who is currently ranked No. 4 in the latest AFCA National Poll. Kickoff is slated for 1:00pm at Stocker Stadium. The Orediggers play host to Black Hills State in Golden this weekend.

The Mavericks will embark on an in-state road trip to Alamosa for a bout with Adams State in two weeks as they have a two road trip stretch of shorter travels.