FIRST AND TEN
Colorado Mesa is hosting the Fort Lewis Skyhawks for the annual homecoming game at 2pm at Stocker Stadium. The Mavericks will honor several dignitaries including the Athletics Hall of Honor during the halftime presentation. 

The Skyhawks come into the contest with a 1-6 overall record and 0-5 in the RMAC. They are coming off a weekend where they fell to upstart Chadron State 41-0 in Durango. 

One of the big keys in Saturday's matchup will be the Maverick rushing attack that ranks third in the RMAC against Fort Lewis' rush defense that also ranks third in the RMAC.

Colorado Mesa will honor a pair of standout student-athletes from year's past at halftime. Volleyball player Melissa Hess and Men's Golf pioneer Brandon Bingaman will be inducted into the Maverick Hall of Honor.

THE ROUNDUP
The Mavericks dropped a heartbreaker on the road last week as they surrendered a touchdown to New Mexico Highlands with just five seconds left in the game to fall 28-22. Colorado Mesa took their only lead of the game at 22-19 with 1:55 to play but left too much time on the clock for the Cowboys.

Aidan Taylor continues to abuse defenses with his running style and was able to accrue 167 yards on 21 carries and added all three Maverick touchdowns on the day to bring his season total to nine. Brandon Belgrave added 58 yards on 11 carries to continue the Thunder and Lightning approach to the run game.

Sophomore George Soppe finished with a game-high nine tackles while Gibson Leafgreen added seven tackles and his first career sack against the Cowboys. The defense limited one of the top rushers in the country to just 60 yards on the day.

Senior Sullivan Moon jumped into the RMAC lead in punting after the game with New Mexico Highlands. Moon averaged 43 yards per punt with a long of 48 yards. For kickoffs, two of the four went for touchbacks and he was 0-for-1 on field goal attempts. 

THE MATCHUP
Colorado Mesa and Fort Lewis are meeting up for the 51st time in both programs long storied history. The Mavericks hold a 38-11-1 edge in the all-time series and have managed to amass a 17-6 record at home in Grand Junction. 

The Mavericks have won nine straight matchups dating back to the 2015 season. On top of that, they have won 15 of the last 16 contests which dates back to the 2007 season. Ironically, the three years prior to the streak Fort Lewis claimed three straight victories from 2004 to 2006.

In last season's matchup, Colorado Mesa scored 35 second half points en route to a 49-0 victory in Durango. The Mavericks churned up 480 yards of total offense on the day led by a pair of 100-yard rushers in Aidan Taylor and Sean Kidd. Brandon Belgrave nearly had 100 yards as he finished with 87 yards and a touchdown in the win.

Last five matchups with Fort Lewis
Oct. 19, 2024 in Grand Jct. (W, 21-10)
Nov. 11, 2023 in Las Vegas (W, 38-24)
Nov. 12, 2022 in Grand Jct. (W, 56-36)
Sept. 18, 2021 in Las Vegas (W, 56-37)
Nov. 16, 2019 in Grand Jct. (W, 51-13)

KNOW YOUR FOE
The Skyhawks are headed by Fort Lewis alum Johnny Cox who is now in his fourth season. Cox has a 4-35 overall record and has led the Skyhawks out of some dark times with things seemingly trending in the right direction. All of the Skyhawks numbers have improved since the time Cox stepped on campus. Fort Lewis defeated NAIA Arizona Christian for the lone win of the season but scores have been competitive along the way with narrow losses to South Dakota Mines (22-21) and Black Hills State (25-19).

The Skyhawks use four primary players to form their rushing attack. Redshirt freshman quarterback Jake Jones leads the way with 224 yards and a touchdown while KB Broadus gets the ball on the goal line as he has five rushing touchdowns on the season. Broadus along with Jamal Johnson and Orlando Guevara are the primary ball carriers with 123 of the 233 total carries.

Fort Lewis features one of the top tacklers in the country in Jake Penney. The redshirt junior has 88 total tackles on the season with one and a half sacks and two forced fumbles. He has had double digit tackles in every game this season with a high of 16 against nationally ranked CSU Pueblo.

AIMING FOR 1,000 YARDS
Colorado Mesa senior running back Aidan Taylor is aiming to become the Mavericks first 1,000 yard rusher in seven seasons. Taylor has built up 645 yards rushing with nine touchdowns this season with four games left on the schedule.

It has been awhile but Colorado Mesa's last 1,000 yard rusher came in 2017 when David Tann rushed for 1,299 yards and 19 touchdowns. 

Taylor will need to average 89 yards per game for the rest of the season to eclipse that mark. Last season, the Modesto, Calif. native came the closest to eclipsing the 1,000 yard mark finishing with 669 yards.

Just to take a quick look ahead at the rushing defenses Taylor and the Mavericks will be facing in those final four games. Fort Lewis and Black Hills State rank third and fourth respectively in rush defense respectively while South Dakota Mines is sixth giving up 150 yards per game. Western Colorado is the top rush defense in the conference allowing just 79 yards per game. 

DEFENSIVE STRIDES
The Colorado Mesa defense makes strides from week-to-week with some weeks making big strides and others not as big. That can be expected as the Mavericks routinely start five or six freshman or sophomores on defense week in and week out. 

The strength of the defense is still in defending the pass despite giving up chunk plays at times. The Mavericks are ranked No. 3 in the RMAC in passing yards allowed at 192.3 yards per game. The combonation of Kash Bradley, Lane Branstetter and Kendrick Jones have been solid throughout the season along with safeties Gibson Leafgreen and Andre Lopez-Green. 

The defensive line has rotated quite a bit throughout the season with Hunter Hamilton, Tavery Chappell, Omarius Dimry-Lockhart, Perry Bailey, Kade Street, and Keyshaun Ceaser. Rifle native Kade Street leads the group with 30 tackles with six of those going for a loss.

CENTURY CELEBRATION
The CMU Century Celebration stands as the cornerstone of Colorado Mesa University's year-long centennial celebration. This ambitious initiative unites our community in honoring a rich heritage while boldly envisioning the next hundred years of academic excellence.

Led by the Steering Committee and six specialized sub-committees, we're orchestrating a transformative experience that will resonate through generations. Each committee brings unique expertise to create an unforgettable commemoration of our past, present and future.

To learn more about Colorado Mesa's 100-year celebration, visit cmucentury.com

MAVS ON THE NETWORK
10 of the 11 Maverick Football games will be on the RMAC Network this season. In previous years, all Maverick athletic events were free to view but new this year those matchups will be behind a paywall with several different options available. Single games are $10, monthly subscription is $25 or a yearlong pass for $130. You can access all games through CMUMavericks.com/TV or RMACNetwork.com.

The monthly and yearlong subscriptions include access to all games on the RMAC Network including RMAC Championship events and games on-demand. 

ON THE HORIZON
Colorado Mesa will hit the road following the homecoming matchup with Fort Lewis. They are set to travel to Spearfish, S.D. and a matchup with Black Hills State for their longest remaining road trip. 

The Mavericks will make the long trek to Spearfish, S.D. for a matchup with Black Hills State on Saturday November 1 at 1pm. The Yellowjackets are on a bye this week after playing Chadron State early during week 2.