Despite traveling by bus over 20 hours, having a second year head coach and not deciding on a starting quarterback yet, the Colorado Mesa University (CMU) football team beat a Division I opponent while going viral across social media.
After the disappointing week one loss, the Mavericks got their first win of the season on the road, beating the University of San Diego (USD) 28-21 in overtime. The team split the 20 hour bus trip to San Diego between Thursday and Friday, and then drove 20 hours straight back to Grand Junction after the game.
The first score of the game came in the most unimaginable way possible. CMU attempted a trick play, but fumbled the lateral. 6 ‘4, 275 pound freshman offensive lineman Cooper Mumford scooped up the ball, gracefully rolled left, and flicked it to an open receiver in the endzone to give the Mavs a 7-0 lead. The play was #3 on SportCenter’s top 10 plays, and amassed over tens of millions of views across Instagram and X (formerly Twitter). The video can even be found on ESPN.
This week, Leslie Richardson got the starting nod at quarterback. Once again, Richardson played solid, completing eight passes for over 150 yards. His biggest play came on a 73-yard bomb to wide receiver Keenan Brown which gave CMU a 14-0 lead. Brown had a monster game bringing in six catches for 154 yards and two scores.
“Everybody was super locked in. We knew we had to get this and it was important to us. We went out there, executed everything and preached, win,” Brown said emphatically.
On defense, the secondary led by JaCari Williams, Liban Shongolo and Kash Bradley played phenomenal for the second straight week. The unit held the USD quarterback to 174 yards, at a less than 50% completion rate. Once again, linebacker Levi Krebs had a huge day with two sacks, and 15 tackles, three of them being tackles for losses.
With the typical bigger Division I offensive line, USD leaned on their run game to stay in the game. The Maverick defensive line fought hard giving up 230 rush yards, but on 43 attempts.
Tied midway through the third quarter, Gavin Herberg came in at quarterback, in the middle of a drive. All game, USD tested the Maverick receivers leaving no safety help over the top. This time, wide receiver Noah Sarria beat his man, and Herberg delivered a strike for a 83 yard touchdown to give CMU the 21-14 lead.
“We were looked down upon for this game because of the difference in divisions,” Heberg said. “At the end of the day it’s another football game. We plan, we practice, then on game days we execute. Don’t get me wrong, it was a great feeling to defeat a team that is a division higher, but every week we need to prepare to win, and expect to win. In light of today those expectations worked in our favor.”
After a slow fourth quarter, USD tied it at 21 with 1:03 left. Herberg then quickly drove the offense down to the edge of field goal range for the win. Head coach Miles Kochevar went for the kill shot with a pass to the endzone, but it was picked off with six seconds left and the game went to overtime.
On the first play in overtime, USD continued to test the Maverick receivers, and Herberg lofted a jump-ball to receiver Trevin Edwards, who shielded off a defender for a touchdown.
USD then took over needing a touchdown to stay alive. The CMU defense came up huge again, and led by Krebs’ sack on 3rd down, USD turned the ball over on downs on four plays giving the Mavs their first win.
“We went up big, they came back, and then we just responded to the adversity. We are learning to handle success,” Edwards said.
Despite being picked 6th in the RMAC preseason coaches poll, the Mavericks were able to go on the road and beat a DI program. This win is another example of the miniscule difference between some mid-major Division I’s and high level Division II. It makes you think how much better a program like rival Colorado School of Mines is than Division I’s across the country.
Coach Kochevar and the team preached that they expected to win, and next week’s preparation will be the same. CMU looks to carry the momentum in week three, where they take on South Dakota Mines in Spearfish SD.
