The Thunderwolves of CSU-Pueblo proved to be too much in the end for Colorado Mesa University as the best defense in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) shut down a struggling Maverick offense in the 36-14 win.
CMU came into the game with an Eystin Salum-less offense and it showed as the game would progress. Rope Ruel got his first career start at quarterback and the junior back-up did his best despite the challenge that was the CSU-Pueblo defense.
On the third play of scrimmage, Ruel would throw a dime of a pass to Peter Anderson that ended with Anderson trotting into the end zone to give CMU a 7-0 lead only 30 seconds into the game.
The Mavericks would hold onto that lead for a little while but it would be the only time they would be ahead of the Thunderwolves. The 14th best team in the nation would then go on to score 22 unanswered points to eventually run away with the game.
“We hurt ourselves a little bit offensively with some procedural penalties,” Head Coach Russ Martin said. “We took ourselves out of some advantage situations on downs and had to play with some long yardage and you can’t play against that defense in long yardage situations, they’re gonna pin their ears back and come to get ya…and they did.”
The Thunderwolves were slow to get started due to some solid defense by the Mavericks because the offense that averages 37 points per game was limited to only three until late in the first half. Brandon Edwards would get only fifth touchdown pass of the season with a 34-yard strike to freshman wide receiver Ammon Johnson with 3:45 left in the second quarter to give the Thunderwolves the 10-7 advantage.
CSU-P would increase their lead heading into halftime after running back Austin Micci would walk into the end zone after a couple of penalties that kept the drive alive and allow the Thunderwolves to score.
With the Mavericks down at the half 17-7, it was obvious the offense would have to step up after being shut out prior to their first score.
However, this would not be the case because Rope Ruel would find himself being sacked in the back of the end zone for a safety after starting a drive at the CMU one-yard line. This all came after a CSU-P field goal so the Mavericks would find themselves down 22-7 only a few minutes into the second half.
“We played well for the most part,” Russ Martin said. “But you just can’t make that many mistakes against an outstanding football team like this.”
Mistakes such as penalties and other missed plays would cost the Mavericks in the long run as the defense had a hard time getting off the field and when they did, CMU could not produce enough drives to stay in the game.
CMU received nine penalties out of the total 13 given out and it showed in the way it affected the game. CSU-P took advantage of those crucial mistakes the Mavericks were responsible for.
Jonathon Beverly would eventually find the end zone to cut the lead back down to eight after a 10-yard touchdown run. Nevertheless, the short-lived momentum would not stay by the Mavericks’ side.
Ruel would eventually get taken out of the game and replaced by redshirt freshman Aaron Howard. Ruel ended his day throwing 12-21 for 210 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
The Maverick offense ended up getting 346 yards of total offense. Beverly accounted for most of the rushing attack as he racked up 77 yards off of 17 attempts.
“Our guys played hard, they played well but we gotta play better if we are gonna beat a team like that,” Russ Martin said.
CSU-P’s offense continued to score points. Brandon Edwards would complete a three-yard touchdown pass to Nick Williams. The final dagger was sent by Marcus Lindsay, brother of Denver Broncos running back Phillip Lindsay, as the freshman would cap off a 70-yard drive with a one-yard touchdown run.
CMU would ultimately fall 36-14 to CSU-P in what is their third loss in the last four weeks. The Mavericks’ overall record drops to 4-3 as the Thunderwolves improves to 6-1.
The winless Black Hills State Yellow Jackets are up next for CMU but the postseason dreams are pretty much washed away with the loss today to the Thunderwolves.
“We’ll find a whole lot about ourselves and as a team and as individuals with how we respond,” Martin said. “We’re not playing for championships, we’re not playing for playoffs, we’re playing for pride…if you gotta have a championship out in front of you in order to motivate you to play well then you gotta question why you are playing the game.”
