Seven of the ten collegiate football-playing schools in The Centennial State will be in action this week, starting with Colorado’s nationally televised game on Thursday against North Dakota State. Two Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference teams will also open the 2024 season on the road.
The Buffs host the Bisons at Folsom Field on ESPN, while the RMAC Network will stream Colorado State Pueblo’s conference opener at South Dakota Mines and Colorado Mesa’s non-league game at Texas A&M-Kingville. All three games kick off at 6 p.m.
On Saturday, Air Force and Colorado State open with 1:30 p.m. kickoffs, with the Falcons entertaining Merrimack on CBS Sports Network and the Rams challenging fourth-ranked Texas in Austin on ESPN. Fort Lewis hosts William Jewell in a 2 p.m. start in Durango on the RMAC Network, and Northern Colorado plays in San Antonio in a 5 p.m. contest versus Incarnate Word on ESPN-Plus.
North Dakota State at Colorado – While this is the first football meeting between the two schools, the Bison have won 25 of 33 contests against Colorado colleges, with their last appearance in The Centennial State being in 2012 when NDSU defeated Colorado State in Fort Collins 22-7. While the Buffs finished last season with a 4-8 record by dropping eight of their last nine games, North Dakota State posted an 11-4 record and lost at Montana 31-29 in the Football Championships Subdivision playoffs.
Colorado State-Pueblo at South Dakota Mines – With NCAA Division II approving “Week 0” for its schools, CSU Pueblo moved a conference game to its RMAC season opener against the Hardrockers. The ThunderWolves finished the 2023 campaign with seven straight wins after opening the season 1-3. South Dakota Mines posted a 5-6 record last season and dropped a 35-28 decision to CSU Pueblo in Rapids City. CSUP leads the series between the two schools 7-0, with four wins in Rapids City.
Colorado Mesa at Texas A&M-Kingsville – Colorado Mesa will be looking to avenge a 30-10 setback to Texas A&M-Kingville in last season’s opening game at Grand Junction. The Javelina lead the series with Mesa 2-0 as the Mavericks dropped a 17-14 decision in 2014 in Kingsville. Both schools finished the 2023 campaign on a high note with two straight wins each. Colorado Mesa posted a 6-5 record, and the Javelina finished with a 7-3 mark.
Merrimack at Air Force – The two schools will play each other for the first time, as the Warriors were 5-6 last season in the Football Championship Subdivision. Air Force posted a 9-4 record in 2023 and concluded the campaign by defeating James Madison 31-21 in the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl in Fort Worth. A win against Merrimack would be Troy Calhoun’s 131st at Air Force and would tie him with CSU Pueblo’s John Wristen for the second-most victories in Colorado collegiate history. Fisher DeBerry tops the list with 169 wins with the Falcons.
CSU at Texas – The Rams will be playing in Austin for the second time, as the Longhorns posted a 46-0 win over CSU on September 13, 1975. Texas is coming off a CFP season, as the ‘Horns posted a 12-2 record after losing 37-31 to Washington in the playoff semi-finals at New Orleans. The Rams were 5-7 in Jay Norvell’s second season in Fort Collins.
William Jewell at Fort Lewis – The Skyhawks will be looking to snap a 39-losing streak. Fort Lewis’ last victory was a 28-9 decision on October 5, 2019, against Adams State. William Jewell will be FLC’s season-opening opponent for the second straight season, as the Cardinals posted a 42-6 win over the Skyhawks in Liberty, Mo., last September. William Jewell was 2-8 in the season.
UNC at Incarnate Word – Northern Colorado looks to snap a 12-game victory drought in their second meeting ever with the Cardinals. The Bears were 0-11 last season in Ed Lamb’s first season in Greeley. UNC dropped a 42-9 decision to IC at home last season. The last Bear success on the gridiron was a 21-20 come-from-behind win in the next-to-last contest in November 2022 over Big Sky rival Northern Arizona. The Bear win against NAU in Greeley came with 25 seconds left in the contest on a two-point conversion.
Top returning Colorado collegiates
2023 Colorado NCAA FBS Leaders – https://stats.ncaa.org/rankings/change_sport_year_div
| FBS Statistics | Player |
National Rank |
MW/P12 |
Value |
| Completions Per Game (100 ranked) | Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi, CSU |
9 |
2 |
24.33 |
| Kickoff Return TDs (6) | Kobe Johnson, Colorado State |
6 |
1 |
1 |
| Completions Per Game (100) | Shedeur Sanders, Colorado |
2 |
1 |
27.09 |
| Completion Percentage (106) | Shedeur Sanders, Colorado |
8 |
3 |
0.693 |
| Passing Yards PG (130) | Shedeur Sanders, Colorado |
10 |
5 |
293.6 |
| Points Responsible For PG (199) | Shedeur Sanders, Colorado |
10 |
3 |
17.3 |
| Forced Fumbles (18) | Shilo Sanders, Colorado |
3 |
1 |
0.36 |
| Punt Return TDs (2) | Tory Horton, Colorado State |
2 |
1 |
1 |
| Receptions Per Game (199) | Tory Horton, Colorado State |
4 |
1 |
8 |
| Receiving Yards PG (200) | Tory Horton, Colorado State |
11 |
2 |
94.7 |
2023 Colorado Collegiate NCAA DII Leaders – https://stats.ncaa.org/rankings/change_sport_year_div
| Division II Statistics | Player |
National Rank |
RMAC |
Value |
| Receiving TDs (175 ranked) | Max McLeod, Colorado Mines |
4 |
1 |
16 |
| Receiving Yards (199) | Max McLeod, Colorado Mines |
1 |
1 |
1,656 |
| Receiving Yards Per Game (200) | Max McLeod, Colorado Mines |
2 |
1 |
110.4 |
| Receptions Per Game (198) | Max McLeod, Colorado Mines |
6 |
2 |
7.7 |
| Fumble Return TDs (8) | Charlie Smith, Colorado Mesa |
8 |
2 |
1 |
| Kickoff Return TDs (8) | Kash Bradley, Colorado Mesa |
8 |
2 |
1 |
| Punt Return TDs (5) | Andrew Cook, CSU Pueblo |
5 |
1 |
1 |
| Fumbles Recovered (22) | Daniel Bone III, CSU Pueblo |
2 |
1 |
3 |
| Kickoff Return TDs (8) | Dorion McGarity, CSU Pueblo |
8 |
2 |
1 |
| Kickoff Return TDs (8) | Moosah Alsaffar, CSU Pueblo |
1 |
1 |
2 |
| Receiving TDs (175) | Reggie Retzlaff, CSU Pueblo |
8 |
3 |
12 |
| Solo Tackles (197) | Jacob Penney, Fort Lewis |
4 |
2 |
5.9 |
| Punt Return TDs (5) | Blake Nieslanik, Western Colorado |
5 |
1 |
1 |
| Forced Fumbles (65) | Ricky Freymond, Western Colorado |
8 |
1 |
0.33 |
