In one of the featured NCAA Division II football games this week, eighth-ranked Colorado Western travels to Golden to meet tenth-ranked Colorado Mines on Saturday as the two schools compete with CSU Pueblo and Colorado Mesa for the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference title.
This Saturday’s other two games with league leadership implications have Colorado and Colorado State hosting games in Boulder and Fort Collins, respectively.
CSU Pueblo, idle this week, is atop the RMAC with a 6-0 record, with Western Colorado second at 5-0 and Mines tied for third with Colorado Mesa at 4-1. Colorado Mesa upset Mines 14-13 earlier this month.
A Western Colorado win on Saturday ties the Mountaineers with CSU Pueblo for the RMAC lead as the two schools meet in Gunnison on November 2. CSU Pueblo hosts Mines at the ThunderBowl in the Steel City the following week. Western Colorado and Mesa meet on the final weekend of the regular season on November 16 in Grand Junction.
Colorado State, which hosts New Mexico for homecoming Saturday, is tied with UNLV, Boise State, and San Diego State atop the Mountain West standings with 2-0 records. Colorado is tied for third at 3-1 in the Big XII standings with Kansas State, Texas Tech, and Saturday opponent Cincinnati. BYU and Iowa State lead the league with 4-0 marks.
Western Colorado at Colorado Mines, noon (RMAC Net) – Western Colorado leads the series with Mines at 52-44-2, but the Orediggers have won the last six games, highlighted by a 42-7 win in Golden last season when both were tied for the RMAC leadership. Both schools enter the contest with two of NCAA Division II’s top offenses. Western Colorado is averaging 38.4 points a game and 465.0 yards on offense. Colorado Mines is generating 35.9 points and 452.9 yards per game on offense. Mines quarterback Evan Foster is the RMAC’s top passer (285.3 yards per game with 17 touchdown passes). Oredigger receivers Flynn Schiele and Max McLeod have combined to catch 99 of Foster’s passes for 1,589 yards and 15 touchdowns. Drew Nash leads the Mountaineer attack as he has passed for 1,269 yards and 12 scores while rushing for 219 yards and four TDs.
New Mexico at Colorado State, 3 p.m. (Altitude) – With back-to-back wins over San Jose State and Air Force, CSU returns home to host New Mexico for homecoming. By winning the last 12 games with the Lobos, Colorado State leads the series 44-25. The last victory in the series for New Mexico was a 29-27 win on November 21, 2009, in Albuquerque. After losing its first four games by a combined score of 110-179, New Mexico has rebounded to win three straight contests by a combined score of 152-122.
Cincinnati at Colorado, 8:15 p.m. (ESPN) – It has been 52 seasons since Colorado played Cincinnati in football as the Buffs won the only meeting between the two schools 56-14 on September 16, 1972, in Boulder. Both schools are 5-2 this season. Central Florida is the only common opponent for each school, as the Knights dropped games to Colorado (48-21) and Cincinnati (19-13) in Orlando.
Colorado Mesa at Fort Lewis, 2 p.m. (RMAC Net) – After losing its RMAC opener 38-14 at CSU Pueblo, Colorado Mesa has responded with four straight league victories highlighted by the upset win over Colorado Mines in Grand Junction. The streak is Mesa’s first four-game winning string since 2017. After rushing for an average of 65 yards in their first three games, the Mavericks are averaging over 243 yards per contest in the next four games. Aiden Taylor had 74 rushing yards in the first three games and has compiled 382 yards in the last four contests. Fort Lewis has lost its previous 37 RMAC games. The Skyhawks’ last league win was 28-9 over Adams State on October 5, 2019.s Colorado Mesa leads the series 37-11-1 with eight consecutive victories. The last Skyhawk win in the series was 28-20 on October 25, 2014, in Grand Junction.
Adams State at New Mexico Highlands, noon (RMAC Net) – Adams State is looking for its first win this season, and New Mexico Highlands is seeking to tie the series with the Grizzlies. ASC leads the series 37-36-1 after posting a win last season in Las Vegas over the Cowboys 21-14.
Montana at Northern Colorado, 1 p.m. (ESPN+) – After snapping an 18-game losing streak with a victory two weeks ago at Weber State, Northern Colorado hopes the Wildcat victory can help defeat the ninth-ranked Grizzlies. Before losing in Odgen to UNC, Weber State upset Montana in Missoula 55-48. UNC trails in the series with Montana 2-16, with the last Bear win being 28-25 in 2016 in Greeley. Montana shut out UNC in the previous two games – 35-0 in 2021 and 40-0 in 2023.
In addition to CSU Pueblo, the Air Force is idle this week. The Falcons return to action against undefeated Army at West Point.
