With a full slate of games on the schedule for Centennial State schools playing college football, the second week of the season opened Thursday, with fifth-ranked Colorado State Pueblo and 11th-ranked Western Colorado posting their second wins of the season and Colorado stunning Georgia Tech 14-13 in Atlanta.

With CSU Pueblo winning 35-17 at Fort Hays State and Western Colorado rallying to post a 23-21 win over Angelo State in Gunnison, Colorado opened its fourth campaign with Deion Sanders at the helm with the upset win in the Georgia capital city for the Buffs’ first win over an Atlantic Coast Conference school since the 1957 Orange Bowl victory over Clemson 27-21.

Trailing 13-7 with 1:40 left in the game, CU drove 75 yards in eight plays as Julian Lewis connected on a 20-yard scoring pass to Charlie Williams with 37 seconds remaining on the clock.  Daniel Gerlach’s extra point lifted the Buffs into the lead.  READ MORE

Georgia Tech had its opportunity to win the game as the Yellowjackets drove the ball to the CU 27 with three seconds remaining.  Aidan Birr’s 45-yard field goal attempt with three seconds left was blocked by the Buffs’ Boo Carter to end the game.

Led by the Buffs’ running game, CU out-gained Georgia Tech 307-288 in the contest. CU rushed for 183 yards (the second most in the Sanders era) while Lewis passed for 124 yards on 14 completions. Damian Henderson II and Micah Welch combined for 123 yards rushing, with the latter scoring on a five-yard run in the second quarter to give CU a 7-0 lead.

In the evening’s first win, Western Colorado recovered from a 14-9 halftime deficit to take a 23-14 lead with 12:41 left in the game on a nine-yard scoring toss from Josiah Roy to Damien Nevil.  READ MORE

Angelo State cut the margin to 23-21 with 6:14 remaining in the contest and forced a Western Colorado punt to have a chance to win the game with 3:17 left.  However, the visitors had to drive 99 yards after the 57-yard punt by the Mountaineers’ Zac Grable for his third 50-plus-yard punt of the game.

The Rams advanced the ball to Western Colorado’s 49 before Caden Campuzano sacked Angelo State quarterback Ayden Arp for a 7-yard loss, giving the Mountaineers the ball back with 71 seconds left in the game.  Campuzano finished the game with two sacks, a fumble recovery and nine tackles.

JT Miller kicked three field goals of 28, 28, and 21 yards for the Mountaineers’ first-half points.  Roy completed his first touchdown pass of 35 yards to DJ Allen Jr. with 11:18 left in the third quarter to give Western Colorado a 16-13 lead.

Western Colorado had 324 total yards in the game with 194 on the ground.  Roy completed 15 of 22 passes for 122 yards.

In the evening’s finale, CSU Pueblo broke from a 7-7 first-quarter tie at 25th-ranked Fort Hays State to gain a 21-10 halftime lead enroute to a 35-17 win at Hays, Kan.  It was the ThunderWolves’ 16th straight road win (longest streak in NCAA Division II football) since losing a 57-49 double overtime decision at Grand Valley State on September 9, 2023.  READ MORE

ThunderWolves quarterbacks Navi Bruzon and Evan Powell scored the two second-quarter scores for the winners.  Bruzon, who completed 21 of 31 passes for 280 yards and three scores, ran 20 yards to give the Pack the lead for good with 9:21 left before halftime.

Powell completed the first-half score for CSU Pueblo on a one-yard run with 2:40 left before intermission.  For the game, the Pack rushed for 259 yards with Bruzon and Powell combined for 61 yards on 11 carries.

Colorado State Pueblo and 11th-ranked Western Colorado

Thursday, September 3 results

• Colorado 14, at Georgia Tech 13 BOX SCORE
• CSU Pueblo 35, at Fort Hays State 17  BOX SCORE
• at Western Colorado 23, Angelo State 21  BOX SCORE

Saturday, September 5 schedule

• Duquesne at Air Force, 11 a.m. MW+ AFA GAME NOTES
• Colorado Mines at Washburn, 11 a.m. MIAANet
• Colorado Mesa at Eastern N. Mexico, 2 p.m. LSNET
• Wyoming at Colorado State, 4 p.m. USA
• Arizona Christian at Fort Lewis, 6 p.m. RMACNet
• South Dakota at Northern Colorado, 6 p.m. ESPN+  UNC GAME NOTES
• Adams State at Sul Ross State, 7 p.m. LSNET

Saturday, September 12

• Adams State at Black Hills State, 1 p.m. RMACNet
• Colorado Mesa at So. Dakota Mines, 1 p.m. RMACNet
• Weber State at Colorado, 1:30 p.m. ESPN+
• Colorado Mines at CSU Pueblo, 2 p.m. RMACNet
• Northern Colorado at Wyoming, 2 p.m. MW+
• Southern Utah at Colorado State, 5 p.m. CBSSN
• New Mexico Highlands at Fort Lewis, 6 p.m. RMACNet
• Chadron St. at Western Colorado, 6 p.m. RMACNet
• North Dakota State at Air Force, 8 p.m. FS1

FBS

• Air Force (0-0)
• Colorado (1-0)
• Colorado State (0-0)

FCS

•   Northern Colorado (0-1)

DIVISION II

•  Adams State (0-1)
• Colorado Mesa (0-1)
• Colorado Mines (0-1)
• CSU Pueblo (2-0)
• Fort Lewis (0-0)
• Western Colorado (2-0)