Air Force and Colorado State presented their head coach with milestone victories, and Colorado Mesa and Fort Lewis joined the Falcons in posting wins on Saturday to improve the Centennial State’s football record for the week to 7-2-1 after Colorado, Colorado State Pueblo, and Western Colorado posted wins on Thursday.
After Troy Calhoun started his 20th season with his 140th win as the Air Force coach, the Falcons posted a 34-0 win over Duquesne at Falcon Stadium early Saturday afternoon; Colorado State started the Jim Mora era with a 35-13 Bronze Boot win over Wyoming in Fort Collins.
In posting their 30th straight win over a Football Championship Subdivision team, Air Force amassed 450 total yards (18 players rushed for 431 yards) while limiting Duquesne to 107 total yards (54 rushing and 53 passing). READ MORE
Tailback Rocco Conti (77 yards), fullback Kemper Hodges (72 yards, one TD) and quarterback Liam Szarka (51 yards, two TDs) combined for 200 yards on 29 carries to pace the Falcon attack as Air Force passed only seven times in the game.
Played before a record crowd of 40,546 at Canvas Stadium, Colorado State scored the last 21 points in the game after the Cowboys opened up the second half with a 7-play, 55-yard drive to cut the deficit to one point (14-13) with almost 26 minutes left in the game. READ MORE
With Ram quarterback Hauss Hejny throwing for three of his five touchdowns in the final 19 minutes of the game, the CSU defense helped the cause by giving up only 34 yards on Wyoming’s final four drives of the contest.
In losing the Bronze Boot after shuting out the Rams 28-0 at Laramie last season, the Cowboys were unable to overcome four turnovers (three interceptions, one fumble) that led to 14 points for CSU.
Hejny, who rushed for 39 yards on seven carries, completed 23 of 33 passes for 214 yards. Reginald Vick, Jr. caught three of Hejny’s scoring tosses for 3, 57, and 4 yards as he finished the game with six catches for 75 yards.
With a balanced attack (227 yards rushing and three touchdowns and 203 yards passing and three touchdowns), Colorado Mesa jumped to a 35-9 lead after three quarters and held on to post a 42-23 win at Eastern New Mexico in Portales. READ MORE
In Durango, a week after having its opening game canceled, Fort Lewis rallied from a 9-6 deficit versus Arizona Christian to post a 27-9 win over the Firestorm by scoring the last 21 points in the final 18 minutes of the game. READ MORE
Jacob Morris passed for two touchdowns in the second half to lead the Skyhawk comeback, starting with a 35-yard scoring strike to Solomon Latimer with 2:19 left in the third quarter, followed by a 17-yard TD pass to Michael Collins with 4:45 left in the game.
Saturday’s schedule for Centennial State schools started earlier than usual as Colorado Mines tied Washburn 16-16 in Topeka, Kan., in a non-conference contest that went to overtime but was ended due to the Mid-American Intercollegiate Athletic Association’s extreme-heat rules (heat index at the time of suspension was 107 degrees). READ MORE
With the game scheduled to start at noon local time in the Kansas capital city, the contest was halted around 11:30 a.m. after the kickoff was moved to 9 a.m. to try to beat the forecast for triple-digit temperatures in Topeka.
Nick Stone had a career game with nine catches for 125 yards and a touchdown, and Max Barnes rushed for 83 yards, and Joseph Capra completed 21-of-33 passes for 214 yards and a touchdown, while also rushing for 32 yards.
It was the first tie for the Orediggers since the overtime era began, with Mines and New Mexico Highlands knotting at 13-13 in 1994. College football introduced overtime for the 1996 season.
The second quarter doomed Northern Colorado and Adams State. South Dakota broke from a 7-7 first-quarter tie with UNC to take a 21-7 lead with 40 seconds left in the first half enroute to a 38-23 win over the Bears in Greeley. UNC WEB ARTICLE
In the evening’s final game for Centennial State gridders, Adams State gave up 21 points to Sul Ross State and fell to 52-26 to the Lobos in Alpine, Texas. It was the 30th straight setback for the Grizzlies, with their last win coming in 2023 against New Mexico Highlands, a 21-14 victory on September 30 in Las Vegas.
This week’s action started Thursday, with Colorado, fifth-ranked Colorado State Pueblo and 11th-ranked Western Colorado posting wins. The Buffs stunned Georgia Tech 14-13 in Atlanta; CSU Pueblo won 35-17 at Fort Hays State; and Western Colorado rallied to post a 23-21 win over Angelo State in Gunnison.
Saturday, September 5 results
- at Air Force 34, Duquesne 0 BOX SCORE
- Colorado Mines 16, at Washburn 16 BOX SCORE
- Colorado Mesa 42, at Eastern New Mexico 23 BOX SCORE
- at Colorado State 35, Wyoming 13 BOX SCORE
- at Fort Lewis 27, Arizona Christian 9 BOX SCORE
- South Dakota 38, at Northern Colorado 23 BOX SCORE
- at Sul Ross State 53, Adams State 26 BOX SCORE
Thursday, September 3 results
- Colorado 14, at Georgia Tech 13 BOX SCORE / READ MORE
- CSU Pueblo 35, at Fort Hays State 17 BOX SCORE / READ MORE
- at Western Colorado 23, Angelo State 21 BOX SCORE / READ MORE
Saturday, September 12 schedule
- Adams State at Black Hills State, 1 p.m. RMACNet
- Colorado Mesa at South 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
WEEKLY STATISTICS through September 5 – PDF
FBS
- Air Force (1-0)
- Colorado (1-0)
- Colorado State (1-0)
FCS
- Northern Colorado (0-2)
DIVISION II
- Adams State (0-2)
- Colorado Mesa (1-1)
- Colorado Mines (0-1-1)
- CSU Pueblo (2-0)
- Fort Lewis (1-0)
- Western Colorado (2-0)
