ALAMOSA, Colo. (October 1, 2014) – The Adams State University football team will make their way to the Neta and Eddie DeRose ThunderBowl on Saturday to face the No. 2 Colorado State University-Pueblo ThunderWolves.
CSU-Pueblo enters the conference tilt on a 41-game winning streak which was kept intact after last week's 45-7 thrashing over Western New Mexico University. The ThunderWolves (4-0, 2-0 RMAC) will be making their first home appearance since the season opener on Sept. 4.
The Grizzlies (1-3, 0-2 RMAC) look to shake up the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) with a win on Saturday after falling short, 39-37, a week ago against Western State Colorado University. The Mountaineers grabbed the lead, and the game, with a touchdown as only 0:06 remained in regulation. It marked the first Grizzly loss in the Colorado Classic series since 2001.
Junior quarterback
Lamar McKnight had his best performance as a Grizzly with 324 passing yards and two touchdowns. McKnight also accounted for 27 yards on the ground and one rushing touchdown. He found wide receiver
Harry Adjei for 187 yards on six receptions while
Drew Edwards led all players with seven receptions along with 76 yards.
Defensively,
Derek Mathiason led the charge with 12 total tackles (8 solo) and two sacks. In the loss, freshman
Amare Burks and junior
Josh Robbins each recorded their first interception with the program.
Adams State will be facing a stout CSU-Pueblo defensive unit which is ranked nationally in the top 10 of four statistical categories. They also lead the RMAC in:
- scoring defense (14.2 avg/g)
- total defense (268.8 avg/g)
- rushing defense (101.0 yards/g)
- pass defense (167.8 avg/g)
- pass defense efficiency (85.1)
- sacks (19)
- turnover margin (+7)
These efforts are led by RMAC Preseason Defensive Player of the Year, Darius Allen. At 6-foot-3 and 239 pounds, the defensive end has 13 tackles and 4.5 sacks through four contests. However, Allen's efforts are bested by defensive end Morgan Fox with 24 tackles and a conference-best 6.5 sacks. Teammate Stephan Dickens leads the team with three interceptions including one returned 30-yards for a touchdown last week against WNMU.
Offensively the ThunderWolves have recorded 40+ points in two games while maintaining an average margin of victory of 24 points. Running back Cameron McDondle ranks second in the RMAC with 96.8 rushing yards/game. Last week the junior rushed for 130 yards on 23 carries and two touchdowns. Quarterback Chris Bonner will command an offense that averages 38.2 ppg. Thus far Bonner has 988 yards passing along with 10 touchdowns and only three interceptions.
In last season's meeting, CSU-Pueblo defeated ASU 48-7 from Rex Stadium. It marked the Grizzlies first loss of the season after beginning 3-0.
An ASU beer and barbeque tailgate will precede the 6:00 p.m. kickoff in the west parking lot of the Neta and Eddie DeRose ThunderBowl. Admission for the tailgate and parking are both $5 apiece. Pregame festivities are tentatively scheduled to begin at 4:00 p.m.
The game will be broadcasted on Altitude Sports & Entertainment with radio services brought to you by KSPK-FM. For fans able to attend the game, tickets can be purchased,
here.
