Adams State University is looking for their first win of the season as they hit the road to take on Colorado Mesa University inside Stocker Stadium on Saturday in a historic game.
 
LIVE COVERAGE
The game will be streamed online through the RMAC Network. The radio broadcast will feature ASU Sports Information Director Eric Flores on the call. Adams State University and KSPK-FM have extended their broadcast partnership for three years. Listeners can tune in to KSPK on-air throughout all southern Colorado on 100.3 in Colorado Springs, Alamosa, and the San Luis Valley, 104.1 in South Fork and Trinidad, and 102.3 in Pueblo and Walsenburg. Fans nationwide can also tune in on KSPK's website (kspk.com).
 
WEATHER REPORT
Saturday's weather forecast is calling for showers in the morning, then partly cloudy in the afternoon. There should be some clouds in the sky with winds NE at 5 to 10 mph.
 
LEADING THE WAY
The Adams team has elected five captains for 2021: senior defensive lineman Alu Taito, senior tight end Ian Fryday, senior linebacker Braeden Meyer, senior running back Tyreik Campbell, and senior defensive end EJ Labaze.
 
WHERE WE LEFT OFF
The Grizzlies enter the game 0-5 overall and 0-3 in the RMAC after falling to South Dakota Mines in the Hall of Fame game on Saturday.
 
The two teams combined for 87 points and more than 1,100 yards of offense Oct. 2 at Rex Stadium. But after 3.5 hours of play, the Hardrockers had rallied from a 12-point halftime deficit to beat the Grizzlies 45-42.
 
Tyreik Campbell led the Grizzlies' ground game with 134 yards on 23 carries. He scored a touchdown. John Buksa was 20-for-39 for 348 yards and five touchdowns. His favorite receiver was Bryce Hampton, who caught three for 103 yards and one score. Elijah Harper's two catches totaled 14 yards; both went for touchdowns.
 
ABOUT THE MAVERICKS
The Mavericks had over 200 yards rushing in their first two games of the season but those totals dipped quite a bit in the past two weeks. You can probably chalk that up to playing two of the better defenses in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. Look for the Mavericks to get back to the strong run game this weekend as Adams State comes in allowing over 252 yards per game on the ground.
 
Avian Thomas and Morian Walker are set to return this week after being held out last week due to injuries. Thomas ranks third in the RMAC averaging 99.7 yards per game while Walker is 16th at 38.0 yards per game.
Colorado Mesa sits atop the national leaders in turnovers lost. They are currently tied with Indiana (PA) with one lost turnover on the season. The Mavericks lone turnover was an interception against New Mexico Highlands that came on a 3rd-and-17 in the third quarter of the game.
 
The Mavericks are +6 in the turnover margin this season.
 
PAVING THE WAY
The Grizzlies are doing great as they have two players in the top 11 in the NCAA with defensive stats. A'brae Booker-Currin, who had 12 solo tackles, is sitting in seventh on the NCAA Division II leaderboard with 32 and is sitting in 11th with a 6.4 tackles per game average.
 
Bryce Hampton, who has three straight games with an interception, is tied for second with interceptions per game as he has four with is tied for second in Division II.
 
MAVS LEAD THE SERIES
The Mavericks lead the series as they hold a 30-16 overall record in 46 games between these two teams, dating back to the first time they met back in 1940. That first game was a 26-2 loss for the Grizzlies. While playing in Grand Junction, the Mavericks lead the series with a 18-3 overall record.
 
Colorado Mesa is on a six-game winning streak over the Grizzlies dating back to the last Grizzly win on Nov. 16, 2013, when they defeated the Mavericks 19-17. In 2019 the Mavericks defeated the Grizzlies 35-13 in Alamosa while the 2018 match up was a 64-63 overtime win for Colorado Mesa on the Western Slope.
 
MAKING RMAC HISTORY
For a league that has been around since 1909, history will be made on Saturday as it will mark the first time two black head coaches have faced off against each other in the sport inside the RMAC.
 
Tremaine Jackson is in his second season at the helm of the Mavericks after being hired in December of 2019. Jackson has the Mavericks at 3-1 this season and is 5-2 in his career as he guided the team during the three game 2020 COVID season. Adams State's Jarrell Harrison started with Grizzlies in 2016 and was elevated to the full-time head coach in January of 2021. Harrison has the team still in search of their first win of the season but has put up an average of 45 points in their past two matchups.
 
It is believed that Versie Wallace has been the only other black head football coach at a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference school prior to the current three head coaches. Wallace guided the Colorado School of Mines Orediggers from 1995 to 2000.
 
Fort Lewis College's Darrius Smith is the other current black football head coach in the RMAC. Colorado Mesa faces Fort Lewis on October 16 in Durango while Adams State takes on the Skyhawks on November 6 in the Musket Game.
 
The South Atlantic Conference (SAC) is having the same thing happen in their conference as well as Carson Newman's Mike Clowney takes on Catawba's Curtis Walker.
 
NEW LEADERSHIP
On April 26th, Adams State University removed the interim tag from Head Football Coach Jarrell Harrison, who officially became the 24th coach in Adams State football history.
 
Harrison joined Adams State football in 2016 as a Running Backs Coach and Special Teams Assistant under former Head Coach Timm Rosenbach. He was promoted to interim head coach on January 5, 2021, after the resignation of former Head Coach Josh Blankenship. Blankenship finished his two-year tenure with the Grizzlies with an 8-14 (.364) overall record; 8-12 (.400) RMAC.
 
Harrison makes history for Adams State University as he becomes the first African American to lead the football program, in this, the University's 100th year.
 
IN THE POLLS
The Adams State Grizzlies earned one first-place vote and were selected to finish in seventh place in the RMAC by the conferences' ten head coaches while the Colorado Mesa University Mavericks have been picked fourth.
 
AROUND THE RMAC
Colorado Mesa's Karst Hunter, South Dakota Mines' Kyante Christian and Chadron State's Gunnar Jones are the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Football Players of the Week, the league announced Monday.
 
In the standings, Colorado School of Mines and CSU Pueblo are the top teams in the conference as they are undefeated in the conference. Mines is the only undefeated team in the conference overall as they are a perfect 5-0.
 
Five games are on the docket this weekend in the RMAC and for the third time this season, the Grizzlies are the latest game on the schedule for the weekend. The game with Colorado Mesa is set to kickoff at 6:00 p.m. while Fort Lewis and South Dakota Mines are set to start at 12:00 p.m. CSU Pueblo and Chadron State, Colorado School of Mines and Black Hills State and New Mexico and Western are set to all start at 1:00 p.m.
 
NEXT TIME
Adams State returns home next weekend for homecoming as they host Chadron State College.