GUNNISON, Colo. - Saturday is Homecoming in Mountaineer Bowl for the Western Colorado University Mountaineer football team. Western hosts 12th-ranked Colorado School of Mines for the 1 p.m. Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference showdown.

Western (0-5, 0-4 RMAC) will be looking to upset the ranked Orediggers once again. Last weekend, the Mountaineers fell to Chadron State College on the road, 22-40.

The Mountaineer offense if guided by senior running back Isaac Fuqua. Fuqua is second in the RMAC and fifth in Division II with 600 yards rushing. The only conference player with more rushing yards is the Orediggers' Cameron Mayberry with 625. 

Defensively, Lane Farris and Mark Zavala have been key cogs in the wheel for Western. Farris leads the team and is tied for seventh in the conference for total tackles with 44. Zavala is third in the RMAC with 8.0 tackles for a loss and his four sacks ties him for fourth in the conference rankings.

CSM (5-0, 5-0 RMAC) enters the weekend following a 72-31 trouncing of Colorado Mesa University in Golden, Colorado. The Orediggers sit alone atop the RMAC standings as the lone undefeated team in the conference.

Along with Mayberry and quarterback Isaac Harker, Mines boasts the second most productive offense in Division II, averaging 551 yards per game.

On defense, the Orediggers have four players that have recorded 25 or more tackles this season. Leading the charge is Averie Mansfield with 29 tackles and six tackles for a loss.

A reminder to fans planning on attending Saturday's game, tickets are required to enter all home football games. Mountaineer Athletic Association members should have received their season tickets in the mail. MAA All-Sport passes will be required for all other athletic competitions besides football.

Fans can purchase single game and season tickets by visiting www.GoMountaineers.com/tickets.
 
Tickets will also be available for purchase before the start of every home game at the main entrance of Mountaineer Bowl.
 
Single game tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for senior citizens and $5 for students – other than Western and Gunnison Watershed School District students.
 
A partnership between Western Athletics and the Gunnison Watershed School District allows all students from the Gunnison Valley, including Crested Butte, to enter free of charge at any of Western's home events, across all sports, during the 2017-18 school year.
 
Like past years, all Western students with get into all regular season home events free of charge with a student ID.
 
Fans now have the option to purchase tickets online and either print them at home, obtain tickets at will call before the game, or have tickets sent over the mail.

For more information on tailgating and the Mountaineer Bowl game day experience, please click the corresponding links.

Those unable to attend Saturday's game on the road can follow all the action live over the internet (live stats, live video) and on social media (@WCUMountaineer, @MountaineerFB). The game will also be broadcasted in the Gunnison Valley over the air waves on 98.3 FM The Edge, and online through KWSB.org.   

GAME NOTES

SERIES HISTORY
Saturday's game will be the 93rd meeting between Western and the Colorado School of Mines. The Mountaineers hold a commanding 52-38-2 lead on the series.
 
The matchup between Mines and Western is the longest continual rivalry in the state of Colorado, dating back to 1946. The first game played between the two schools came in 1925.
 
Western has won the last two-of-three meetings against the Orediggers, but fell in last year's game, 7-45.
 
The Mountaineers are 30-17 over CSM in games played in Gunnison.
 
Western's last win over the Orediggers came at home in 2016, winning by a score of 45-31.
 
HOMECOMING
Saturday's game against Mines is Western's 2018 Homecoming Game.
 
Following a 12-15 loss to Dixie State University during last season's Homecoming, the Mountaineers have won 40 percent (4-of-10) of Homecoming games since 2008.
 
Also since 2008, Western has a 4-5 record against RMAC opponents on homecoming.
 
The last Mountaineer homecoming victory before last season came against CSM in 2016. Western won the game, 45-31 against the then ranked No. 23 Orediggers.
 
AGAINST RANKED OPPONENTS
Colorado School of Mines enters Saturday's game ranked 12th in the AFCA Poll. It will be the second time this season Western will have faced a ranked opponent.
 
CMU entered week three ranked 19th in the AFCA Poll. The Mountaineers fell to the Mavericks in a close 20-24 battle.
 
Since 2015, Western is 2-6 against ranked opponents.
 
Last season, the Mountaineers were 0-3 against ranked opponents. This season, Western is 0-1.
 
The Mountaineers have defeated the Orediggers the previous two times CSM has been ranked before the meeting (2015 - ranked 21st; 2016 - ranked 22nd).
 
THE BAINS REIGN
Western Head Coach Jas Bains is tied with Paul Wright (1935-47) for the sixth most wins by a Mountaineer football coach at 20.
 
Bains is two wins away from tying Jeff Zenisek (2001-05) for the fifth most wins by a coach in program history at 22.
 
Bains, in his eighth season, has coached the third most games for the Mountaineers at 82.
 
Carl "Duke" Iverson (1988-2000) holds the second most games coached at Western with 127.

VERY TRENDY
Following 196 yards rushing against Colorado Mesa University in week three, and a career-high 224 yards against Adams State in week four, Western running back Isaac Fuqua has tallied 100 yards or more on the ground in three of the last four games.
 
Fuqua has been a large reason the Mountaineer offense has recorded over 300 yards of total offense in four consecutive weeks.
 
Mountaineer quarterbacks have been distributing the ball well, connecting with six or more receivers in all four games this season, and with seven receivers in four of the first five games.
 
In three of Western's five games played, the defense has held opponents scoreless in the fourth quarter.
 
Western's defense has also recorded one or more sacks in every game this season. The Mountaineer pass rushers have totaled four sacks in each of the two previous games.
 
IN THE CORNHUSKER STATE
Following week five's loss to Chadron State College, Western's record is 20-33-1 against teams from Nebraska.
 
The Mountaineers have played 27 games within the Nebraska state lines and have a record of 9-18 in those games.
 
COLORADO CLASSIC
The rivalry between Adams State University and Western Colorado University is the second longest continual rivalry in the state of Colorado.
 
These two programs have been playing each other every year since 1950. The winner of the Colorado Classic earns the right to possess the Colorado Classic Trophy, which travels to the winning institution. The trophy currently resides at Adams after the Grizzlies won this season's game, 55-52 in overtime.
 
Western holds the all-time series record, 40-32
 
The longest continual rivalry in Colorado is between Western and Colorado School of Mines. The two schools have played 92 games, dating back to 1925. The Mountaineers and Orediggers have played each other every season for the last 76 years, dating back to 1946.
 
HALL OF FAME
Week three's game against CMU was Western's Hall of Fame Game. On Friday night before the game, Western Athletics will induct former runner Sheila Winegardner (Barrett), the 1966-68 men's swim teams, former football player and coach Casey Coons, and former football player T.W. Stites into the Mountaineer Sports Hall of Fame. The class of 2018 is the 24th to enter the MSHOF.
 
After falling to CMU 20-24, Western is 3-6 in Hall of Fame games since 2010. The last Mountaineer win during Hall of Fame came against Adams State University in 2016.
 
RMAC OPENERS
The Mountaineers have struggled winning the conference opener recently. Over the past 14 seasons, Western has a 1-13 record in their Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference openers. The lone victory came against New Mexico Highlands University in 2006 on the road, with the Mountaineers winning 14-9. Western lost this year's RMAC opener to South Dakota Mines on the road in week two, 21-38.
 
AGAINST TEAMS FROM SOUTH DAKOTA
Following week two's game against South Dakota Mines, Western has a 4-7 record against teams from South Dakota.
 
The Mountaineers have played six games in the Mount Rushmore state. Western has a record of 2-4. All but one of those games has been played in the last five years - 1973 at the South Dakota State University, losing 28-53.
 
The last win for Western in South Dakota was a 42-7 win at South Dakota School of Mines & Technology in the final game of the 2016 season.
 
RMAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Following a career-best game against Idaho State in week one, Western punter Garrett Boyd was named the RMAC Special Teams Player of the Week for week one of the season.
 
Boyd recorded a career-high 495 punting yard in Western's first game of the season. The junior from Mesa, Arizona averaged 45 yards per punt on 11 attempts against the Bengals, kicking three over 50 yards. It was the sixth time in his career Boyd has netted over 300 yards punting.
 
Boyd led all of Division II in punt yards after the first week of play.
 
ALONE ATOP THE MOUNTAIN
Western kick returner Rodray Perkins entered the season needing 99 yards to become the school's all-time leader in kick return yards. Perkins surpassed Jimmy Evans' previous record of 1,393 in week one against Idaho State, recording 160 yards on eight attempts.
 
Perkins has 1,523 career kick return yards and has now gained 100 or more kickoff return yards in six games during his career.
 
RECORD WATCH
These Mountaineers have reached the peak or are climbing the
Western all-time lists.
 
CAREER KICK RETURN YARDS
1. Rodray Perkins   2015-          1,542
2. Jimmy Evans      1997-00   1,393
 
GAME PUNT YARDS
1. Ryan Corn vs. Chadron State                                            
                10/13/01                 502
2. Garrett Boyd at Idaho State
                        8/31/18                             495
 
GAME KICKOFF RETURNS
1. Alex Gallegos vs. Chadron State                                        
                09/01/90                 8
- Rodray Perkins at Idaho State
                        8/31/18                             8
 
LONGEST RUN
1. Tyrone Whipple vs. Fort Lewis
                1985        97
-  Bill Rhodes
                NA           97
3. Isaac Fuqua vs. Colorado Mesa
                        9/15/18     95
 
GAME RUSHING ATTEMPTS
4. Austin Ekeler vs. Colorado Mesa
                11/15/14                 41
5. Isaac Fuqua vs. Adams State
                        9/22/18                             39
 
GAME RUSHING TOUCHDOWNS
1. Bill Schmalz vs. Adams State
                1957                        5
- Austin Ekeler at Western New Mexico
                10/24/15                         5
- Isaac Fuqua vs. Adams State
                        9/22/18                             5