THE MOUNTAINEERS HEADING INTO THIS WEEK | 2019 SEASON STATS
Western Colorado set a season-high for points and turnovers Saturday as the Mountaineers went on the road and defeated Black Hills State 42-21 in Spearfish, South Dakota. WCU forced five turnovers - including two interceptions from Quincy Campbell - while Luke Nethercot, making his second start, threw a career-best four touchdowns as he went 23-for-31 for 218 yards. Ty Leyba led the team in rushing with 94 yards while Josh Cummings added 69 yards and two touchdowns and James Bryant had eight catches for 75 yards and a touchdown. WCU defensive tackle Will Lydle had a big day as well, finishing with 10 tackles - including three sacks and five quarterback hurries.

Nethercot has been efficient in his two starts this season (replacing hte injured Connor Desch) as he's 31-for-48 for 346 yards, five touchdowns and no interceptions. Bryant now has a team-best 35 catches and 369 receiving yards while Zach Manchester (18 catches, 294 yards) and Kai Emmsley (21 catches, 240 yards) each have a team-best three touchdown receptions. On the ground, Leyba leads the team with 479 yards while Cummings has 298 yards and a team-best seven rushing touchdowns.

Defensively, Desmond Marfizo leads the team with 58 tackles (including 11.5 for a loss and 4.5 sacks) while Dominick Fletcher has 52 tackles and a team-best 30 solo tackles. Lydle is now fifth in the RMAC with 7.5 sacks to go along with his 44 tackles (fourth on the team). Josh Nelson picked up his RMAC-best fifth interception last week while also having 32 tackles, six pass breakups and two fumble recoveries.

NEW MEXICO HIGHLANDS HEADING INTO THIS WEEK | 2019 SEASON STATS
The Cowboys have dropped two games in a row after winning their first game of the season 17-13 against Black Hills State on Oct. 19. NMHU fell to South Dakota Mines 8-7 on a touchdown in the final minute on Oct. 26 before losing to Chadron State at home 41-7 on Saturday.

NMHU has split time at quarterback between Gunner Mefferd (24-for-72, 394 yards, 1 TD, 5 INT) and Ramone Atkins (32-for-94, 403 yards, 2 TD, 6 INT). J'juan Muldrow has been the team's top pass catcher with 11 receptions for 179 yards while Juames Budgett leads the team in rushing with 389 yards. Defensively, Malik Brown leads the Cowboys with 51 tackles to go along with a team-best three interceptions while Trejen Lawrence is second with 40 tackles and seven tackles for a loss.
 

PRE/POST/IN-GAME ENTERTAINMENT

COME TAILGATE WITH 5B'S!
5B's will sponsor a barbeque at every home game! Look for the bright pink truck and music outside the wrestling room entrance of Paul Wright Gym starting at 10:30 a.m. They will be offering a sandwich and chips for $8 ($6 with your MAA card). 

SALUTE TO THE MILITARY WEEKEND: FREE ENTRY TO WCU FOOTBALL AND VOLLEYBALL!
With Veterans Day on Monday, we are honoring those who served and are currently serving with a Salute to the Military Weekend with free entry for veterans and active duty members to football on Saturday and to volleyball on Friday and Saturday.

PUT FIVE ON IT FOR A CAUSE WITH MOUNTAINEER FOOTBALL FOR EVERY TD AND TURNOVER!
The WCU football team for every touchdown and turnover on Saturday will donate $5 to the "Helping Hands" fund set up by the WCU Foundation to help students affected by the Moffat Hall flooding. You can donate on your own as there will be jars around the stadium as every dollar raised will go to assist those who lost uninsured items in the flood. You can also go to WesternUp.org and put "Helping Hands" in the comment box to donate immediately.

MountainBEER Zone
We once again will be hosting a beer garden at the top of Mountaineer Bowl. Any fans 21-and-over can enjoy an adult beverage while cheering on the Mountaineers.

POSTGAME SOCIAL
The postgame social will be at the Elks Lodge located at 123 South Main Street in Gunnison.

2019 WESTERN COLORADO NOTES

SERIES HISTORY VS. NEW MEXICO HIGHLANDS
Saturday marks the 55th game for the Mountaineers against New Mexico Highlands with Western Colorado holding a 34-20 advantage. The Mountaineers lost to the Cowboys in Las Vegas, New Mexico, last season 20-16 with NMHU scoring the go-ahead touchdown with 9:51 left in the contest.

The Mountaineers are 19-8 against the Cowboys at home, including winning that last five matchups in Gunnison (the last loss to NMHU at home came Sept. 15, 2007).

DAVIS NAMED TO THE RMAC ALL-ACADEMIC FIRST TEAM
Senior kicker Chandler Davis was named to the RMAC All-Academic First Team as he has a 3.51 grade point average with a major in Psychology while being second in the RMAC field goals made with 12 and being named the RMAC Special Teams Player of the Week twice this season. He's the first Mountaineer to make the RMAC All-Academic First Team since Austin Ekeler and Austin Yurko in 2016. Fifteen other Mountaineer football players were named to the RMAC All-Academic Honor Roll.

MARFIZO NAMED RMAC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK (Oct. 28)
Senior linebacker Desmond Marfizo was the catalyst for the Mountaineers' 31-0 win over Fort Lewis on Oct. 26 and was named the RMAC Defensive Player of the Week after racking up 10 tackles, six tackles for a loss, two sacks, a blocked field goal and a pass breakup. It's the second time this season the Mountaineers have won the conference's weekly defensive award and the fourth time overall a WCU player has earned a conference weekly honor.

BAINS MOVES TO FIFTH ON WESTERN WINS LIST
WCU head coach Jas Bains moved to fifth on the Mountaineers' all-time wins list with 25, getting his 23rd win against Chadron State on Oct. 5 in Gunnison for his 23rd win to pass Jeff Zenisek (2001-05). No. 4 on the list is O. Kay Dalton (1961-65) with 33 victories. Bill Noxon (1971-84) holds the No. 1 spot on the Mountaineer wins list with 87.

THE LONGEST CONTINUOUS RIVALRY IN COLORADO COLLEGE FOOTBALL
There isn't a longer continuous college football rivalry in Colorado than the Mountaineers and Colorado School of Mines as the teams have played each other every year since 1946. This year was the 95th meeting between these teams with CSM winning 28-0 to narrow WCU's lead in the series to 52-41-2.

AGAINST RANKED OPPONENTS
The Mountaineers in a loss to No. 11 Colorado School of Mines on Oct. 12 continued a skid against ranked opponents that now sits at seven games. WCU's last win against a ranked opponent was a 45-31 win over No. 23 Colorado School of Mines on Sept. 24, 2016.

DAVIS NAMED RMAC SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK ... AGAIN (Oct.  7)
For the second time this season, WCU kicker Chandler Davis was named the RMAC Special Teams Player of the Week on Oct. 7 after going 2-for-2 on field goals and 3-for-3 on extra points in the Mountaineers' one-point win over Chadron State.

The first time Davis earned the honor was when he booted arguably one of the biggest kicks in recent memory for the Western Colorado football program as he drilled a 29-yard field goal as time expired to beat Colorado Mesa 30-28 in Grand Junction. Davis connected on that field goal after waiting out four timeouts to help the Mountaineers beat Colorado Mesa for the first time since 2013 and for the first time in Grand Junction since 2001 along with propelling WCU to its first 2-0 start in RMAC play since 2003.

A PAIR OF WINS THAT WERE A LONG TIME COMING
Five games into the season the Mountaineers have already knocked off a pair of teams in places they haven't won in a long time. WCU defeated Colorado Mesa this season in Grand Junction for the first time since 2001 and the Mountaineers defeated Chadron State at home in the Mountaineer Bowl for the first time since 1997.

AGAINST THE CORNHUSKER STATE
The Mountaineers after their 33-32 win over Chadron State this season are 21-33-1 against teams from Nebraska, including 12-15-1 at home against teams from the Cornhusker state.

COLORADO CLASSIC
The history between Western Colorado and Adams State - i.e. the Colorado Classic - dates back to 1934 (a 14-0 Mountaineers win in Gunnison) and the Mountaineers and Grizzlies have played every year since 1950 - making it the second-longest continual rivalry in Colorado. The teams play for the Colorado Classic Trophy, which travels with the winning institution.

The Mountaineers now hold a 40-33 advantage after falling just short against Adams State this season 38-31 in a game that went down to the final two minutes.

The longest continual rivalry in Colorado is between Western Colorado and Colorado School of Mines as the two teams have played each year since 1946 and have played each other 93 times overall - the first meeting coming in 1925.

BEST START IN CONFERENCE PLAY SINCE 2003
With wins over South Dakota Mines and Colorado Mesa to begin RMAC play, WCU won their first two conference contests for the first time since 2003. 

GARLOCK NAMED RMAC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK (Sept. 16)
Western Colorado linebacker Robert Garlock was named RMAC Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 16 after the sophomore from Reno, Nevada, had a team-high seven tackles in the contest - including five solo tackles - in helping the Mountaineer defense not allow an offensive score (the Hardrockers' only score came on returning a blocked field goal for a touchdown) during a 27-7 win over South Dakota Mines. The Western Colorado defense allowed just 177 yards in helping the Mountaineers win their first RMAC opener since 2006.

AGAINST TEAMS FROM SOUTH DAKOTA
The Mountaineers are now 5-7 against teams from South Dakota - including going 3-3 at home against teams from the Mount Rushmore state.

SEASON OPENERS
Western Colorado is now 32-62 all-time in season openers after falling to Idaho State this season. The last season-opening win for the Mountaineers came in 2014 against Wayland Baptist, 38-21, on the road. Of their 32 season opening wins, the Mountaineers have finished those seasons with a winning record 19 times (59.4 percent) and won the conference title 12 times (37.5 percent).

AGAINST TEAMS FROM IDAHO
Against all teams from Idaho, the Mountaineers now have a 9-23-1 record after falling in their season opener at Idaho State this season. Western has played the College of Idaho and Southern Idaho twice, splitting both games against both teams, to go along with the 29 games against Idaho State. In the state of Idaho, the Mountaineers have a 3-17 record.