GUNNISON, Colo.  Western Colorado's second-half defense limited visiting West Texas A&M to half it's output from the opening two quarters, while the eighth-ranked Mountaineer offense more than doubled up its first-half point total in Thursday night's 45-28 non-conference win at the Mountaineer Bowl at the Rady Family Sports Complex.

JUST THE FACTS
Final score: Western def. West Texas, 45-28
Records: Western 1-0, West Texas 0-1
Location: Mountaineer Bowl at the Rady Family Sports Complex, Gunnison, Colo.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Gabe Schubarth's 50-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter was a key scoring play for Western, giving it a 42-28 advantage, but a pair of forced fumbles from the defense in the quarter shut the door on the visiting Buffaloes.
• West Texas opened the scoring with a quick, five-play touchdown drive only to have the Mountaineers bounce right back to tie the score on Caden Measner's 17-yard touchdown catch four minutes later.
• Western opened up a 21-7 lead only to have the Buffs score twice in the second quarter to send the teams into their halftime locker rooms knotted at 21-21.
• The halftime talk did wonders for the Mountaineers heading into the third quarter. A lengthy eight-minute scoring drive opened the quarter, ending with a six-yard swing pass to the right from Drew Nash to Jace Perez that pushed Western back in front.
• The Buffs went 80 yard in four plays in just 50 seconds to pull back even, but that would be the last highlight of the night for the West Texas offense as the Mountaineers stymied a quick-paced attack that had rung up 277 first-half yards.
• After Nash led a seven-play, 75-yard drive over four minutes, it was mostly the defense that took center stage afterward.
• The Mountaineers limited West Texas' potent attack to just 130 yards of total offense in the second half, 80 of that figure coming on its third-quarter scoring drive.
• Schubarth's electric scoring run provided breathing room, but the Buffs' three fourth-quarter drives were disasters. The first ended on a failed fourth down try, and the next two ended with fumbles recovered by Mountaineers.
• Buffs quarterback RJ Martinez was sacked by Kade Musser on a first down drop back, Martinez fumbling on the way down and Musser diving on the loose ball.
• Adam Tasei turned the turnover into a 29-yard field goal to push the margin to 17 nearing the two-minute mark of the fourth.
• Three West Texas offensive plays later, Nate Scharnhorst forced a fumble that was recovered by Cameron Cooper to put the finishing touches on a second-half effort that spearheaded the Mountaineer victory.

STATS AND STUFF

• The Mountaineers scored 24 second-half points to add to the 21 they scored in the opening half of action. And their offense was consistent over both halves, totaling 246 yards in the first two quarters, then adding 234 more over second-half action.
• Nash closed out the game with 95 rushing yards – the game leader – and two touchdowns on the ground, in addition to a 18-for-28 night through the air for 190 yards, three touchdowns with no interceptions.
• Time of possession is often a misleading stat, especially when an offense such as West Texas' plays at lightning speed. But Western's controlling offense ate up just shy of 40 minutes, limiting the Buffs to only 20 minutes. The Mountaineers' deliberate pace and rushing attack, that totaled 268 yards, forced West Texas to add playing catch-up into its fast game plan, a formula that was less effective while creating opportunities for mistakes that Western created.
• Nash was a master of distribution with his arm on the night, hitting nine different receivers, including his TD passes to Measner, Perez and tight end Kai Goetze.
• Martinez would tally a pair of scoring passes on his way to 262 yards in the air, but the dual-threat quarterback was limited to just 26 rushing yards.
• The win over the Buffs was Western's third in a row, following a West Texas three-game in streak.

THEY SAID IT


UP NEXT
The Mountaineers take the road for their next outing, traveling south to Wichita Falls, Texas, for a September 6 non-conference game at Midwestern State University.