Just two games into its season, the Colorado State-Pueblo football team certainly is not lacking for offense. The Thunderwolves’ trick — if they’re to return to a prominence not seen in South Central Colorado college football for decades — will be high-flying their way through a staunch conference.
After a two-week preseason, the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference football schedule starts this weekend with five games, including CSU-Pueblo’s hosting of Fort Lewis in the marquee game of the week. Kickoff between the T-wolves and Skyhawks is set for 6 p.m. at the ThunderBowl in Pueblo.
Since reviving a long-dormant program last year, CSU-Pueblo has jumped right back into RMAC contention. In the T-wolves’ season opener this year, former Colorado State safety turned Pueblo running back Jamaal Johnson ran for 145 yards and a score in a 28-23 victory over Eastern New Mexico.
Then last week, Pueblo quarterback Colin Clancy threw for 309 yards on 19-of-38 passing and three TDs in a loss to host Northwest Oklahoma State.
This week, CSU-Pueblo (1-1) sees Fort Lewis (1-1), which beat Oklahoma Panhandle State in its opener.
“We’ve shown flashes of greatness,” Pueblo defensive end Chase Vaughn said. “I think we’ll be all right.”
Vaughn, a unanimous preseason all-league selection, is one of only eight T-wolves seniors.
“We have high expectations as a team,” he said. “We expect big things. Even last year, we went 4-6, but we expected to do better than that. Week in, week out we expect to win.”
Against Fort Lewis, “it should be a dogfight,” Vaughn said.
Among Saturday’s other RMAC matchups, Adams State goes to Nebraska to take on Chadron State, and Colorado Mines travels to face Western New Mexico.
RMAC football
Conference play starts Saturday:
Western St. at Neb.-Kearney, 11 a.m.
Adams St. at Chadron St., noon
Colo. Mines at Western N.M., noon
Mesa St. at N.M. Highlands, 1 p.m.
Fort Lewis at CSU-Pueblo, 6 p.m.
AROUND TOWN
State Open is on tap.
One of the oldest still-volleying tennis tournaments in the United States, the 117th edition of the Colorado State Open, begins today at Gates Tennis Center in Denver.
The field of players will include some of the top players in the Rocky Mountain region. It’ll be the third and final stop in the unofficial major tour of Colorado, after Cory Ross won the Denver City Open in June and Jeremy Wurtzman upset Ross in the Boulder Open last month (gatestenniscenter.info).
In other racquet-and-ball news this weekend, the International Racquetball Tour stops in Denver for one of its major tournaments — the world championships.
A field that includes defending champ Kane Waselenchuk will be held in a glass cube on 16th Street in Denver, at Skyline Park on Arapahoe Street. The semifinals are set for Saturday and the finals follow on Sunday (irt-tour.com).
STAY ON THE COUCH
Turning back the clock.
It’ll be the Boston Patriots who travel to Buffalo to take on the Bills in the season premier of “Monday Night Football” this week. As part of the NFL’s season-long look at the original AFL from 50 years ago, the series of throwback games will start with the Patriots (they were Boston in the early 1960s) and Bills at 5 p.m.
Then, sometime around 8 p.m., the Chargers will be in Oakland to take on the Raiders.
More interesting than the old- school uniforms (the coaches and referees will be in old-timey duds too), ESPN’s newest combinations of announcers should be fun viewing.
The first team of Mike Tirico on play-by-play and Ron Jaworski and Jon Gruden tagging back color duties could collectively be the biggest chin in broadcasting. They’ll be in Buffalo for the opener.
The backup crew may be more entertainingly unstable. Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic, normally radio talk show partners, will go with Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young on the second game.
GET OFF THE COUCH
Fields of dreams.
Always a fan favorite around Denver, the Fans on the Field 5K and 10K on Sunday will take runners and walkers around town, with stops inside Invesco Field, Coors Field and Pepsi Center.
The 10K travels from Invesco Field, across the Pepsi Center floor, through the streets of LoDo, around the Coors Field warning track, along the South Platte River trail and back to the sidelines of Invesco. The 5K excludes Coors Field and includes the Cherry Creek trail.
Highlighting the field will be U.S. Paralympic soccer player and long-distance runner Greg Hansbrough, brother of former North Carolina star basketball player Tyler Hansbrough (FansOnTheField.com).
On Saturday, check the Beetlefest 4K in Frisco, a run to bring attention to the mountain pine beetle devastation. Except, it’ll be more fun than that sounds, with a bug petting zoo and a kids’ bug slug run. It’s Beetlemania (townoffrisco.com).
WHAT WE’D LIKE TO SEE
Have fun at the Fat.
Fat Tire Brewing Company’s all things cycling celebration — Tour de Fat — rides through Denver on Saturday, starting at 10 a.m. in City Park.
The Fat, what organizers call a “rolling carnival,” includes a bike parade and bike performance, bike shows, bike trade-ins, and more bikes. There’ll also be music, including Denver’s Bela Karoli and Ian Cooke.
Check tour-de-fat.com for more information.
