The RMAC Approach: Football Week 8

Week 8 features a three-game slate, highlighted by Colorado School of Mines at Western Colorado

10/24/2025 10:19:20 AM

By: Cody Bush, Associate Commissioner / Strategic Communications

The Weekly Preview

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – It’s a lighter week across the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference in Week 8 with just three games on the schedule before the final three-week sprint to the RMAC championship.

The league’s Week 8 slate starts with a bang as Colorado School of Mines travels to Western Colorado University to kick off the day’s action.  The nationally ranked and unbeaten Mountaineers look to avoid a trap game, with a much-anticipated game against Colorado State University-Pueblo waiting in Week 9. Meanwhile, Colorado School of Mines brings a two-game win streak into the 100th meeting between the teams, including a 72-point, 763-yard outburst last weekend.

Elsewhere, two teams look to get back to .500 in RMAC play before the final stretch of games. New Mexico Highlands is one of those squads and looks to build on last week’s win, which ended a three-game losing streak to each of the league’s unbeaten teams. Colorado Mesa is the other and will look to shake off last week’s loss to New Mexico Highlands, which dropped it below .500 this season. They each play RMAC teams on the hunt for their first RMAC win of 2025 with the Cowboys traveling to Adams State and the Mavericks hosting Fort Lewis College.  

Week 8 Schedule

Saturday, Oct. 25
Colorado School of Mines at (6/5) Western Colorado 1 p.m. RMAC Network
Fort Lewis at Colorado Mesa 2 p.m. RMAC Network
New Mexico Highlands at Adams State 6 p.m. RMAC Network

Rankings: AFCA Coaches Poll/D2Football.com Poll. Yellow indicates an RMAC contest.

RMAC Storylines

  • New Mexico Highlands freshman running back Jeffery Jones is still hunting the Division II rushing title this season. He enters Week 8 action ranked second in both rushing yards (1,112) and rushing yards per game (185.3 ypg) behind Virginia Union’s Curtis Allen (1,360 yds, 194.3 ypg). Jones has four games remaining in 2025 while Allen has three games left in the regular season.
  • CSU Pueblo’s defense is patrolling a no-fly zone this season, ranking second among Division II teams with 15 interceptions and ranking third with a +12 turnover margin. The ThunderWolves have a pick in seven of their eight games, including 13 interceptions during their current six-game streak. Dre’Monti Jackson, Peyton Shaw , and Bryson Torrie are leading the charge with three interceptions each.
  • Black Hills State junior TJ Chukwurah leads all Division II receivers with 12 touchdown receptions this season. He is also among the Top 10 Division II receivers in receiving yards per game (12th, 90.8 ypg) and is third among Division II receivers with 726 total receiving yards.
  • Western Colorado quarterback Drew Nash is ninth nationally with a 173.3 pass efficiency rating and is fourth with 156 points rushing and passing (points responsible for). He enters the week leading the RMAC and ranked 10th nationally with 302.7 yards of total offense.
  • On the other side of the ball, Western Colorado leads all Division I teams in tackles for loss, averaging 10.1 per game. That total includes 3.7 sacks per game, which ranks eighth nationally. Cameron Cooper (1.5 TFL/g) leads a group of four defenders ranked in the RMAC Top 5 in tackles for loss per game.
  • Chadron State’s Logan O’Brien leads the RMAC and is eighth nationally with 1.75 tackles for loss per game, including 0.63 sacks per game which ranks second in the league behind New Mexico Highlands’ Corey Martin (0.71 QBS/g).

Division II Unbeaten Watch

The ranks of the Division II unbeatens are down to eight after Week 7’s action as West Alabama took its first loss of the season. The remaining undefeated teams in Division II are Western Colorado, Augustana, Benedict, Kutztown, Findlay, Harding, Ferris State, and West Florida. CSU Pueblo is one of 18 teams with one loss this season.

RMAC Teams in the National Polls

AFCA Coaches: (6) Western Colorado; (7) CSU Pueblo; (RV) Chadron State
D2Football.com: (5) Western Colorado; (9) CSU Pueblo

NMHU’s Jones Grabs D2Football.com Weekly Honor

D2Football.com named Jeffery Jones its Week 1 National Offensive Player of the Week after his NCAA Division II freshman record 385-yard rushing performance against Western New Mexico. It is the first D2Football weekly award for an RMAC student-athlete since CSU Pueblo’s Cody Ramming claimed the Week 7 (Oct. 22) special teams honor last season.

RMAC Athletes Claim NFF Colorado Chapter Weekly Honor

The National Football Foundation’s Colorado Chapter recognizes a Player of the Week from the State of Colorado’s 10 football-playing institutions. With Colorado Mesa’s Brandon Belgrave claiming the Week 6 honor, an RMAC student-athlete has claimed the honor in five of this season’s eight weeks.
  • Week 1: Drew Nash, Western Colorado
  • Week 2: Roman Fuller, CSU Pueblo
  • Week 3: Landon Walker, Colorado School of Mines
  • Week 4: Kaidon Salter, Colorado
  • Week 5: Bryson Torrie, CSU Pueblo
  • Week 6:  Brandon Belgrave, Colorado Mesa
  • Week 7: Owen Long, Colorado State
  • Week 8: Carver Cheeks, Northern Colorado

NCAA Division II Championship Adds Automatic Bids, Expands Bracket

This summer, the NCAA made two significant changes that took immediate effect. During the January convention, the football-sponsoring delegates approved a proposal to provide automatic-qualification privileges to all conferences that sponsor football. Three months later, the Division II Executive Board expanded the bracket to 32 teams to comply with Division II championship policies, which require bracket expansion when automatic qualifiers comprise more than 50% of the field. This would have been the case with 16 automatic-qualifying conferences in the old 28-team bracket. There will be no change to the championship dates as the four No. 1 seeds will no longer receive byes under the new format.

NCAA Division II Championships to air free of charge on NCAA platforms

Divisions II and III will livestream more than 1,200 championship games free to fans for the 2025-26 academic year. This streaming initiative will enhance the visibility and accessibility of Division II and III championships.
Through a partnership with Hudl and TNT Sports, all rounds of team championships not already covered by existing ESPN or CBS agreements will be streamed free of charge on a centralized platform powered by Hudl. Fans will be able to watch these games via ncaa.com/champs-pass and the NCAA Championships Pass app, available on smart TVs.

Nine RMAC Athletes Included in D2Football.com Preseason Top 100

First Team: Flynn Schiele, CSM; Reggie Retzlaff, CSUP; Ricky Freymond, WCU; & Donovan English, CSUP.
Second Team: Drew Nash, WCU
Squad: Tyler Ethridge, CSUP; Gary Seidenberger, CSUP; Jackson Zimmerman, CSM; Dax Yeradi, CSC

RMAC Preseason Poll & Team

Defending champion CSU Pueblo and Western Colorado, both participants in the 2024 Division II Playoffs, shared the honor of preseason favorite in the RMAC Preseason Football Coaches Poll released during the league’s media day in July. Colorado School of Mines and Colorado Mesa were picked third and fourth, respectively.

In addition, Western Colorado redshirt junior defensive end Ricky Freymond and CSU Pueblo senior wide receiver Reggie Retzlaff – the league’s 2024 defensive and offensive players of the year, respectively – lead the 2025 Preseason All-RMAC Team. The RMAC’s preseason teams are determined by placing returning players in order of head coaches’ voting from the league’s 2024 All-RMAC Teams.

In addition to the league returning both Players of the Year, both Freshman of the Year selections return in New Mexico Highlands running back Tevita Valeti and Western Colorado linebacker Cameron Cooper. The 2025 Preseason All-RMAC Football Team sees the return of 13 members from the 2024 First Team All-RMAC return, along with 11 second team selections and five honorable mentions.

RMAC Championships

Western Colorado (19, 2021); Colorado School of Mines (16, 2023); Colorado Mesa (12, 2017); CSU Pueblo (9, 2024); Chadron State (8, 2008); Adams State (7, 1989); New Mexico Highlands (2, 1999); and Fort Lewis (1, 1984).
(Championships won and the last year the program won or shared a championship)

RMAC Network Now PPV

All RMAC football games broadcast by its 15 full-member institutions and associate members will only be available for purchase via a single-game pass or a monthly or annual subscription. A discounted annual subscription price is available to students, faculty, and staff of each member institution throughout the year. Revenue generated by the network will be redistributed to the league’s membership to enhance their programs. Visit RMACNetwork.com/Purchase for more information and to subscribe.

About the RMAC

The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, headquartered in Colorado Springs, is a premier NCAA Division II conference with 15 institutions located in Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, South Dakota, and Utah. The RMAC currently competes in 22 NCAA Division II sports and has earned 67 national championships and 53 national runners-up since 1992. Founded in 1909, the RMAC is the most historic athletic conference in the western United States and Division II.

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