The RMAC Approach: Football Week Five

The 140th Black Hills Brawl highlights the RMAC’s Week 5 slate

10/3/2025 9:55:17 AM

By: Cody Bush, Associate Commissioner / Strategic Communications

The Weekly Preview

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – College football’s fourth most-played rivalry takes center stage when South Dakota Mines makes the 48-mile trip to face Black Hills State University in the 140th edition of the Black Hills Brawl at Lyle Hare Stadium in Spearfish, South Dakota. That game is the nightcap to the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference’s Week 5 action, which also sees its three co-leaders on the road.

The South Dakota Mines and Black Hills State series is the most played and tied for the oldest rivalry in Division II. Only The Game (Harvard-Yale), Princeton-Yale, and The Rivalry (Lafayette-Lehigh) have had more games played. The road team has won each of the last four meetings in the series, with South Dakota Mines’ victory in the 2020 meeting being the last win by a home team in the series. The Hardrockers and Yellow Jackets enter this season’s edition with identical records overall (1-4) and in RMAC action (1-2).

Elsewhere in the league, the three co-leaders are all on the road in Week 5. Western Colorado makes a short trip to face Fort Lewis in Durango. Chadron State has the week’s longest trek as it faces Adams State in Alamosa. CSU Pueblo travels down I-25 for a test at New Mexico Highlands. Colorado Mesa heads east on I-70 to meet Colorado School of Mines in the latest edition of the battle for the Nyikos Cup, which honors a longtime faculty member and supporter of both schools.

Week 5 Schedule

Saturday, Oct. 4
Colorado Mesa at Colorado School of Mines Noon RMAC Network
#7/5 Western Colorado at Fort Lewis Noon RMAC Network
Chadron State at Adams State Noon RMAC Network
#12/12 CSU Pueblo at New Mexico Highlands 1 p.m. RMAC Network
South Dakota Mines at Black Hills 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 tore opposing defenses in his first three games, rushing for more than 225 yards while averaging 278.7 yards per game. Jones opened his career with 223 yards against Eastern New Mexico, broke the Division II freshman rushing record with 385 yards against Western New Mexico, and added 228 rushing yards against South Dakota Mines. However, he ran into one of the nation’s best defenses at Western Colorado last week and was limited to 57 rushing yards. Still, he leads all Division II backs with 223.3 yards per game entering this week’s action.
  • Thanks largely to Jones’ effort with the ball, the Cowboys lead all Division II teams in total offensive yards (497.0 per game) and rank second in rushing offense (349.5 ypg).
  • Black Hills State junior TJ Chukwurah is among the Top 5 Division II receivers in receiving yards per game (5th, 111.6 ypg) and is second among Division II receivers with 558 total receiving yards. He opened the season with three consecutive 100-yard receiving performances and has scored eight touchdowns in his first four games..
  • After being responsible for all six Western Colorado touchdowns in Week 3, senior quarterback Drew Nash is tied for fourth among Division II quarterbacks with 96 points responsible for in 2025, passing for 11 touchdowns and running for five.
  • Chadron State is off to a 3-0 start in RMAC play for the first time since 2008, the same season they went undefeated in league play and reached the second round of the Division II championship. The Eagles are fifth among RMAC teams in total defense (316.2 yards allowed per game) and have been particularly stingy against the passing game, ranking first in both passing defense (169.4 yapg) and defensive passing efficiency (107.5).

Division II Unbeatens

The ranks of the Division II unbeatens dwindled to 16 after Week 4’s action, a group that includes Western Colorado (4-0).  Here are this week’s games between unbeaten teams:
  • Findlay at Walsh (11 a.m. MT)
  • UT Permian Basin at Angelo State (5 p.m.)

RMAC Teams in the National Polls

AFCA Coaches: (7) Western Colorado; (12) CSU Pueblo; (RV) Colorado School of Mines
D2Football.com: (5) Western Colorado; (12) 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 CSU Pueblo’s Bryson Torrie claiming the Week 5 honor, an RMAC student-athlete claimed the honor in four of this season’s five 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

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.

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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