Cowboys Back At Home As Colorado Mesa Visits

Las Vegas, New Mexico - New Mexico Highlands are back at home this Saturday, for a 1:00 pm game with the Colorado Mesa Mavericks.

The Cowboys fell to Chadron State last Saturday afternoon in Chadron, Nebraska, 37-20. NMHU is now 3-3 overall and 1-3 in RMAC play. The Mavericks are 3-3 overall and 2-2 in conference play after topping Adams State 54-17 last week in Grand Junction. Earlier in the year, Mesa got a win over Colorado School of Mines.

COACH KURT TAUFA'ASAU: 2025 marks the second season at the helm of the NMHU football program for Coach Taufa'asau after being named head coach on May 29, 2024. Taufa'asau earned his first career win at NMHU when he led the Cowboys to a thrilling 33-30 victory on October 12th of last season in front of a raucous Homecoming Crowd in historic Las Vegas. NMHU scored two touchdowns in the last 6:54 of that game to earn the win. Before coming to New Mexico Highlands, Taufa'asau was the head coach at New Mexico Military Institute, where he led the Broncos to the 2021 NJCAA Division I National Championship.

STANDINGS: New Mexico Highlands University, at 3-3 overall, 1-3 in conference, sits at 7th place in the RMAC. While Colorado Mesa is at 3-3 overall and 2-2 in conference, is in 5th place.

CSU Pueblo 6-1 (5-0 RMAC)
Chadron State 5-2 (5-0 RMAC)
Western Colorado 6-0 (4-0 RMAC)
Colorado School of Mines 4-2 (2-2 RMAC)
Colorado Mesa 3-3 (2-2 RMAC)
South Dakota Mines 2-5 (2-3 RMAC)
New Mexico Highlands 3-3 (1-3 RMAC)
Black Hills State 1-6 (1-4 RMAC)
Fort Lewis 1-5 (0-4 RMAC)
Adams State 0-6 (0-4 RMAC)

LAST TIME OUT: Chadron State gave up the lead to the Cowboys early after back-to-back big touchdown runs to Jeffery Jones, who returned to the lineup last Saturday. However, the host Eagles would score 19 unanswered to take a 22-14 lead at the half. Jeffery Jones cashed in his third touchdown of the day, and on the two-point conversion, the Cowboys were unsuccessful. 15 points in the fourth quarter was the margin of victory for the Eagles. Final was 37-20 Eagles.

NEW MEXICO!: For the first time since the 2012 season, the Cowboys defeated Western New Mexico and Eastern New Mexico in the same season. Once again this season, Coach Taufa'asau and his staff diligently recruited their home state as the 2025 New Mexico Highlands football roster features 45 players who played high school football in the state of New Mexico.

SCOUTING THE MAVERICKS: Saturday marks the 47th all-time meeting between the two schools. Colorado Mesa, sitting at 5th in the RMAC standings, is 3-3 overall and 2-2 in conference play after topping Adams State 54-17 last week in Grand Junction. In addition to the win over the Grizzlies last week, the Mavericks have a conference win against Colorado School of Mines in 2025. Miles Kochevar is in his 4th season as the head coach at Colorado Mesa. In last season's meeting between the two teams, the Cowboys kept a receiving votes Mavericks team on the ropes until the fourth, when the Mavericks scored their third touchdown of the day, the final score being 21-10.

COLORADO MESA/NEW MEXICO HIGHLANDS SERIES NOTES:
Colorado Mesa leads the series 36-11
Last Mavericks win October 19, 2024, 21-10 in Las Vegas
Last Cowboys win September 29, 2012, 40-36 in Grand Junction
Colorado Mesa won the first meeting 13-7 on October 30, 1975

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING: Through six games, the Cowboys are third in the RMAC in scoring at 31.2 points per game and lead the conference in Total Offense at 444.0 yards per game.

Senior Mike Jones is 18th in the nation at 30.8 yards per kickoff return.

Freshman Jeffery Jones leads the nation in All Purpose Yards Per Game (222.6/game), Rushing Yards Per Game (210.4/game).

UP NEXT: The Cowboys are back on the road next Saturday afternoon for a 1:00 pm game as they head to Alamosa to take on Adams State.

RMAC NETWORK: All six of the remaining games on the schedule will be broadcast on the RMAC Network, with New Mexico Broadcaster of the Year Scott Galetti returning as the Voice of the Cowboys for the games in historic Las Vegas this season. Visit RMACNetwork.com for information on purchasing a subscription so you can follow the Cowboys all season long.

COWBOY TICKETS: Individual game tickets for the Cowboys' remaining home games are on sale now…purchase your tickets at NMHUAthletics.com/Tickets!

CLEAR BAG POLICY: NMHU has implemented a Clear Bag Policy for all on-campus events.