Las Vegas, New Mexico - New Mexico Highlands travels to Golden, Colorado, to take on the Colorado School of Mines Orediggers. The Cowboys ran past Adams State 49-10 on Saturday evening to improve to 5-3 overall and 3-3 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.

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 5-3 overall, 3-3 in conference, sits tied for fourth with Colorado School of Mines (5-3) (3-3 RMAC) and Colorado Mesa (4-4) (3-3 RMAC).

Western Colorado 8-0 (6-0 RMAC)
CSU Pueblo 7-1 (6-0 RMAC)
Chadron State 6-2 (6-0 RMAC)
Colorado School of Mines 5-3 (3-3 RMAC)
New Mexico Highlands 5-3 (3-3 RMAC)
Colorado Mesa 4-4 (3-3 RMAC)
South Dakota Mines 2-6 (2-4 RMAC)
Black Hills State 1-7 (1-5 RMAC)
Fort Lewis 1-7 (0-6 RMAC)
Adams State 0-8 (0-6 RMAC)

LAST TIME OUT: The Cowboys ran past Adams State 49-10 on Saturday evening to improve the 5-3 overall and 3-3 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. The Grizzlies are now 0-8 overall and 0-6 in conference play.

The Cowboys never trailed in Saturday's game, building a 17-10 halftime lead over the Grizzlies. NMHU put the game out of reach with 22 third-quarter points and a smothering defense that didn't allow the hosts a second-half score.

Jeffery Jones had 179 yards on fourteen carries and a touchdown, while Tevita Valeti hit pay dirt three times in Saturday's win.

Freshman Kanai Satele scored his first career touchdown on a 31-yard run.

Freshman quarterback Collin Stucki continued his impressive play as he completed five passes for 85 yards and a touchdown. He also carried the ball fourteen times for 67 yards. Stucki connected with Maurice Collier Jr on a 28-yard pass late in the second quarter.

Alekzander Britt was a perfect five for five on extra points and converted a pair of field goals from 45 and 25 yards.

The Cowboy defense had its best day of the season as it limited Adams State to just 241 yards of total offense

Britt Named Player of the Week: New Mexico Highlands kicker Alekzander Britt has been named the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Special Teams player of the Week after the Cowboys' win on Saturday over Adams State. Britt, the freshman from Westminster, Colorado, was a perfect five for five on point after attempts and knocked through field goals of 45 and 25 yards in the Cowboys' 49-10 win at Adams State on Saturday night. The 45-yarder in the second quarter that put the Cowboys up 10-0 was a career long for Britt. He is now seven for seven on field goal attempts this season.

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 OREDIGGERS: Saturday marks the 59th all-time meeting between the two schools.. Colorado School of Mines is 5-3 overall, 3-3 in conference. Bob Stitt is back at Colorado School of Mines, as he was the coach to put the program on the national map in the early 2000s. No stranger to the RMAC or college football, as he has had stops as head coach at Montana, where he spent three seasons with a 21-14 record and a 2015 NCAA FCS tournament appearance. He spent the 2018 season as an offensive analyst at Oklahoma State, then 2019 as the offensive coordinator at Texas State. He was the offensive coordinator last fall at Valor Christian as he returned to coaching.

COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES/NEW MEXICO HIGHLANDS SERIES NOTES:
Colorado School of Mines leads the series 31-26-2
Last Orediggers win November 2, 2024, 56-21 in Las Vegas
Last Cowboys win September 22, 2012, 44-27 in Las Vegas
Colorado School of Mines won the first meeting 60-7 on October 15, 1938

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING: Through eight games, the Cowboys are fourth in the RMAC in scoring at 33.0 points per game and second in the conference in Total Offense at 443.5 yards per game. Freshman Jeffery Jones is second in the nation in All Purpose Yards Per Game (196.43/game), and in Rushing Yards Per Game (184.4/game).

UP NEXT: The Cowboys are back at home for Senior Day presented by Quality Care next Saturday to take on Fort Lewis College.

RMAC NETWORK: All 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 to purchase a subscription and follow the Cowboys all season long.

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

CLEAR BAG POLICY: NMHU has implemented a Clear Bag Policy for all home events.