ODESSA, Texas (September 6, 2024) – Coming off a dominant 41-3 win over Western New Mexico University in its season opener at Ratliff Stadium last week, the UT Permian Basin football team hits the road for the first time this season on Saturday, September 7, taking on Colorado State University Pueblo during "Week 1'" of the regular season. The game is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. Central Time inside the CSU Pueblo ThunderBowl Stadium. It will mark the first ever game for the Falcons against the ThunderWolves.

With the win last weekend, the No. 21-ranked Falcons earned their 10th straight regular-season victory and their ninth straight win in the Lone Star Conference – after going 8-0 in LSC play last season. It was an historic victory for UTPB as Saturday night's win over Western New Mexico was the 20th LSC victory in program history for the Falcons.

Following the victory, sophomore linebacker Tristan Exline was named the LSC Defensive Player of the Week. Exline had four total tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and 2.0 sacks against WNMU. Another one of UTPB's the top standouts in the season-opening win came on special teams as freshman kicker Angel Diaz was 4-for-4 on field goals – including a long of 47 yards – and made all three of his extra points.

THUNDERWOLVES UNDER THE LENS
The Colorado State Pueblo ThunderWolves are also 1-0 on the season after opening their 2024 campaign last Thursday with a 35-6 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference win at South Dakota Mines. The victory was the eighth straight for the Pack, which is tied for second-longest active win streak in Division II. CSU Pueblo ended its 2023 season with an 8-3 overall record, a 7-2 mark in the RMAC, and won its final seven games with its three losses coming against teams that went 35-5 overall and each advanced to the NCAA Division II Playoffs. The seven-game winning streak entering this season was the third longest active win streak in Division II football heading into the 2024 campaign.

The 2023 Pack team led NCAA Division II in kickoff return average as they averaged 29.95 yards per return and also ranked in the top-15 in Division II in passing offense (289.7 yards per game), scoring offense (42.0 points per game), 10th in sacks (3.27 per game), 10th in sacks allowed (0.91 per game), 13th in turnover margin (1.09) and 15th in redzone offense (.878 percent).

This season, CSU Pueblo opened its 2024 season sitting 10th among the 23 teams that received votes in the AFCA Division II Coaches' Preseason poll. In the Preseason RMAC Coaches' Poll, the Pack were tabbed to finish third as they received 66 points to sit 16 points in front of fourth-place Colorado Mesa (50 points) and eight points behind second-place Western Colorado, who earned 74 points and three first-place votes. Mines was tabbed as the preseason favorite as the Orediggers earned 79 points and seven first-place votes.

Second-year CSU Pueblo head coach Philip Vigil welcomes back 65 lettermen, including 21 starters from last season's team that ended the season winning its final seven games. Vigil's 2024 team has eight starters back on offense, nine starters on defense and four on special teams. Among the top returning offensive starters are senior receiver Reggie Retzlaff, who was a Second-Team All-RMAC selection last season after catching a school record tying 12 touchdown passes. In addition to Retzlaff, redshirt senior receiver Andrew Cook, who is a two-time All-RMAC selection and caught 46 passes for 566 yards and has hauled in 20 career receiving touchdowns, and senior running back Kiahn Martinez, who was a Second-Team All-RMAC selection last season after rushing for 796 yards and scored seven touchdowns, both return as well.

Meanwhile, on defense, the top returning starter is redshirt senior defensive back Daniel Bone III, who is a two-time All-American and was named a Preseason All-American by Lindy's Football after recording 84 tackles, 8.0 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, two interceptions and recovered three fumbles last season.

The Pack's top special teams returner is redshirt sophomore running back Moosah Alsaffar at kick returner. Alsaffar was a First-Team All-RMAC selection after returning two kickoffs for touchdowns and averaged a school record 76 yards per kickoff return in 2023.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP: UTPB AT CSUP
CSUP had a similar season-opener to UTPB, scoring 14 points in the first half before pulling away in the second half with three touchdowns. In addition, the Falcons put up 557 yards of total offense while the ThunderWolves were somehow even better, registering a grand total of 604 yards. Both games served as the conference opener for the teams as well.

In UTPB's win over WNMU, quarterback Dylan Graham starred in his return to the starting role and completed 31 of his 50 passes for 404 yards and three touchdowns. Graham's 31 completions were only three short of his own program record of 34 set on September 24, 2022. In addition, his 404 yards passing ranks third in program history.

Similarly to how Graham starred for the Falcons on Saturday, senior quarterback Devin Larsen had a memorable Pack debut as the starting signal caller as he was 30-for-45 passing for a school record 508 yards and tossed five touchdown passes and did not throw an interception. The 30 pass completions are the most in a game by a Pack quarterback in school history, while the 508-yard passing game was the first 400-plus yard passing performance in the program's 61-year history. The 508 passing yards bettered the old school record of 396 set by senior Steven Croell in the 2022 season opener at Midwestern State, while the 30 completions bettered the old mark of 29 set twice last season by Chance Fuller, who is serving as the Pack's quarterbacks coach this season.

Graham's 31 completions during "Week 0" were the most in the country while Larsen's 30 completions were the second-most, setting up an intriguing matchup for this weekend. They were also both top-three in passing yards during the week with Larsen leading the way in all of Division II.

For UTPB, Graham had the benefit of throwing to a quartet of big play receiving threat in his season opener. The first touchdown of the season for the Falcons came on a 22-yard pass to the reigning LSC Receiver of the Year, senior Jeremiah Cooley, with 7:23 remaining in the second quarter. Then right after halftime, an 83-yard touchdown pass from Graham to junior Ben Patterson got the Falcons offense rolling in a big way. Graham then finished things off with his third touchdown pass of the night, an eight-yard touchdown pass to senior La'Quan Wells to make it 34-3 with 6:47 left to play. Cooley (116 yards) and Patterson (113 yards) both finished the game with over 100 yards receiving while Cooley and Wells hauled in eight receptions apiece. In addition, senior Deon Cook matched Patterson with four receptions and was third on the team with 64 receiving yards.

For CSUP, Thursday's season-opening win was keyed by a Pack passing offense that completed a school record 35 passes and threw for a school record 548 yards. In addition, senior receivers Reggie Retzlaff and Taylor Tosches combined for 22 receptions for 392 yards and four touchdown receptions, including three from Retzlaff. Retzlaff finished the game with 11 receptions for a school record 241 yards, while Tosches also caught 11 passes for 151 yards and a touchdown. It marked the first time in school history that two receivers combined to catch 20 or more passes in a single game.

Retzlaff's 241 receiving yards bettered the old single game school mark of 219 yards set by Max Fine against Colorado School of Mines in the first round of the 2022 NCAA Division II Playoffs, while the 11 receptions were one shy of the single game school record of 12 set by John Trahan against Colorado Mesa in 1982.

Including Cooley and Patterson for UTPB and Retzlaff and Tosches for CSUP, four of the top-14 receivers in Division II during "Week 0" will be featured in the matchup between the Falcons and the ThunderWolves.

Defensively, the Falcons were as stingy as it gets against the Mustangs, pitching a second-half shutout, keeping WNMU out of the endzone for the entirety of the game and allowing just 118 yards of total offense. As a team, UTPB finished with 8.5 tackles for loss and five sacks. The Falcons' defense also limited the Mustangs to just five first downs for the game, 51 rushing yards, 67 passing yards, an average of 2.6 yards per play, and a 1-for-12 conversion rate on third down.

Just as the UTPB defense did to the Mustangs, the Pack defense held the Hardrockers out of the endzone for the game. CSUP limited the opposition to 214 total yards on 75 plays. In addition, the Pack collected a sack, had seven tackles for a loss and picked off a pass. Senior two-time All-American defensive back Daniel Bone III led the way with eight tackles, including six solo stops, while senior defensive lineman James Turrentine had five tackles and 1.5 tackles for a loss.

CSUP HEAD COACH
Philip Vigil is one game into his second season as the head coach of the Pack football program and is in his fourth season as a collegiate head coach as he spent two seasons at Western New Mexico. Vigil is 9-3 at CSU Pueblo and is 16-18 all-time as a collegiate head coach.

GAME INFORMATION
The home opener for CSUP against UTPB on Saturday will be Red Out Night and will be sponsored by InBank.

All UTPB home and away football games can be heard live on KQRX 95.1 FM, 95X, a West Texas Radio Group station" with the pre-game show beginning 30 minutes prior to kickoff. Monty Montgomery (Play-by-Play) and Ben Farmer (Color Commentary) return this season in the broadcast booth for the Falcons.

To follow the action for the Falcons all season long, please check out our Live Events page for all of the video and live stats details: https://utpbfalcons.com/coverage.

2024 Football Media Guide
Week 1 Game Notes
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RMAC Network
Live Stats
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