Eighth-ranked Western Colorado University opens its 2025 football schedule with a visit from West Texas A&M University in a Thursday-night matchup on Aug. 28.
The Mountaineers defeated the Buffaloes in their home stadium last season, grinding out a 26-17 win in Canyon, Texas.
The game at Bain-Schaeffer Buffalo Stadium turned on a pair of key plays, and a strong fourth-quarter defensive effort by the Mountaineers. On Western’s second play from scrimmage, quarterback Drew Nash flashed his wheels on the way to an All-American season, dashing 62 yards for the game’s opening score. Nash finished the game with 136 rushing yards and 3 rushing touchdowns, along with 185 passing yards.
The Buffs were driving for a potential go-ahead touchdown late in the third quarter when the Mountaineers’ Cameron Cooper stepped in front of a pass at the Western 4-yard line and raced 96 yards to the end zone, increasing the Mountaineer lead to 10-10.
West Texas responded with a 72-yard touchdown pass two plays later. Nash methodically marched Western down the field on an 8-minute touchdown drive to extend the lead again. Then, the Mountaineer defense took over, limiting the Buffs to only seven yards on six offensive plays to finish out the road victory.
The Mountaineers begin the 2025 campaign ranked No. 8 in the D2Football.com poll and at No. 10 in the American Football Coaches Association poll. Western finished the 2024 season with an 11-2 record, the 11th win coming in the opening round of the NCAA Division II playoffs, setting a program record for season total wins.
Nash, the 2025 offensive team captain, returns for his final season, as does 2025 defensive team captain Ricky Freymond, who earned four first-team All-American honors last season and set a program record for career sacks and led DII in tackles for loss last season.
Freymond and Nash were both named to the D2Football.com Elite 100 Watchlist for 2025, while Freymond was one of just 10 DII players to be named to the East-West Shrine Bowl 1,000 Watchlist. Both were tabbed for the preseason All-Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference team, as were offensive lineman Zach Brumfield, defensive linemen Mikey Smith and Jaydon Young, linebacker and 2024 RMAC Defensive Rookie of the Year Cooper and tight end Daniel Parsek.
The Buffs finished last season with a 5-6 record and averaged 357 yards per game from their offense. However, the program hired Justin Bane as its new offensive coordinator, a move that brings a coach who led Central Missouri’s offense last season to 526 yards per game — the second most in DII.
Bane might look to 6-foot-10 tight end Nash Dunnam to help ignite the offense. But Bane also has a new face to trigger the attack in Texas State quarterback transfer RJ Martinez, who originally signed with Northern Arizona, and then transferred and played at Baylor before moving to Texas State.
Western hits the road for consecutive games after its opener, traveling to Wichita Falls, Texas, for a Sept. 6 non-conference game at Midwestern State University, followed by its RMAC opener at Adams State University on Sept. 20.
(Gregg Petcoff is the assistant athletics director for communications at Western Colorado University and can be reached at gpetcoff@western.edu.)
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