This story has been updated to correct an error.
The No. 4-ranked CSU Pueblo ThunderWolves hosted the No. 10-ranked UT Permian Basin in the first round of the NCAA Division II football playoffs from the ThunderBowl at CSU Pueblo on Saturday, Nov. 22.
The ThunderWolves came into the game after winning three straight come-from-behind victories to finish the season off, including a last-second touchdown to win the RMAC conference over Chadron St. last week, before the playoffs. The Falcons came into the game riding a four-game winning streak and were looking to cause an upset in the first round of the playoffs.
The teams came out swinging early with UT Permian-Basin striking early and often, leaving CSU Pueblo looking for answers early on.
The ThunderWolves were down early in the first quarter 17-0 and the game would not get any easier or closer for them.
They scored a field goal in the second quarter and that would be their only points of the first half. The Falcons defense kept the ThunderWolves off the board early and out of rhythm on offense all game.
In the end, UT Permian-Basin was able to complete the upset 37-24 to knock out CSU Pueblo from the playoffs. This is the second straight season ThunderWolves are one-and-done in the playoffs.
“It wasn’t our day today,” ThunderWolves head coach Philip Vigil said after the game. “The last four weeks, we’ve really been battling and coming back from large deficits. Today, we ran out of time and ran out of snaps.
“I’m upset, because we don’t get to continue this journey together. We had 23 seniors that are graduating and leaving CSU Pueblo, and their buy-in, their belief, their work, is what has changed this program completely around and we’re not where we’re at as a program today without these guys.”
Vigil spoke about how proud he was of this team and the effort they put in all year long regardless of the outcome.
“Nothing is ever guaranteed. I think people look at championships and they just expect things to happen, and that’s not the way that life works,” Vigil said. “These guys, against all odds, repeated a process to become a back-to-back conference champions, have won 25 conference games in a row. That’s the longest streak in the country. This game doesn’t define them, and I can’t say how proud I am of these guys and their effort and their belief in our process and in me and my staff.”
Wide receiver Reggie Retzlaff believes the offense could have done more.
“I felt like they had a really good plan for us,” Retzlaff said. “They had help where they needed help a lot of time. They’re really good at holding the leverage and stuff like that. … We felt like we were just putting ourselves behind the sticks a lot of time, whether it was not doing our jobs or guys just trying to press too hard. We didn’t execute some of the things we should have executed.”
Defensive back Keith Mckaney Jr. was disappointed with the defense’s performance.
“Throughout the week, we harped a lot on certain past concepts and running certain coverages, because we knew that this team was going to do certain things, but it was a little bit different,” Mckaney said. “They changed a lot of things, and that is one of the things that I did notice that the ball was coming out, and coming out a lot quicker, and they were targeting the RPO, and also just trying to keep the clock rolling in the second half.”
The ThunderWolves end their season with a 10-3 record overall. They will look to reload and rebuild next season with a new core group of players to lean on.
“The thing that I can take from this season is that our processes work,” Vigil said. “You never want to replicate winning a championship. You want to replicate the processes that do that. I think we’ve proven that over the last three years.”
This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: No. 4 CSU Pueblo football’s bid for comeback falls short in playoffs
