Box Score Kearney, Neb. - The 11th-ranked Nebraska-Kearney football team is 3-0 for the first time since 1994 after rolling up 649 yards in a 52-10 win at Colorado Mesa Saturday afternoon in Grand Junction, Colo.

This was the RMAC opener for both teams. The Lopers improve to 3-0 while the Mavericks drop to 1-2. UNK is now 17-3 all-time against CMU, formerly known as Mesa State.

UNK tallied 21 points in the second quarter to lead 28-10 heading into the final 15 minutes. The Lopers started the fourth quarter with a field goal and then scored three touchdowns in a span of five minutes to finish the scoring.

Senior quarterback Jake Spitzlberger (Lakewood, Colo.) had his third career 100 yard rushing day as he carried the ball 18 times for 114 yards and two scores. His long run of 33 yards came early in the fourth and setup the Lopers sixth TD.

Having scoring runs of five and 21 yards, he also completed 21 of 35 passes for 378 yards, two TD's and two INT's. The 378 yards is the second most Spitzlberger has thrown for, trailing only a 410 yard effort last year at Colorado State-Pueblo.

Two UNK receivers reached the Century mark as junior Tommy Flanagan, a high school teammate of Spitzlberger, caught eight balls for 142 yards and a score with senior Eli Hammond (Colo. Springs, Colo.) having five grabs for a career-high 120 yards and one TD.

Flanagan had another busy day as he had three rushes for 10 yards, three punt/kick returns totaling 40 yards and six punts for 252 yards (42.0 avg.) Two of his boots landed inside the Mesa 20-yard line with one going for 73 yards. The UNK record for longest punt is 87 yards.

Besides Spitzlberger, senior back Rustin Dring (Kearney) had 20 carries for 47 yards and three receptions for 44 yards with sophomore back Shad Bride (St. Johns, Ariz.) having nine totes for 37 yards and two scores.

UNK started a bit slow as their first three drives ended with a fumble, punt and on downs. Mesa threw an interception on its opening driving but went 60 yards the second time it touched the ball to grab a 3-0 lead.

The Lopers found its offensive groove after senior defensive end Cory Morten (Loomis) recovered a fumble at Mesa's 23-yard line late in the first quarter. Three plays later, Spitzlberger hit Hammond from eight yards out to give UNK the lead for good.

Kearney's next drive went 60 yards but ended with no points as Mesa made a stand on 4th and 1 from the one. However, the Lopers scored TD's the next thee times it touched the ball to grab a 28-10.
The drives covered 55, 79 and 80 yards, each lasting under 2:30.

In between these drives, Mesa QB Michael Mankoff threw a 36-yard scoring strike to Jay Knaus.

UNK ended with 413 yards passing and another 236 yards rushing.

Mesa totaled just 265 yards, including 66 on the ground. Three Mavericks combined to go 19 of 43 for 199 yards, one TD and three INT's with the run game averaging 1.6 yards per carry.

Furthermore, the Loper defense managed eight three and outs, holding Mesa to 26 yards on those possessions. The Mavs also had two four play drives (11 yards) and a two play drive end with an INT.

Over the first two weeks, UNK had 10 three and outs (six at Wayne State and four vs. Northeastern State).

Individually at CMU, Scottsbluff junior safety Trey Wilberger had a team-high 11 tackles and two pass breakups, Morten and fellow end Alex Paicurich (Westminster, Colo.) each made seven stops with sophomore inside backer Kellen Werner (Grand Island) having four pass breakups and five tackles.

UNK hosts Western State next Saturday. The day's festivities including Homecoming, Band Day and Family Day.