Dixie State could not overcome a string of big Colorado Mesa plays as the Mavericks handed the Red Storm a 43-3 setback in the season opener Saturday night at Hansen Stadium.

After both teams punted on each of their first two possessions, Colorado Mesa's defense provided the game's first points as Tom Saager intercepted a Trevor Rea (Plano, Ill./Plano HS) pass and rambled 38 yards for a touchdown to put the Mavericks up 7-0. On the ensuing Dixie State possession the Storm special teams fell victim to a bad snap on a punt attempt, which resulted in a 35-yard loss and a CMU first down at the DSU 12 yard line. The Mavericks cashed in the miscue two plays later as DJ Hubbard scored from three yards out to give CMU a 14-0 lead.

Colorado Mesa tacked on a pair of second-quarter touchdowns, the first coming on a 61-yard pass from Sean Rubalcaba to Marcus Hines at the 14:10 mark of the stanza. Rubalcaba struck again on the Mavericks next possession as he ran the read-option to perfection on a 45-yard scamper to give CMU a comfortable 28-0 advantage.

CMU would tack on a pair of Ryan Sheehan field goals before Dixie cracked the scoring column on an Alex Giordani (West Jordan, Utah/West Jordan HS) 32-yard field just before halftime to make the score 34-3. The Mavericks scored two more times in the third quarter on a Jonathon Beverly 17-yard TD run and a Sheehan 21-yard field goal. Dixie State put together a pair of sustained drives into the CMU red zone and advanced inside the CMU 5-yard line on both occasions, but the Storm could not convert on either trip.

Dixie State finished with 287 yards of total offense, including 166 on the ground. Freshman quarterback Blake Barney (St. George, Utah/Dixie HS) accounted for 95 of those yards, including a 37-yard scamper that got the Storm inside the Maverick 15-yard line, while senior DeJon Coleman (Los Angeles, Calif./Arleta HS) had 12 carries for 68 yards in his Red Storm debut. Rea was held to 13-of-23 passing for 102 yards, while senior receiver Nate Stephens (Redding, Calif./Shasta HS) had six catches for 61 yards.

CMU racked up 582 yards of total offense, with 376 of those yards coming on the ground, including a 224-yard effort by Beverly on 15 carries.

Dixie State has a quick turnaround next week as the Storm hosts Central Washington in a non-conference tilt at Hansen Stadium this Thursday, Sept. 10. Kick-off is slated for 6 p.m.