Eastern To Play In Cowboys Stadium

Mitch Glasmann didn’t know it, but the day he stepped away from football he began a trip that would land him in Silver City.

“Coming out of high school, I had D-I offers,” Glasmann says. “But my heart wasn’t into playing the game anymore. I was burned out, I guess.”

But today the freshman finds himself preparing to play quarterback for Western New Mexico in what could be its biggest game of the year.

	Today n ENMU vs. Incarnate Word, Arlington, Texas, 2:30 p.m. Saturday n ENMU vs. Incarnate Word, Arlington, Texas, 2:30 p.m. Saturday n CSU-Pueblo at WNMU, noon n NMHU at Southern Utah, 6 p.m.

The Mustangs (1-1) will host Colorado State-Pueblo on Saturday in their RMAC opener. The Thunderwolves (2-0) are ranked third in the nation in Division II.

“The thing about them is they don’t make mistakes,” Glasmann says of CSU-Pueblo, “There’s different stuff they give you, but the challenge is, not to play perfect, but to make as few mistakes as possible.”

When Glasmann was helping his high school in Temecula, Calif., go 25-4 over two years and win a 2010 California southern sectional title, schools from UCLA to Texas A&M to Penn State had varying degrees of interest in the 6-foot-3 quarterback.

One of the calls he got was from WNMU coach Adam Clark, who is from San Diego. But since Glasmann had given up the game, there was no reason to call Clark or anyone else.

Then, as he settled into his studies at a junior college, Glasmann, a business management major with an interest in international finance, got the urge to play again.

Meanwhile, Clark had continued to phone, and Glasmann finally answered.

The coach warned Glasmann that Silver City was smaller than what he was used to, and the quarterback admits it was “a bit of a shock” when he and his father went on a visit to the city on the edge of the Gila Wilderness. But Glasmann decided he liked it.

Last week, the freshman found himself near his hometown as the Mustangs visited the FCS San Diego Toreros, the Pioneer League’s preseason favorite. WNMU fell 34-27, but not before Glasmann threw for 266 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Western had lost to San Diego 30-10 a season ago.

“We were down after the loss at first,” Glasmann says. “But it was encouraging to see how much improvement the program has made under coach Clark.”

The presence of preseason All-American receiver Marquis Sumpter has been a help, Glasmann says.

Glasmann believes the Mustangs can contend for the RMAC crown. Beating powerful Pueblo would be a major step.

“We have a few wrinkles,” he says of the game plan. “But what we have against them should work, with the receivers we have and our O-line.”

NMHU: The Cowboys (2-0) visit FCS opponent Southern Utah on Saturday.

Highlands, which received three votes in the national coaches’ poll, had 666 yards of offense (320 rushing and 346 passing) on 104 plays in its 50-0 win over Fort Lewis last week.

The Thunderbirds (0-2), who used to play in the RMAC but are now in the Big Sky, lost to California 50-31 last week.

ENMU: The Greyhounds get to play at Cowboys Stadium today.

The Lone Star Conference is holding a three-day, six-game festival through Saturday, featuring all nine teams from the league.

The Greyhounds, who will face Incarnate Word, lead the league in rushing offense, are second in interceptions and third in sacks.
WNMU Looks For an Upset

NEW MEXICO COLLEGES
— This article appeared on page D5 of the Albuquerque Journal