The University Bulldogs will face off against the Rifle Bears at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (University has three straight victories, Rifle has five straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.
Last Thursday, University blew past D'Evelyn, posting a 68-27 win on the road. Fans of the Bulldogs have seen this all before: every one of the games they've played this season has ended in a blowout of 20+ points.
Brevon Doss had a dynamite game for University, rushing for 300 yards and six touchdowns on only 13 carries, while also picking up 50 receiving yards. The dominant performance gave Doss a new career-high in rushing yards. Michael Kelly was another key player, rushing for 134 yards and a touchdown on only ten carries.
He was just one part of a punishing run game: University was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 528 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 150 rushing yards in 11 consecutive matches dating back to last season.
Meanwhile, Friday just wasn't the day for Rifle's offense. They had to suffer through a 47-0 loss at the hands of Roosevelt. While losing is never fun, the Bears can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Colorado football rankings (they are ranked 107th, while the Roughriders are ranked 17th).
University's victory bumped their record up to 3-0. As for Rifle, their loss dropped their record down to 0-4.
Friday's game might be decided in the trenches. University has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 327.7 rushing yards per game. It's a different story for Rifle, though, as they've been averaging only 79.5. How will they fare against such a dominant running game?
University came up short against Rifle in their previous matchup back in November of 2023, falling 35-28. Thankfully for University, Logan Gross (who rushed for 223 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 10.6 yards per carry) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
