SPEARFISH - The Black Hills State University football team will welcome a familiar foe in South Dakota School of Mines to Lyle Hare Stadium Saturday afternoon for a game in front of what should be a lively crowd as the Yellow Jackets celebrate Swarm Days.

No. 18 BHSU will be looking to bounce back from a tough 10-7 loss to Northwestern Oklahoma State University, while the Hardrockers will try to continue the momentum of their 2-0 start.

The two teams come into the game having faced a different brand of competition to this point. The Yellow Jackets opened the season win an impressive last-second win over NCAA Division II Southwest Minnesota State University before falling to the ranked Rangers last week giving up just 24 points total. Mines has scored 132 points in its two games against Haskell University and Trinity Bible College.

Today, when the high-powered Mines offense and the stingy BHSU defense meet the two Dakota Athletic Conference foes figure to learn a lot in this non-conference game.

"We have had two good ballgames to start the season which is a plus," 'Rockers head coach Dan Kratzer said. "But our starters haven't played a full game yet which is a concern. After the first half we haven't had to play our starters a lot so we have been able to give other kids some experience."

Mines is led by freshman quarterback Nick Russell who has thrown for over 450 yards and seven touchdowns in two games, freshman running back Jamie Dale who has gone over the century mark in both games and sophomore Dustin Meneley who has proven to be a force offensively, defensively and in the return game.

"They are an improved football team and the players they brought in don't know about the history of the last couple of seasons," BHSU head coach John Scott said. "They know they are 2-0, and the veterans on the team are looking for a do over from last season and now they have their chance."

The Yellow Jackets dominated last year's game winning 58-0 and are looking to continue a streak of victories over SDSM&T that dates back to 2004. Mines' last win in the rivalry came in the first of two meetings in 2004 when it downed BHSU, 10-9.

Scott said he sees similarities between Mines and the Rangers when it comes to the tempo of play and knows his defense will have to rise to the occasion.

"Their quarterback is very intelligent and he is a little more drop back, but he is very confident and can do some things," he said. "People think that when we blitz we are trying to get to the quarterback, but we are also trying to shutdown run lanes."

Scott wants his defense to be aggressive but also knows it must pay attention to its assignments.

Offensively, Kratzer knows his team will have to limit its mistakes like it did last week and contend with a BHSU running game that will be looking to re-establish itself after struggling a week ago.

"We just have to maintain our patience on offense because we are not going to change what we do if they hit us in the mouth a couple of times," Scott said.

Kratzer has plenty of respect for what BHSU is capable of on that side of the ball.

"They have a lot of good running backs and a (young quarterback) in Drew Hodgs who just continues to improve," Kratzer said. "They have had a lot of success against us in recent years."

Scott has continued to work hard on special teams in practice as the Yellow Jackets struggled in the area last week, which is the same issue Kratzer had about his team's play against Trinity. However, both coaches know the other team is capable of big plays in that phase of the game.

Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.

EAGLES FACE COLORADO STATE-PUBELO: Coming off a 37-26 win over Adams State in which 18th-ranked Chadron State had to stage a second-half comeback to win, head coach Bill O'Boyle and the Eagles will be looking for a stronger performance against Colorado State-Pueblo.

Pueblo is the lone undefeated team in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and should be playing in front of a big home crowd.

The Eagles will be the first home RMAC opponent of the ThunderWolves, which have revived their football program this fall after dropping it in 1984.

Pueblo's most recent game against Fort Lewis saw the two teams tied at 7-7 after the first half only to have the ThunderWolves score 30 unanswered points to win the game.

CSC struggled in the first half of its game last week, but the running game has been steadily improving and more of the same will be needed today.

Kickoff is at 1 p.m. at the Neta and Eddie DeRose ThunderBowl.