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Lights, cameras, action!

More than ever, FLC football ready for CBS Sports close-up

Seven years and 77 games later, the lights are ready to be turned back on above Ray Dennison Memorial Field.

The Fort Lewis College football team is ready for its closeup in a nationally televised game at 6 p.m. today on the CBS Sports Network during the network’s Division II Game of the Week.

The game comes at an opportune time for the Skyhawks to show off their football program, as well as the college and the Durango community, after FLC (2-4, 1-3 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) upset previously second-ranked Colorado State University at Pueblo (5-1, 3-1 RMAC) 23-22 last Saturday at home, ending the ThunderWolves’ 42-game regular-season winning streak in the process.

“The morale and energy level on campus is very high. We are very fortunate to have upset CSU-Pueblo last Saturday. It was a great momentum-builder, and we hope it carries over to a big, noisy crowd in front of a national audience,” FLC athletic director Gary Hunter said on the eve of the game.

Today’s game will be the first FLC game ever nationally televised, and it will be the second for opponent Colorado School of Mines (6-0, 4-0 RMAC), the No. 15-ranked team in Division II football.

“Any time a Division II program can get a nationally televised game, that’s huge,” said FLC second-year head coach John L. Smith, who has coached six Division I programs, including Arkansas, Louisville and Michigan State. “Kids play the game of football to maybe someday be on TV like the Division I schools are on Saturdays. The guys have been talking about it all year.”

FLC hasn’t hosted a night game since Sept. 22, 2007, in a game against Mesa State College, now known as Colorado Mesa. FLC President Dene Kay Thomas lobbied during NCAA meetings starting two summers ago to try and get a televised game, and she admitted coach Smith’s name recognition helped the Skyhawks land the game.

“I don’t know if we would have this game without John L. Smith,” said Thomas, who previously worked together with Hunter and Smith at the University of Idaho in the early ’90s. “We are really proud of the visibility he has brought Fort Lewis College with this opportunity. Win, lose or draw, Fort Lewis College will win with the visibility we will gain from this game.”

CBS Sports Network crews have made several trips to Durango and the FLC campus to prepare for the big night. A promotional commercial was shot earlier in the year, along with highlights of last weekend’s game, and the Skyhawks are eager to show off the town of Durango to prospective athletes, students and those who never have heard of Durango or FLC.

“I don’t think you can put a money figure on what this means to us as a school,” Smith said. “The advertising and publicity we’re going to gain for not only the school but the city as well, and certainly our program. Anytime you are on TV and kids see it out there, you might get a chance to sit in their living room and be at the recruiting table.”

Even though the lights haven’t been illuminated at Dennison Memorial in seven years, production crews had no problem getting the field game-ready. Musco Lighting, which has a partnership with the NCAA, and the CBS Sports Network crew are used to long hours of preparation to get Division II fields ready for the spotlight.

“Fort Lewis is not the first campus we’ve had to bring our own lights to, and it goes up quicker than you might think,” said Sue Maryott, the CBS Sports Network producer for Thursday night’s game. “It’s different, and we’re always curious to see how players react to playing under the lights when they aren’t used to it.”

Maryott said last week’s upset win for FLC energized the crew working on the game, which includes 2001 Heisman Trophy winner Eric Crouch, the former Nebraska Cornhuskers quarterback who now works as a color commentator for CBS Sports.

“After the upset last week, we were all blowing each other’s phones up saying, ‘Oh my gosh, the streak is over, Fort Lewis beat Pueblo,’” Maryott said. “Our crew is on this Division II package all season, and we drink the Kool-Aid following all the schools. It is exciting for us, too, and for Fort Lewis to get that win with us here this week, it turned out perfectly.”

Maryott said she enjoys working with smaller schools because of the appreciation that comes with their arrival compared with bigger universities.

“They appreciate the coverage on the national level so much more. This Division II package has really grown on me, and it is nice to get the red carpet rolled out for us,” she said. “There is some hand-holding with the expectations for television, and it does take more time on our end to plan some things, but the schools bend over backward to make it happen, and we are thrilled to provide coverage of Fort Lewis and these smaller schools.”

jlivingston@durangoherald.com

If you go

Who: Colorado Mines at Fort Lewis College.

What: Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (Division II) football.

When: 6 p.m. Thursday.

Where: Ray Dennison Memorial Field, Fort Lewis College campus.

Watch Live: CBS Sports Network; Charter channel 134, Dish Network channel 158, Direct TV channel 221.

Listen Live: KIUP 930 AM, 97.3 FM.



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