By NICK McQUEEN

nmcqueen@dailynews.net

Fourth-year Fort Hays State University football coach Kevin Verdugo isn't one to make mountains out of mole hills.

So, when the coach of the 1-0 Tigers (following last week's 44-0 season-opening rout of New Mexico Highlands University) was asked if he would talk to his team about the road woes his program has faced, he definitely wasn't going to ponder it too long.

Coincidentally, Verdugo's Tigers have another chance to rectify those problems -- in the mountains -- with a Saturday showdown at Colorado School of Mines. Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m., Central time, in Golden, Colo. (Mix 103.3 FM).

"We haven't talked about it a great deal," Verdugo said of playing on the road. "Sometimes, maybe the bigger deal you make of it, you end up making a mountain out of something.

"I just want our guys to go play," he added.

Fort Hays hasn't won on the road since a 21-14 victory over Highlands in Verdugo's first season, in 2005. It's a losing streak that has spanned 13 games and has pushed the coach's road record to 1-14 in three seasons.

"We need to go out there, focus on ourselves and do our jobs," Verdugo said. "Everything else will take care of itself."

The Tigers are looking for their second straight 2-0 start in non-conference play before next week's Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association opener, Fort Hays plays a Mines team that lost 27-3 in a weather-shortened game against Washburn University in Topeka last week.

"This has kind of developed into a decent rivalry," Verdugo said. "Regardless of where guys are from. It will be a good football game and hard-fought."

Last season in Hays, the Tigers moved to 2-0 with a 34-10 win over Mines and two years ago in Golden, the teams exchanged big plays, including a Tiger kickoff return for a score before halftime by then-freshman C.J. Lovett. The game was delayed by nearly an hour by lightning. Those two games mean little, though, Verdugo said. Mines (0-1) has new personnel on defense and a new defensive coaching staff, and the Tigers have few players left from two seasons ago, when they fell to 0-2 with a 31-24 loss in Golden.

This time around, Fort Hays is 1-0 following an impressive victory, the widest margin of any team in the MIAA in the opening week.

"It was a good win for our program, a nice start to our season," Verdugo said of last week's opener.

The Tigers didn't know much about Highlands. This week, that should change.

With a full week of preparation and some scouting information, Verdugo said, the Tigers are looking for a better start than last week when they had to cling to a 7-0 lead for most of the first half.

"I wasn't thrilled about the first part of that game," Verdugo said. "We ran the ball OK. Some of the stuff we saw in pass protection was stuff they hadn't shown, so that gave (the offensive line) a little trouble early.

"Once we got that ironed out, they did a decent job the rest of the night," Verdugo added.

The Tigers ended the game with 201 yards rushing, led by junior starter Jacobb Irvin's 68 on the ground. In his Tiger debut, junior quarterback Mike Garrison also completed six passes for 117 yards, including a 71-yard scoring toss to senior wideout Bryan Haynes, the reigning MIAA Special Teams Player of the Week for his 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.

An improved offense was evident in last week's opener, and the Tigers hope to continue that progress to keep the pressure off their defense, which has carried the program in the last two seasons.

"We know the offense is going to do something," Garrison said last week. "It gives the defense a little cushion where they don't have to be out there constantly making plays."

The defense last week wasn't without its shining moments either, as Lovett got in on the scoring action. He nabbed an interception late in the second quarter and dashed 77 yards for a score down the visiting sideline. He'll return to Mines, where he had a solid game two seasons ago, a start that boosted his MIAA Co-Freshman of the Year status.

Those big plays have been made time and time again by the Tiger special teams and defense the past two seasons.

"It's a big thing because those are things you don't expect to happen every game,"¬ Lovett said. "So, when it does happen, it's huge. It really gets your blood pumping and makes you think you can do so much more."

Mines' offensive attack offers many different looks and is typically one of the toughest to defend. Receivers will constantly go in motion and everyone in the offense will run the ball.

"You have to be able to not get caught up in the junk that goes on and keep your eye on your assignment," Verdugo said. "We kept our eye on the target (last season).

"Physically, we'll stand up with them just fine,. It's just a matter of us playing good assignment football, and making sure we're in the right place at the right time," he added.