By: Tim Flynn

#4/5 Colorado School of Mines (2-0, 0-0 RMAC) at Chadron State (1-1, 0-0 RMAC) // Saturday, Sept. 21 // 12 p.m.
Don Beebe Stadium - Chadron, Neb.
[RMAC Network] [Live Stats] [Tickets] [Mines Media Notes]

Colorado School of Mines begins the defense of its Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference title in Week 3, visiting Chadron State to start conference play.

LIVE COVERAGE
The game will be streamed live and for free on the RMAC Network.

WEATHER REPORT
Game time temperatures will be in the upper 60s with increasing clouds through the afternoon and winds of 15-20 miles per hour throughout the day.

AT THE HELM
Pete Sterbick enters his second season as head coach of Colorado School of Mines, going 14-1 in 2023 and earning AFCA Regional Coach of the Year honors. The Orediggers' coaching staff returns largely intact with offensive coordinator Tim Brandon and defensive coordinator Tripp Thomas back for their second and third seasons, respectively, in those positions, while a familiar face in Yon Boone rejoins the staff as special teams coordinator.

MINES NAMES CAPTAINS
Mines has elected four captains for the 2024 season: quarterback Evan Foster, offensive tackle Nic Van de Graaf, and linebackers Jaden Healy and Adrian Moreno. All are first-year captains.

IN THE POLLS
Mines was selected atop the RMAC preseason coaches' poll on July 31, earning 79 points and seven of 10 first-place votes to lead Western Colorado and CSU Pueblo. In the national polls, Mines inched up one spot in each ranking this week, advancing to #4 in the AFCA coaches' poll and #5 in the D2football.com media poll. It marks the 25th consecutive week that Mines has been in the national top-10 of both polls, and the 65th straight AFCA and 66th consecutive D2football.com poll they have appeared in the top 25.

ONE FOR THE THUMB
Mines has had a dominating run through the RMAC in recent years, capturing five consecutive titles since 2018 (no championship was awarded in 2020) and going 45-2 in that span against the RMAC. Last year's campaign saw Mines go a perfect 9-0 for a second consecutive season (running their RMAC win streak to 21 games). Mines is only the third RMAC program to win five straight rings, along with Western Colorado (1973-79) and Utah (1928-33).

NOTING THE SERIES
Mines and Chadron State are meeting for the 46th time in a series that began in 1938 ... The two played sporadically over the years before Chadron State joined the RMAC in 1989 ... CSC leads the series 23-22 but Mines has won 10 straight and 11 of the last 13 ... CSC leads 13-9 when playing in Nebraska ... Mines and Chadron State have combined to have all five of the RMAC's Harlon Hill Award winners: Danny Woodhead (2006 and 2007) for the Eagles and Chad Friehauf (2004), Justin Dvorak (2016), and John Matocha (2022) for Mines.

SCOUTING THE EAGLES
Chadron State is coming off a bye last week after starting the season 1-1, losing 18-6 to Nebraska-Kearney in Week 0 and then beating NAIA member Jamestown 17-10; they have yet to play away from home. The Eagles' defense has impressed, allowing just 14 points and 231 total yards per game, but turnovers have been an issue as Chadron State is -7. Offensively they have struggled passing the ball with six interceptions against one touchdown in two games, with four different quarterbacks attempting passes so far. Jake Marschall is their leading rusher with 188 yards. Special teams has been a strength for CSC with Wilson Yee hitting all three of his field goal attempts and Brodie Eisenbraun one of the nation's best punters averaging 45.1 yards per kick this season.

LAST YEAR VS. CHADRON STATE
Mines defeated Chadron State 35-7 in a Homecoming win before a sellout crowd at Marv Kay Stadium in 2023. The Oredigger defense held the Eagles to just 2-of-16 on third-down opportunities and sacked CSC quarterback Preston Pearson five times. John Matocha threw for 284 yards and three touchdowns, while Noah Roper had a career game with 110 yards and two scores on the ground and another touchdown in the air. Max McLeod went for 103 yards on 10 catches, and Zach Hoffman had a career day with 84 yards and two touchdown catches. Peyton Rose had 1.5 sacks to lead the Mines pass rush with Blake Ramsey, Kyle Bahnsen, Zach Hester, and Jack Peterson also getting in hits. Chadron State was limited to just 107 yards in the first half and 247 for the game, including 93 on the ground. 

WEEK 2 REWIND
Mines escaped Washburn with a 31-28 win, improving to 2-0 as Landon Walker's four-touchdown day led a down-to-the-wire win by the Orediggers. Washburn missed two second-half field goals, including a chance to send the game to overtime, but hung in with the Orediggers all game long with some explosive plays and timely defensive stops.   Walker tied the program record with four rushing touchdowns, compiling 142 yards and adding 18 through the air. Mines quarterback Evan Foster, playing near his hometown of Olathe, was 24-of-30 for 255 yards and also ran for some crucial second-half first downs. Washburn played two quarterbacks with Keller Hurla going 13-of-17 for 92 yard and two touchdowns, and rushing for 32 yards, and Hayden Clark throwing for 166 yards and a score. 

WEEK 2 QUICK HITS

- Landon Walker rushed for a career-high four touchdowns on 142 yards (161 total yards) to score all of the Oredigger's TDs.
- Evan Foster was an efficient 24-of-30 for 255 yards, and also rushed six times for 22 yards.
- Max McLeod caught eight passes for 94 yards and Flynn Schiele had seven for 90.
- Mikee Barker and Will Ramsey led the defense as each had a career-high seven tackles.
- Will Drogosch broke up two passes and had three stops.
- Jaden Healy had 2.5 tackles for loss and a hurry among four tackles.
- Matthew Eich tied his career-long with a 47-yard field goal and was 4-for-4 on PATs.
- Blake Doud put three of his five punts inside the 20 - including two inside the 5 - averaging 43 yards per punt.

ALL-AMERICAN QUARTET
Mines had a program-record 11 different players earn at least one all-America team recognition last year, and four of them return for the 2024 season. Wide receiver Max McLeod was a consensus first-team selection across all five major selectors, punter Blake Doud was named first team by three different organizations, cornerback Jackson Zimmermann picked up AP first team and D2CCA second team honors, and linebacker Adrian Moreno was a Don Hansen Honorable Mention pick.

PRESEASON HONORS
Both D2football.com and Lindy's Sports had the same four Oredigger honorees on their preseason all-America teams, with WR Max McLeod, LT Nic Van de Graaf, P Blake Doud, and CB Jackson Zimmermann each recognized. McLeod, Doud, and Zimmermann were each all-Americans after the 2023 season.

WALKER EARNS RMAC HONOR
Landon Walker's record-setting day in Topeka earned him the RMAC Offensive Player of the Week award on Monday, the first such honor of his career. The redshirt junior tied the Mines program record with four rushing touchdowns - his career-best performance - among 142 yards, and he also caught four passes for 19 yards. Walker averaged a healthy 7.9 yards per carry on 18 totes. 

TAKE CARE
Mines was one of the best in the nation at taking care of the ball last year, ranking fifth in NCAA Division II in turnover margin (+22) and 11th in turnovers lost (11, or 0.7 per game). This season, it's more of the same. The Orediggers have not turned the ball over on 145 offensive and special teams snaps through two games, including Evan Foster completing 44-of-59 passing attempts with zero interceptions in that span.

FIELD FLIPPER
It's not often that a punt goes viral, but Blake Doud's 80-yard bomb in Week 1 racked up more than 3 million views on Twitter and another million-plus on Instagram across a number of national accounts. The punt came from the Mines 19, carried to the WT 20, and was swatted off the opposite goal line by longsnapper Josh Wojciechowicz before being downed at the 1 by Konnor Mickelsen. It was the longest in college football this season and bested Doud's previous career long of 77 yards last year at Angelo State. Doud - who was the Week 1 RMAC Specialist of the Week - has pinned four punts inside the five through two games, including two at the 1. Mines is second nationally through the early part of the season in net punting at 45.33 yards per attempt. 

FOSTER STARTS HOT
Through the first two starts of his career, Evan Foster has been remarkably efficient in running the Oredigger offense, completing 44-of-59 pass attempts (74.9%), which ranks fourth in D-II through Week 2. Foster has thrown two touchdowns against no interceptions, averaging 262 yards per game. His QB rating of 160.4 ranks inside the top-25 nationally, as well, at #21. 

MCLEOD CHASES HISTORY
Sixth-year senior Max McLeod is coming off an all-timer of a 2023 season that saw him earn consensus first-team all-America honors while setting the Mines program records for both single-season receptions (115) and receiving yards (1,656). The nation's leader in both categories in 2023, McLeod is college football's active leader in career yards (3,834), adding 94 to that total last week, and he stands 1,149 yards from the D-II all-time record of 4,983 held by Ferris State's Clarence Coleman (1998-2001) and 176 yards shy of former Oredigger Brody Oliver's RMAC and Mines record of 4,010 yards (2015-18). McLeod's 45 career touchdown catches currently ranks in the top 20 all-time in D-II history as he chases Oliver's RMAC record of 59.

Mines Career Receiving Yards Leaders        
1. Brody Oliver (2014-2018)    4,010        
2. Max McLeod (2021-pres.)    3,834        
3. Justin Gallas (2001-2005)    3,561        

Mines Career Receiving Touchdowns Leaders        
1. Brody Oliver (2014-2018)    59        
2. Max McLeod (2021-pres.)    45        
3. Josh Johnston (2018-22)    40        

NCAA Active Receiving Yards Leaders        
1. Max McLeod, Mines (D-II)    3,834        
2. Collin Brunstein, Illinois Col. (D-III)    3,760        
3. Zakhari Franklin, Illinois (FBS)    3,579        
4. Tory Horton, Colorado St. (FBS)    3,382        

IN THE TRENCHES
The Mines offensive line turned over four starting spots since last season, but it hasn't shown in their performance as the Oredigger o-line has excelled over the first two weeks of 2024. Mines has given up just three tackles for loss and two sacks in two games; the TFL total ranks 10th in D-II as Mines has lost only 38 yards against 449 positive in the run game on 72 attempts. Veteran left tackle Nic Van de Graaf, who started his 42nd career game last week, also pitched in with a crucial fumble recovery deep in Oredigger territory at Washburn that would have set the Ichabods up in the red zone.

GROUND GAME
We mentioned Landon Walker's historic performance at Washburn, and Walker has undoubtedly been an offensive star for Mines ranking second nationally with six rushing touchdowns, third in yards per game at 148, and sixth in yards per carry at 8.97. But the entire stable of backs has contributed as speedster Braelon Tate has 71 yards and a touchdown, Max Barnes has a score and 19 yards on four carries, and Konnor Mickelsen has carried five times for 10 yards.

THIIIIIRD DOWN
Mines' offense has done a good job of staying on schedule this season, converting an RMAC-best 15-of-26 (57.7%) third-down opportunities. That ranks fourth-best in NCAA Division II as the Orediggers were 9-of-14 against West Texas A&M and 6-of-12 at Washburn.

DEFENSIVE DEPTH
Mines' defensive trademark over the past few seasons has been its depth in rotation, and that has continued in 2024 with 30 different players registering tackles over the first two games. Six players have 4.5 or more per game led by Mikee Barker, Hayden Gregg, and Adrian Moreno with 10 tackles each and Will Drogosch, Jaden Healy, and Will Ramsey with 9 apiece.

PORTAL IMPACT
Mines once again did not lose a player in the transfer portal during the offseason, but the Orediggers picked up four key pieces from the FBS and FCS levels to bolster their roster. Two of those transfers appear on the initial two deep - redshirt junior defensive lineman Dominic Caggiano (South Dakota) and graduate transfer receiver Mark McCurdy (Davidson) - while two redshirt freshmen joined the program in quarterback Austin Gonzalez (Southern Mississippi) and tackle Noah Atherton (South Dakota State).

RETIRING #74
Mines Football retired the #74 jersey of the legendary Marv Kay in May 2023 shortly following his passing, and it is one of two numbers retired (along with Harry Campbell's #48) at Mines. Fans will still see 74 on the field, however, at least for the next two years. Offensive tackle Zach Morris, a redshirt junior, was wearing the #74 at the time of its retirement and will continue to wear it until his graduation in honor of Kay; he will be the final Mines player to sport the number.

HELMETS HONOR PAST OREDIGGERS
To commemorate Colorado School of Mines' 150th birthday, the Orediggers will wear four different throwback-inspired helmets this season. For the Chadron State game, Mines will wear a classic "Block M" logo, which features an inset hologram of Blaster of the Burro, to honor teams that wore several versions of the M from 1968 to 1985. The helmets also feature a holographic stripe containing the years of each of the Orediggers' 16 RMAC championships. Mines will wear three other logos through the season to honor different eras, and will return to their familiar chrome Blaster the Burro logo in Week 11. 

2024 Mines Helmet Decal Schedule
Weeks 1-3  -  Block M        
Weeks 4-5 -   Script "Mines"        
Week 6-7   - The Miner        
Week 8-10  -  Chrome Oval M        
Week 11  -  Chrome Blaster        

NEXT UP
Mines returns home Sept. 28 to host Black Hills State on Homecoming.