GOLDEN, Colo. - #9 CSU-Pueblo generated four turnovers - including a pair of interception returns for touchdowns - to take #14 Colorado School of Mines out of the game and win their NCAA First Round match-up 37-17.

The Orediggers end their season at 10-2, while the Thunderwolves (11-1) advance to play at top-seeded Minnesota State in the second round. The two teams shared the RMAC regular-season title.

Darius Williams and Jamaal Sears both returned picks for six in the game while Marche Dennard ran for a pair of 40+ yard touchdowns. Mines received touchdowns from Cameron Mayberry - who tied the long-standing Mines single-season rushing touchdowns mark of 23 - and Brody Oliver, who crossed 4,000 yards receiving in his final career game.

The game was played in bitterly cold and slippery conditions as freezing drizzle, fog, and snow flurries lasted throughout the game. Both teams traded field goals to start as Scott Marshall hit from 37 yards and Mitchell Carter from 23, but Williams' pick-six midway through the second quarter broke the game open as he went 42 yards to the house for a 10-3 lead, which is where the game stood at halftime.

A Marcus Lawrence interception set the stage for the first offensive touchdown of the game as Marche Dennard scored on a 44-yard run on the first play of the next series early in the third quarter, and two drives later, it was Sears who took the ball 32 yards to score off an interception to make it a 24-3 game. Mines finally got some offense going as a 48-yard Oliver catch set up Mayberry's one-yard finish to cut the deficit to 24-10 late in the third, but CSU-Pueblo answered with another big Dennard run, this time from 40 yards out, to lead 30-10 with 12:04 left in the game.

From there CSU-Pueblo's defense took over, sacking Isaac Harker six times in just the fourth quarter, and despite a 22-yard touchdown completion to Oliver late, the Thunderwolves held off Mines and iced the game on a 26-yard Marcus Lindsay run to make it 37-17.

NOTABLES
- Mines' senior class graduates as the only one in program history to record three RMAC titles, three NCAA appearances, and three 10-win seasons.
- Oliver totaled a game-high 127 yards on six receptions, his ninth 100+ yard game of the season. He extended his RMAC touchdowns record to 59, and ended up with one last incredible milestone: crossing 4,000 career yards in the game. Oliver ends his career second in RMAC history with 4,010 yards, only the second player in RMAC history to cross the mark.
- Mayberry's touchdown gave him 23 for the season, tying the single-season record set by Lloyd Madden in 1939. Though Mayberry and the Mines run game were largely held in check as he had only 31 yards, he still finished the season with a new program record of 1,615 yards.
- It was the first time in 14 years that Mines played an on-campus postseason game, since beating Midwestern State in the 2004 NCAA First Round. Mines' 2014 first-round game was played in Arvada while Marv Kay Stadium was being built.
- The loss snapped a 15-game win streak at Marv Kay Stadium for the Orediggers.
- Mines ran for only 101 yards gained on the ground (37 net with sacks) to CSU-Pueblo's 214. 
- Harker thew for 284 yards on 23-of-42 passing. brandon Edwards was 15-for-25 for 115 yards. 
- Riley Hoff caught a game-high eight passes for 80 yards, ending his standout career with 2,496 yards receiving.
- Mines' defense played tough led by nine tackles each by Geoff Keating and Adam Leonard; Leonard also had a forced fumble that was recovered by Miguel Rosendo.
- Grant Gale and Matthew King each had eight tackles and half a sack to lead the front seven. 
- RMAC Defensive Player of the Year Brandon Payer had a game-high 11 tackles, while Jackson Wibbles made 10 stops with 2.5 sacks for CSU-Pueblo. 
- Both punters had good days in challenging conditions as Tanner Cuda punted 10 times for a 36.6-yard average, and Scott Marshall eight times for a 36.2-yard average.