#9/9 Colorado School of Mines (7-0/7-0 RMAC) at Azusa Pacific (1-5/1-3 RMAC), Saturday, 6:30 p.m. PT/7:30 p.m. MT
Citrus Stadium, Glendora, Calif.
[Streaming (PPV): Cougars All-Access] [Live Stats] [Mines Media Notes] [APU Media Notes]
 

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#9 Mines takes its unbeaten record on the road to visit Azusa Pacific under the lights in its lone non-conference game of the year.

WATCH US
Saturday's game will stream live on APU's Cougars All-Access service, which costs $6.95 for a one-day pass. 

IF YOU GO
It will be Homecoming at APU, and tickets are $12 for adults and $7 for seniors, students, and military with children under 7 free. Visit APU's web site for more ticket details and online purchasing.

WEATHER REPORT
The forecast is for a perfect Southern California night for football with clear skies and temperatures around 79 degrees at kickoff falling to the upper 60s.

CAPTAINS NAMED FOR 2019
Mines has elected four captains for the 2019 season: senior linebackers Jimmy Bauer and James Kohlschmidt, senior running back Cameron Mayberry, and senior tackle Grant Stewart. Stewart is a returning captain from 2018.

MINES MOVES INSIDE TOP 10 IN NATIONAL POLLS
Mines moved into the top 10 of both major polls this week, landing at #9 in both the AFCA and D2football.com rankings. The Orediggers have been ranked in every poll this year since debuting at #17 in preseason.

OREDIGGERS DOMINATE FORT LEWIS
Mines' defense thoroughly dominated as it shut out Fort Lewis, 42-0, on Homecoming at Marv Kay Stadium. Mines produced back-to-back shutouts for the first time since 1958 with perhaps their best overall defensive performance yet this season, holding Fort Lewis to just 78 total yards, one first down in the first half and four total, and 37 yards rushing. Fort Lewis did not cross midfield until their final drive of the game. Against the RMAC's #2-rated defense, quarterback John Matocha literally did it all, passing for a career-high 339 yards and four touchdowns, while also running for a score and catching the game's opening touchdown on a trick play from running back Michael Zeman. Zeman rushed for a game-high 76 yards and also caught a touchdown.

MATOCHA EARNS RMAC WEEKLY HONORS
For his work against Fort Lewis, John Matocha was named the RMAC Offensive Player of the Week for the fourth time this season and second week in a row. The freshman has won four out of a possible six awards; Mines players have claimed five out of seven this year.

LAST YEAR VS. AZUSA PACIFIC
Mines faced one of its toughest tests of the season, but got away from an upset-minded Azusa Pacific in a 42-27 non-conference win. Mines did it behind Cameron Mayberry, who ran for 186 yards and three touchdowns, and Isaac Harker, who was an efficient 29-of-40 for 316 yards and three touchdowns. Mines got defensive stops early in the game, but its biggest came late in the fourth quarter when Logan Bock's fourth-down sack stopped a charging APU team down a single score. Mayberry's 25-yard touchdown run with 1:15 left in the game sealed the victory.

MINES VS. AZUSA PACIFIC SERIES
This will be the fourth and, for the forseeable future, final meeting between Mines and Azusa Pacific in a four-game series that began in 2016 ... The home team has won each meeting with Mines leading the series 2-1 ... Mines won the first meeting in a memorable 27-23 upset of then-#10 APU at Marv Kay Stadium in 2016 ... Azusa Pacific returned the favor in 2017 with a 35-21 win in California, but Mines won 42-27 at home last year ... This is Mines' lone non-conference game of the year as Azusa Pacific is a member of the GNAC ... Mines is 4-1 in non-conference regular-season games and 5-2 overall outside of the RMAC under Gregg Brandon ... The Orediggers are 4-2 all-time playing in California dating back to their first trip against Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles in 1909.

CALIFORNIA, HERE WE COME
Mines is headed to California for the seventh time in program history, going 4-2 in the Golden State since their first trip to Loyola Marymount in 1909. This will be the first time Mines has repeated a visit, having played at Azusa Pacific in 2017; other California opponents have been Humboldt State, Fresno State, Pomona-Pitzer, and Whittier. The Orediggers have five California natives on the roster: Adrian Moreno (Bakersfield), Jaden Williams (Fresno), Nolan Reeve (Mission Viejo), Tak Nishi (Palo Alto), and Tanoa Fedler (Murrieta).

BEYOND THE RMAC
The Azusa Pacific game will be Mines' lone non-RMAC contest of the season. Under Gregg Brandon, the Orediggers have done well outside of league play going 4-1 in the regular season and 5-2 overall.

ZERO HEROES
Last week's shutout of Fort Lewis was Mines' second in a row, marking the first time the Orediggers achieved that feat since 1958. Since the formation of the RMAC in 1909, Mines has had back-to-back shutouts only seven times, including this season (and only once, in 1922, have the Orediggers done three straight): 

2019  -  Western 28-0, Fort Lewis 42-0        
1958  -  Neb.-Omaha 47-0, Northern Colorado 3-0    
1949  -  Northern Colorado 12-0, S.D. Mines 46-0    
1922  -  Wyoming 32-0, Utah State 10-0, Brigham Young 47-0    
1914  -  Denver 18-0, Colorado State 19-0        
1913  -  Wyoming 40-0, Utah 7-0        
1912  -  Utah State 10-0, Wyoming 42-0        

DEFENSE AMONG THE ELITE
Coming off their back-to-back shutouts, the Mines defense now leads NCAA Division II in virtually every major defensive category. The Orediggers rank #1 in total defense (205.3 ypg), scoring defense (9.1 ppg), third-down defense (21.9%), and first downs defense (81). Mines is also second in rushing defense (36.7 ypg), fourth in team tackles for loss (9.6 per game), and ninth in defensive touchdowns (3). 

LUCKY NUMBER SEVEN
Mines is 7-0 for only the seventh time in program history, and third time under Gregg Brandon. In five of the previous six 7-0 starts, Mines has earned at least a share of the conference title:

MATOCHA HITS NEW CAREER HIGHS
John Matocha keeps producing more and more at quarterback as he comes off yet another career-high performance against Fort Lewis. The true freshman threw for 339 yards and four touchdowns (both career highs) and his six total touchdowns were also his best. This season, Matocha has been the nation's best freshman quarterback completing 74.5% of his passes for an average of 263.2 yards per game, with 17 touchdowns to only three interceptions. He's been dangerous on the ground as well, averaging 49.2 yards and a touchdown per game rushing. Last week, he also did something no Mines quarterback has done in recent memory - he threw, ran, and caught a touchdown. Matocha caught the game's opening score on a trick play from Michael Zeman, passed for Mines' next four scores, then ran in their last touchdown.

HE'S ZE-MAN
Speaking of Matocha catching a touchdown, when running back Michael Zeman floated him the 23-yard pass last week, he did something that hadn't been seen in Mines football in seven years. The last time a non-quarterback threw an Oredigger touchdown was in 2012, when wide receiver Jerrod Doucet tossed a score to quarterback Matt Brown against Western New Mexico.

PICK YOUR TARGET
Coming into 2019, the receivers were a question mark for Mines as only Sean O'Dell had returning starting experience. O'Dell certainly produced early on before being hurt in the New Mexico Highlands game, but since then, three different Orediggers have stepped up each week to lead the team in catches. Three different players - O'Dell, Mason Karp, and Zach Hoffman - have produced 10 or more catches in a game this year.

ROOKIE REVOLUTION
It's been unusual under head coach Gregg Brandon to have true freshmen play as rookies, with typically only one or two standouts per season (guys like Chris Clore, Evan Gill, Luke Jeter, Scott Marshall, and Mason Pierce) not utilizing their red shirt. But this year, four true freshmen - John Matocha (QB), Logan Rayburn (DB), Myles Ruiz (DB), and Zach Heckman (OL) - have appeared in games with Matocha and Heckman earning starts. It's the largest group of freshmen to play during Brandon's time at Mines.

BELOW AVERAGE
In six out of seven games this season, Mines' defense has held its opponent to significant below their season average in total offense, and this season average holding opponenets to 129.7 yards under their season average, including 182.8 in the last three weeks. As a result, the Orediggers own the nation's #1 total defense at 205.0 total yards allowed per game. 

LIVING IN THE BACKFIELD
Through seven games, the Mines defense has three players averaging 1.0 or more tackles for loss per game: Averie Mansfield (8.0), Mack Minnehan (7.5), and Luke Jeter (7.0). Mines as a team has racked up 64 tackles behind the line including 23 sacks; that rate ranks fourth in NCAA Division II this season.

BALL HAWKING
While the Mines front seven has arguably been the most dominant in D-II football this year, Mines' secondary has quietly put together an outstanding season of their own. The Orediggers have dropped more than 100 yards off their passing yards allowed from 2018 (272.2 to 168.6), and they've also been aggressive at ball-hawking with six players having three or more pass break-ups, led by Mason Pierce's nine. Mines' 40 PBUs through seven games (5.7 per game) is significantly ahead of the 2018 rate of 4.3 per game. 

ALL IN A DAY'S WORK
The hard hat is a longtime symbol of Mines students (every freshman receives one when they embark on the M Climb) and engineers everywhere. This season, the Mines bench is featuring a Turnover Hard Hat, which is awarded to and signed by a player generating a takeaway. So far the hard hat has been worn by seven different players, with Kobe Brewster and Geoff Keating each getting it twice:

Mack Minnehan at Adams State - Interception
Logan Braden at Adams State - Interception
Josh Odom vs. Black Hills State - Forced fumble
Geoff Keating vs. Black Hills State - Interception
Kobe Brewster at CSU-Pueblo - Interception
Kobe Brewster vs. N.M. Highlands - Interception
Geoff Keating at Colorado Mesa - Interception (TD)    
Denver Hargrove vs. Western - Fumble recovery
Jimmy Bauer vs. Fort Lewis - Forced fumble

NEXT UP
Mines returns to RMAC play Nov. 2 at South Dakota Mines.