#7/7 Colorado School of Mines (10-0/9-0 RMAC) at Chadron State (6-4/5-4 RMAC), Saturday, 12 p.m. 
Don Beebe Stadium, Chadron, Neb.
[Streaming: RMAC Network] [Live Stats] [Mines Media Notes] 
 

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#7 Colorado School of Mines heads to Chadron State to close the regular season, chasing their first 11-0 season since 2004.

WATCH US
Saturday's game will stream live on the RMAC Network.

IF YOU GO
Tickets are $12 for adults and $9 for students and are available at the gate at Don Beebe Stadium. Visit Chadron State's site for more information.

WEATHER REPORT
It will be a chilly but mostly sunny day in Chadron with highs topping out in the upper 40s and steady winds running 10-15 mph.

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 UP TO #7 IN NATIONAL POLLS
Mines moved up one spot to #7 in both the AFCA and D2football.com rankings this week. The Orediggers have been ranked in every poll this year since debuting at #17 in preseason.

OREDIGGERS STAY PUT IN REGIONAL RANKINGS
The third edition of the NCAA Regional Rankings came out on Monday and the Orediggers remain well-positioned at #3 in Super Region IV. The top seven teams in the regional rankings at the end of the regular season make the NCAA field. The NCAA selection show will be Sunday at 3 p.m. MT streaming on NCAA.com. This week's list:

1. Tarleton St.,    7-0    
2. Minnesota St.,    10-0    
3. Colo. Sch. of Mines,    10-0    
4. Colorado St.-Pueblo,    9-1    
5. Augustana (SD),    8-2    
6. Tex. A&M-Commerce,    7-2   
7. Angelo St.,    8-2    
8. Sioux Falls,    7-3   
9. Winona St.,    7-3    
10.  Dixie St.,    7-3   
(in-region records)

ANOTHER ONE
The win over Dixie State clinched at least a share of the RMAC title for Mines, and a win at Chadron State would win it outright. The Orediggers won their 23rd conference title all-time (and 13th in the RMAC), but did something no Mines football team has done in over a century: win back-to-back championships. Not since 1906 and 1907, under the Colorado Football Association, had the Orediggers won consecutive titles; they had never repeated as RMAC champions. Their last outright title came in 2004.

CHASING PERFECTION
In addition to an outright RMAC title, Mines is chasing a perfect regular season as it tries to join the 2004 team as the only teams to get to 11-0. The only other undefeated RMAC seasons for Mines were 1939 (8-0), the war-shortened 1918 season (4-0), and 1914 (5-0-1).

OREDIGGERS OUTLAST DIXIE STATE
Mines won back-to-back RMAC titles for the first time in program history, outlasting Dixie State 35-27 to improve to 10-0 last Saturday. Mines scored twice around halftime to overcome a deficit as John Matocha and Garrett Hyles had touchdowns, and Michael Zeman's 75-yard scoring run late in the third and Sean O'Dell's eight-yard reverse run put the game away. Zeman ran for 183 yards and a touchdown while Matocha, held to 117 yards and two touchdowns in the air, made things happen on the ground with 95 net yards and a score. Dixie State passed for 354 yards as Keaton Mott went for 279 before departing the game injured in the third; Mines got to backup Tanner Hammond with two sacks as they limited him to 4-for-10 for 75 yards. Dejuan Dantzler caught 10 passes for 234 yards in an impressive day at receiver for DSU.

TOUSSAINT EARNS NATIONAL, RMAC POTW 
After a career day against Dixie State, punter Austin Toussaint earned both RMAC and D2football.com Special Teams Player of the Week. Toussaint averaged 46.6 yards per punt on nine kicks as he helped Mines (10-0) win the field position battle in Saturday's win against Dixie State. Toussaint put five of his nine inside the 20 and had three punts of 50 yards or longer, including a career-long 79-yard roller that was downed at the 1. In the second quarter alone he popped kicks of 79, 64, and 61 yards.

MATOCHA LEADS THE WAY
It's hard to argue that any true freshman has had as big an impact in the RMAC - or maybe even the nation - as John Matocha has. Matocha ranks third in NCAA Division II in completion percentage (73.9%), fourth in points responsible for (22.7 per game), 10th in completions per game (21.67), and 11th in total offense (293.8 ypg). In nine games, matocha has thrown for 2,109 yards, 23 touchdowns, and only five interceptions while also rushing for 535 yards and 10 touchdowns.

HE'S ZE-MAN
Michael Zeman has had a heck of a month. After being thrust into the starting running back role against Fort Lewis, he produced a solid 100 total yards (76 rush/24 rec.) with a touchdown, and even threw a touchdown to John Matocha. Fast forward a week to Azusa Pacific and Zeman went off for 298 rushing yards and three touchdowns; he was even better at South Dakota Mines with a new program record 321 yards (breaking Cam Mayberry's 312 set in 2017) along with 65 yards receiving and a record-tying four rushing touchdowns. Last week, he ran for "only" 183 yards and a touchdown against Dixie State. All told, he has 802 yards and seven touchdowns in just his last three games.

Top NCAA Division II Rushing Games, 2019
1. Michael Zeman, Mines at SDSMT, 321 yards, 11/2/19    
2. Justin Felder, Stonehill vs. So. Conn. St., 314 yards, 11/2/19    
3. Justin Felder, Stonehill vs. Pace, 311 yards, 11/9/19    
4. Deshaun Wethington, Chowan vs. Lincoln, 307 yards, 11/9/19    
5. Michael Zeman, Mines at Azusa Pacific, 298 yards, 10/26/19    

Top All-Time Mines Rushing Games
1. Michael Zeman, at SDSMT, 321 yards, 11/2/19    
2. Cameron Mayberry, at Adams State, 312 yards, 11/4/17    
3. Michael Zeman, at Azusa Pacific, 298 yards, 10/26/19    
4. Greg Marshall, vs. Fort Lewis, 229 yards, 10/31/19
5. Cameron Mayberry, at Dixie State, 224 yards, 11/3/2018 

MILLENNIUM MEN
Last week, Zeman became the seventh different Oredigger to reach 1,000 rushing yards in a season. Remarkably, of the nine total 1,000-yard seasons in program history, six have come in the last six years:

Lloyd Madden, 1939, 1,316 yards        
Bryan Florendo, 2006, 1,018 yards        
Dan Palmer, 2011, 1,016 yards        
Tevin Champagne, 2014, 1,084 yards        
Sam Seeton, 2015,  1,150 yards         
Sam Seeton, 2016,  1,268 yards        
Cameron Mayberry, 2017,  1,563 yards        
Cameron Mayberry, 2018,  1,615 yards        
Michael Zeman, 2019,  1,064 yards        

IT STARTS UP FRONT
The Mines offensive line has been a patchwork at times this year due to injuries, losing one starter (Riley Miller) in preseason and now starting five different combinations in nine games including three different starters at each of the guard spots. Only left tackle Grant Stewart and center Cody Ullestad have started all 10 games. But no matter what the combination, the o-line has been spectacular, producing the RMAC #1 and NCAA #12 rushing offense at 260.4 yards per game, including five 290+ yard rushing games and outings of 395, 400, and 286 the last three weeks. The Orediggers have given up just five sacks in their last four games; all told, Mines has given up just 15 sacks in 10 games.

NO FLY ZONE
In a breakout year for the Mines defense, there have been a number of standout players, but perhaps none more than safety Kobe Brewster. Brewster now leads the team in tackles (55) and interceptions (4) as he's also broken up five passes and added 2.0 TFL. Brewster has five or more tackles in seven games, including in five straight, and he has at least one PBU in three straight games. He's coming off a career-high nine-tackle performance against Dixie State that included a critical second-half interception in the end zone.

THIIIIIIRD DOWN
Mines has the nation's stingiest defense on third down this year, allowing only a 23.1 percent conversion rate to lead NCAA Division II. The Orediggers have not allowed more than five third-down conversions in a game all season, including an 0-for-13 shutout against Fort Lewis, 2-for-13 at SDSMT, and a 2-for-16 performance against Adams State.

GO FOURTH AND SCORE
Mines has had a solid year when going for it on fourth down, converting 10-of-19 (52.6%) opportunities. Last week marked their first 2-for-2 performance of the year, and both resulted in touchdowns. In the third quarter on 4th and 3 at the 19, John Matocha floated a pass to Garrett Hyles to take a 21-17 lead; in the fourth quarter, it was a reverse to Sean O'Dell on 4th and 5 from the 8 that made it 35-27 and sealed the win.

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 10 different players, with Kobe Brewster leading the way with four.

MINES HAS 22 ACADEMIC ALL-RMAC HONOREES
The RMAC announced its annual all-academic teams last week, and Mines was well-represented with 22 honorees. The Orediggers' First-Team Academic All-RMAC recipients were wide receivers Zach Hoffman and Mason Karp, center Cody Ullestad, and safety Geoff Keating. Both Ullestad and Keating are repeat First-Teamers.In addition to those four, 18 Orediggers were named to the RMAC Academic Honor Roll: Ben Fuchs, Tristan Smith, Dewey Van Allen, Ben Cole, Nate Main, Grant Buss, Nolan Reeve, Luke Metzer, Ben Bottlinger, Anthony Kantzabedian, Dominic Hathaway, Joe Golter, Jack Peterson, Matthew Leehan, Evan Alexander, Ryan Buck, Zach Peterson, and Riley Miller.

NEXT UP
A berth to the NCAA Championship tournament seems likely for the Orediggers, and they will find out their fate Sunday at 3 p.m. MT during the NCAA.com selection show.