#17/15 Colorado School of Mines vs. Black Hills State, Saturday, 12 p.m.
Marv Kay Stadium, Golden, Colo.
[Streaming: RMAC Network] [Live Stats] [Mines Media Notes] 
 

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After a resounding road win to open the season, #17/15 Mines debuts for their home crowd Saturday, hosting Black Hills State at Marv Kay Stadium.

WATCH US
Saturday's game will stream live on the RMAC Network, which is also available on smart TV services like Roku, Apple TV, and Amazon Fire. Miles Dunklin, Justin Adams, and John Simmer will have the call on the RMAC Network. 

TICKETS AND PARKING
Digital tickets are available through Mines' new online ticketing portal. Parking in Lot K (north of the soccer stadium) is available for $10; free parking is available anywhere else on campus. Fans should be on the lookout for local neighborhood street closures in Golden on gameday; plan on utilizing 11th Street or Maple Street to reach Marv Kay Stadium.

WEATHER REPORT
Saturday's forecast calls for highs in the mid-80s and abundant sunshine with light winds.

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.

SUSTAINED SUCCESS
Since 2010, Mines has won the RMAC championship four times with as many NCAA Tournament appearances, including in 2018. The Orediggers are 36-12 in four seasons under Gregg Brandon with RMAC crowns in 2016 and 2018; in that span Mines has had one national player of the year, nine All-Americans, 10 Academic All-Americans, and 80 all-RMAC selections.

OREDIGGERS PICKED SECOND BY RMAC COACHES
The RMAC preseason poll released on July 24 had Mines second behind CSU-Pueblo, as the Orediggers picked up a first-place vote and 88 points overall. 

RMAC Preseason Football Coaches' Poll
1. CSU-Pueblo (10) - 100 pts.    
2. Colorado School of Mines (1) - 88 pts.    
3. Chadron State - 73 pts.    
4. Colorado Mesa - 72 pts.    
5. Dixie State - 68 pts.    
6. South Dakota Mines - 50 pts.    
7. New Mexico Highlands - 44 pts.    
8. Adams State - 36 pts.    
9. Black Hills State - 30 pts.    
10. Western Colorado - 28 pts.    
11. Fort Lewis - 16 pts.    

MINES APPEARS IN NATIONAL POLLS
The Orediggers debuted at #17 in both the AFCA preseason coaches' and D2football.com media polls; after their week 1 win, the Orediggers stayed put at #17 in the AFCA poll and move up two spots to #15 in the D2football.com rankings. 

MAYBERRY, STEWART GET PRESEASON LOOKS
Two Oredigger returners have been getting national attention over the summer as tackle Grant Stewart and running back Cameron Mayberry have each been preseason all-Americans. Stewart picked up two nods, from Lindy's and College Football Yearbook America (both first-team), while Mayberry was a D2football.com and Lindy's second-teamer.

LAST YEAR VS. BLACK HILLS STATE
Colorado School of Mines used a potent first-half offensive attack to put the game out of reach, beating Black Hills State on the road 42-20 in 2018. Quarterback Isaac Harker completed 27-of-40 passes for 425 yards and three touchdowns, and ran for two more scores, to put Mines ahead 35-14 at halftime. Harker threw to a pair of 100-yard receivers as Brody Oliver caught seven passes for 174 yards and two scores, and Riley Hoff six balls for 129 yards and a touchdown. The Mines defense held BHSU to 10-of-20 on third down and 0-for-4 on fourth, forcing three turnovers on downs to go along with Adam Leonard's interception. Anthony Makransky and Grant Gale led the defense with seven tackles each.

NOTING MINES VS. BLACK HILLS STATE
The Orediggers are 9-0 against Black Hills State ... The two first met in 1962 and 1963, but didn't play again until 2012 and have met each year since BHSU joined the RMAC for the 2014 season ... Mines has never scored fewer than 41 points against the Yellow Jackets ... BHSU's last trip to Golden was a 41-33 thriller in 2017.

MAYBERRY CHASES RECORDS
Cameron Mayberry is already an all-timer, but his senior season could see his put several Mines records out of reach. He already owns the program career marks for yards (3,521) and touches (551), as well as the single-season and game versions of both records. He tied Lloyd Madden's long-standing single-season rushing touchdown mark last year with 23 (Madden did the same in 1939), and this year is eyeing one last career record: Greg Marshall's 48 rushing touchdowns set between 1989 and 1992 (Mayberry is one away at 47). With 49 total career touchdowns scored (47 rushing, 2 receiving), Mayberry leads active players in all NCAA football divisions in career rushing scores and is second in total touchdowns (and #1 in D-II).

NCAA Division II Active Career Rushers
Nate Gunn (Minnesota State)  -  3,655 yds
Cameron Mayberry (Mines)  -  3,521 yds
Stevie Green (Fayetteville St.)  -  3,424 yds
Nelson Brown (Cal [Pa.])  -  3,249 yds
Antonio Wimbush (Carson-Newman)  -  2,961 yds

NCAA Division II Active Career Total Touchdowns
Cameron Mayberry (Mines)  -  49 TD (47 rush/2 rec.)
Nelson Brown (Cal [Pa.])  -  40 TD (38 rush/2 rec.)
Nate Gunn (Minnesota State)  -  39 TD (39 rush)
Shane Zylstra (Minnesota State)  -  37 TD (37 rec.)
David Graham (Hillsdale)  -  35 TD (34 rush/1 rec.)

NCAA All-Divisions Active Career Rushing Touchdowns
Cameron Mayberry (Mines)  -  47 TD
Wesley Schools (Grove City)  -  42 TD
Walter Fletcher (Ball State)  -  42 TD
A.J. Hines (Duquesne)   - 40 TD
Lance Moise (Concordia Chicago)  -  40 TD
Josh Parks (St. Thomas)  -  40 TD
Travis Etienne (Clemson)  -  40 TD

ON THE GROUND
Mines' ground game produced 223 yards at Adams State with four different backs getting at least four touches. Cameron Mayberry led the way with 138 yards and three doubles, but Michael Zeman had a nice showing from the RB2 slot with nine touches for 48 yards, and Josh Odom ate up yardage with 32 on eight carries. Youngester Nathan Mackey saw his first career action in the fourth quarter with four carries for nine yards, and quarterback Ben Bottlinger had one scramble that produced a 23-yard touchdown.

BOTTLINGER SETTLES IN
At Adams State, Ben Bottlinger made his first start at quarterback since 2017 and stayed clean, passing for 154 yards on 14-of-31 passing with no interceptions and two sacks taken. Bottlinger ran for a 23-yard touchdown in the early fourth quarter before Travis Lockhart finished out the game. Bottlinger's favored target was Sean O'Dell - Mines' only returning starter at WR - who caught a team-high six passes for 41 yards, while Brandon Farmer caught two for 28 yards out of the slot and Zach Hoffman also had two catches for 20 yards.

NEW FACES
You're forgiven if you needed a roster to spot the new faces on the Mines offense last week as the Orediggers had five first-time starters on the field: receivers Josh Johnston and Zach Hoffman, right tackle Matthew Leehan, right guard Paxton Heiting, and left guard Matt Armendariz. Left tackle Grant Stewart made his first career start at that position after spending 2017 at center and 2018 at right tackle.

D-LINE DOMINATION
The Mines defense was absolutely dominant against the run at Adams State, holding the Grizzlies to -24 rushing yards with 14.0 tackles for loss, three sacks, and only one rushing first down in the game. Scott Adams, in his first game since 2017, had 3.0 TFL and 2.0 sacks, Luke Jeter added three tackles, and Brockton Sterling had a TFL and half-sack with two tackles. It was the first time Mines held an opponent to negative rushing since 2011 against Western New Mexico, who was -2, and their best performance since 2007 in a -74 game against Oklahoma Panhandle State.

TO THE HOUSE
Logan Braden's 41-yard pick-six at Adams State continued a string of defensive scoring plays from last season. In 2018, the Oredigger defense scored in seven of 12 games (3 fumbles, 3 safeties, 1 interception). Braden, a redshirt junior, is Mines' active interceptions leader with five but Saturday was his first career touchdown return; Mack Minnehan is the only other active Oredigger with a pick-six in his career. 

MAKRANSKY ISLAND
In his first year as an Oredigger, cornerback Anthony Makransky certainly lived up to expectations as he produced 47 tackles and was second in the RMAC with 16 passes defended (14 break-ups and 2 interceptions). After transferring from Wyoming, he broke up at least one pass in eight different games in 2018. Makransky's 14 break-ups were the most by an Oredigger since the NCAA began tracking the statistic in the mid-1990s. Last week at Adams State, the Grizzlies certainly showed the respect as Makransky only needed to make one tackle and had one pass break-up.

PUNTING GAME SHINES AT ASU
Perhaps the most impressive phase of Mines' game at Adams State was punting - both going away and coming back. Austin Toussaint put six of his seven punts inside the 20 in averaging 38.3 yards per punt; four of those punts were inside the 10 and overall ASU had an average starting field position of their own 13. Of his three punts that were returnable, the Grizzlies managed returns of 1, 2, and -5 yards. In the punt return game, Sean O'Dell made his first game as the primary returner a good one as he compiled 60 yards off five returns (12.0 ypr), including a long of 19. When O'Dell returned a punt, Mines' average starting position was their own 45 yardline.

MARSHALL PERFECT ON THE ROAD
Kicker Scott Marshall battled Jacob Click in preseason for the starting job, and proved why he won it at Adams State going 2-for-2 on field goals and 5-for-5 on PATs. Marshall hit from 23 and 27 yards, and had six of eight kickoffs go for touchbacks.

HARKER FINDS CFL SUCCESS
Last year's starter at quarterback, Isaac Harker, is living the pro dream in Canada as the backup for the Saskatchewan Roughriders, who are in the middle of their season. The all-American impressed in camp and moved into the backup role immediately, and has appeared in two games completing 21-of-33 passes for 254 yards. The Roughriders are 7-4 and in the playoff hunt in the West Division.

GARCIA GETS HALL CALL
In August, Mines Athletics announced that former quarterback Clay Garcia will be part of its Hall of Fame class to be inducted on Oct. 19. Garcia was a two-time All-American and 2010 Harlon Hill Trophy finalist throwing for 7,657 yards and 61 touchdowns in two season as a starter. Garcia was the 2011 CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year in football, and was the first student-athlete in Mines football history to be a two-time Academic All-American.

ENGINEERING THE WAY
Mines student-athletes don't major in underwater basket weaving, although most of them would be happy to develop an autonomous submarine robot that could mass produce the baskets for you. Of the Mines football student-athletes who have declared a major, here's the breakdown for 2019:

Mechanical Engineering - 55    
Chemical Engineering - 10    
Petroleum Engineering - 10    
Civil Engineering - 9    
Computer Science - 7    
Chemical & Biochemical Engineering - 4    
Electrical Engineering - 3    
Engineering & Technology Management (M.S.) - 3    
Economics - 2    
Metallurgical & Materials Engineering - 1    
Computer Science (M.S.) - 1    
Geophysical Engineering - 1    
Geological Engineering - 1    
Mineral and Energy Economics (M.S.) - 1    
Mining Engineering - 1    
Environmental Engineering - 1    

This year's team also includes five graduate students, of which three hold Mines undergraduate degrees: Jimmy Bauer (geophysical engineering B.S., engineering & technology management M.S.), Riley Miller (computer science B.S. and M.S.), and Zach Peterson (civil engineering B.S., engineering & technology management M.S.). In addition, Anthony Makransky is a University of Wyoming graduate working on a Mines master's degree in mineral and energy economics, while Will Brock is a graduate of Presbyterian College and is majoring in engineering & technology management.

NEXT UP
Mines heads south to take on rival CSU-Pueblo Sept. 21 at 6 p.m.