#9/10 Colorado School of Mines (9-1, 7-1 RMAC) vs. Adams State (1-9, 1-7 RMAC), Saturday, 12 p.m.
Marv Kay Stadium, Golden, Colo.
[TV: KWGN 2 / Streaming: RMAC Network] [Live Stats] [Tickets] [Mines Media Notes]

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#9/10 Colorado School of Mines wraps up the regular season at home hunting for their third consecutive RMAC championship, hosting Adams State on Senior Day.

LIVE COVERAGE
This week's game will also be televised live on KWGN Colorado's Own Channel 2 in addition to streaming on the RMAC Network. Miles Dunklin and Josh Dover have the call. The RMAC Network is available at minesathletics.com/tv or rmacnetwork.com.

FAN INFORMATION
For this week's game, please note the following important pieces of information:

- Gates and the tailgating lot open at 10 a.m.
- Masks are strongly encouraged for all guests.
- Tickets are available at the gate (cash or credit) or online at minesathletics.com/tickets. Fans are encouraged to utilize print-at-home or digital ticket options to skip waiting in line at the game.
- Parking for home games has a new option with the opening of the new parking garage at 14th and Maple Streets, two blocks south of Marv Kay Stadium; parking in the garage is free. Tailgating continues to be permitted in Lot K only for $10 per vehicle. No tailgating is permitted in the garage. Visit the Mines Parking page for more information.
- The New Terrain Beer Garden will be open in the west end zone for all guests 21 and older. The beer garden will be cashless. 

WEATHER REPORT
Saturday's forecast is for mostly sunny skies and highs in the lower 60s. Layer up, though, as winds out of the west at 10-15 mph are forecast throughout the day. 

SENIOR DAY
Prior to Saturday's game, Mines will honor 20 members of its senior class: Matt Armendariz, Kobe Brewster, Zach Budzik, Chris Clore, Joe Golter, Denver Hargrove, Luke Jeter, Josh Johnston, Gabriel Kortz, Jacob Lopez, Jacob Lutey, Jack McAdams, Mack Minnehan, Christian Mueller, Mason Pierce, Blake Ray, Cameron Reller, Chaffin Ross, Justin Wood, and Michael Zeman. Senior Day ceremonies will start at about 11:45 a.m.

OREDIGGERS CHASE RMAC TITLE
A champion - or two - will be crowned this weekend as both Mines and Western Colorado seek a share of the RMAC championship. A win by Mines would secure their 14th all-time title, third in a row, and fourth under Gregg Brandon; the Orediggers won in 2018 and 2019, and no RMAC title was awarded in 2020. If Mines wins and Western Colorado defeats CSU Pueblo, Mines would share the title, if not, it would belong solely to the Orediggers. The Mountaineers are vying for their first hardware since 1998. There are no tiebreakers in RMAC football; in the event of a tie, the title is shared regardless of in-season head-to-head results. Notably, although Western (18) and Mines (13) have the most titles in conference history, they have never shared one.

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME
Marv Kay Stadium has been a daunting place for opponents to play since opening in 2015, with Mines going 31-4 overall at home. In the regular season, it's been awhile since the Orediggers haven't celebrated victory at home: 1,883 days, to be exact, or 25 straight games dating back to the 2016 season. 

MINES STAYS IN NCAA RR #1 SPOT
Mines solidified its hold on the top spot in the NCAA Super Region IV rankings this week, topping the list ahead of Angelo State, Augustana, and Bemidji State. The all-important top seed earns a first-round bye in the NCAA Championship, which Mines has never had; the Orediggers will likely clinch the #1 seed with a win over Adams State in Week 11. Western Colorado moved up to #5 and likewise could secure their NCAA spot with a win over CSU Pueblo on Saturday. The top seven teams earn NCAA Championship spots, with #2 hosting #7, #3 hosting #6, and #4 hosting #5 in the first round: 

IN THE POLLS
Mines jumped back into the national top 10 at #9 in the AFCA Coaches' Poll and #10 in the D2football.com media poll this week. The Orediggers have been ranked in every poll this season. Of regional interest in the AFCA poll, Western Colorado moved up four spots to #14, Minnesota-Duluth is #23, and Augustana is #25; Angelo State, Colorado Mesa, Bemidji State, and Midwestern State are all receiving votes.

AT THE HELM
Gregg Brandon is in his seventh year and sixth season at Mines, going 56-14 since 2015. Brandon is the two-time defending RMAC Coach of the Year, leading Mines to conference titles and NCAA appearances in 2016, 2018, and 2019, including an undefeated 10-0 RMAC campaign in 2019. Brandon won his 100th career game last week, with a 44-30 record as the head coach at Bowling Green from 2003-08 in addition to his Mines record. Brandon will face ASU head coach Jarrell Harrison for the first time; Harrison picked up his first college head coaching win last week over Fort Lewis in his first season in charge. He was previously an assistant with the program since 2016 in a number of roles. 

NOTING THE MINES-ASU SERIES
This will be the 73rd meeting between Mines and Adams State in a series dating back to 1947 ... Adams State narrowly leads the series 36-34-2 ... The all-time series is close no matter how you slice it: ASU leads 34-30-2 in RMAC play, Mines 19-18-1 at home ... Mines has won seven in a row and 12 of the last 13 dating back to 2007 ... Gregg Brandon is 5-0 against the Grizzlies ... The Orediggers have scored 40 or more points in each of their wins in the current seven-game winning streak. 

WEEK 10 REWIND
Mines ground out a 28-12 road win at CSU Pueblo, winning the rivalry meeting between two of the three teams tied for first in the RMAC in Week 10. It was a relentless Mines defensive effort that carried the day with two takeaways and seven sacks led by Nolan Reeve, who had nine total tackles, three sacks, and two forced fumbles, while Jaden Williams had 14 total tackles. Offensively, Michael Zeman had three total touchdowns and Tristan Smith added a 96-yard scoring reception to lead the Oredigger offense, as Zeman rushed for 106 yards and two ground scores and Smith had 116 receiving yards. John Matocha was an efficient 16-of-21 for 189 yards and two touchdowns.

Adams State picked up their first win of the season, 37-14, over Fort Lewis in the Spud Bowl. Tyreik Campbell rushed for 180 yards and Shammah Luani 119 with a TD while quarterback Bradley Smith threw for 186 yards and a score, and ran for two more touchdowns on 44 yards rushing. Zachary Survillas hit three field goals in the win. The Grizzlies had 602 yards of total offense but were hampered by three turnovers and 124 yards of penalties.

THE LAST TIME WE MET
Mines and Adams State last met in the 2019 season opener, which the Orediggers won 41-10 in a lightning-delayed game at Marv Kay Stadium. Cameron Mayberry had three touchdowns and 178 yards of total offense and ASU was held to -22 yards rushing as the Mines defense had 17 TFL and two interceptions, including Logan Braden's pick six.

SCOUTING THE GRIZZLIES
The Grizzlies enter the final week of the regular season 1-9 overall after getting their first win over Fort Lewis last week at home. They score 27.3 points and allow 39.8 points per game. Quarterback Bradley Smith has thrown for 894 yards and nine touchdowns in eight games, with Tyreik Campbell leading them on the ground with 758 yards and five scores. Elijah Harper has 583 yards on 40 catches with seven touchdowns to pace the receivers. A'brae Booker-Currin's 90 total tackles is tied for second in the RMAC. 

REEVE RECEIVES WEEKLY AWARDS
Nolan Reeve put together a dominating defensive performance at CSU Pueblo to win not only the RMAC Defensive Player of the Week honor, but the D2football.com National Defensive Player of the Week. Reeve produced nine total tackles with 3.0 sacks, 3.5 tackles for loss, and two strip-sack fumbles that were recovered by the Orediggers. This season Reeve leads the RMAC with 9.5 sacks and is third with 13.5 tackles for loss among his 61 total tackles.

ZEMAN CROSSES 1,000-YARD MARK
Michael Zeman crossed over 1,000 rushing yards for the season in the Chadron State game, marking the second consecutive season he has done so. Zeman now has 1,113 yards in 2021, and it's the seventh consecutive season that Mines has produced a 1,000-yard rusher. Zeman is only the third Oredigger - joining Sam Seeton and Cameron Mayberry - to do it twice. Zeman is the RMAC's leading rusher this season in both yards and touchdowns (14).      

MINES TOPS RMAC ACADEMIC AWARDS
John Matocha earned RMAC Offensive Academic Player of the Year and Nolan Reeve RMAC Defensive Academic Player of the Year to lead the league's all-academic team release last week. It is the first time the Orediggers have swept the top two awards; in addition to Matocha and Reeve, running back Michael Zeman, wide receivers Tristan Smith and Mason Karp, and guard Justin Wood were named First-Team Academic All-RMAC, and 24 more student-athletes were named to the Academic Honor Roll for having 3.3 or higher GPAs. 

GOING THE LONG WAY
Tristan Smith provided a spectacular start to the second half last week at CSU Pueblo when he took a John Matocha pass out in the flat nearly at his own goal line and ran 96 yards to the house for a touchdown. Not only was that the longest play of the season for Mines, it is tied for the longest reception in NCAA Division II this year: East Stroudsburg's Jake Cirillo found Rece Bender on Oct. 9, and Bowie State's Ja'Rome Johnson completed a 96-yarder to Darious Bowman on Sept. 11, and Virginia Union's Rodney McKay has the only longer play, a 98-yard rush. It was the longest play by Mines since 2002, when the only other two plays longer than Smith's occurred: a 99-yard Nate Jackson to Jonny Chan touchdown completion, and a 97-yard Chad Friehauf to Andrew Schmid pass. 

WINNING THE GROUND WAR
Mines enters the final week of the season with the RMAC's best scoring defense at 13.3 points per game allowed and a stingy rushing defense that is giving up only 84.9 yards per game. The Orediggers have held opponents to 20 or fewer net rushing yards four times in 10 games; opponents average just 2.6 yards per carry and have only five rushing touchdowns against Mines this season.

ON THE PLUS SIDE...
Mines is an impressive +11 on turnovers this season, gaining 11 fumbles and nine interceptions against seven interceptions thrown and three fumbles given away. That ranks as the best turnover margin in the RMAC and eighth-best in the nation; the Orediggers have gained the 10th-most fumbles in NCAA Division II. Mines' picks have come by seven different players - Logan Rayburn (twice), Mason Pierce, Mack Minnehan, Jaden Williams, Kobe Brewster (twice), Beau Collins, , and Collin Romero - with Collins' going back for six at Fort Lewis. Brewster, Williams, Minnehan (twice), Rayburn,  Nolan Reeve, Adrian Moreno, Zach Hester, and Preston Yates have all recovered fumbles, with Reeve forcing three and Minnehan two. 

SACK HAPPY
The Orediggers are coming off back-to-back big defensive performances that saw them generate a season-high seven sacks against both Chadron State and CSU Pueblo. Mines now has 44 for the season, which ranks #2 in NCAA Division II; over the past month, Mines has had 6, 4, 7, and 7 sacks, and has had at least one QB takedown in every game this season and at least two in every RMAC game.

WILLIAMS SETS CAREER HIGH
Safety Jaden Williams had a busy day at CSU Pueblo, making a career-best 14 tackles in the win. That total was the most by an Oredigger this season (passing Gabriel Kortz's 12 against New Mexico Highlands) and it was the most in any game since linebacker Dean Wenger had 15 against Azusa Pacific in 2017. 

BIG BOOT
Jacob Click has developed into one of the RMAC's best punters this season, and his 42.1-yard average is ranked #13 in NCAA Division II with Mines' net punting average of 37.9 ypp #9. Click is coming off a terrific day at CSU Pueblo averaging 48.7 yards per punt on six attempts including a long of 53.

NEXT UP
The Orediggers will learn their postseason fate Sunday, Nov. 14 at 3 p.m. MT with the NCAA selection show streaming on ncaa.com.