#19/10 Colorado School of Mines (4-2, 4-0 RMAC) at South Dakota Mines (4-2, 3-1 RMAC) // Saturday, Oct. 15, 12 p.m.
O'Harra Stadium, Rapid City, S.D.
[Stream: RMAC Network] [Live Stats] [Tickets] [Mines Media Notes] 

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First place is on the line as #19/10 Colorado School of Mines (4-2, 4-0) travels north to face South Dakota Mines (4-2, 3-1) in a key mid-season RMAC battle. 

LIVE COVERAGE
This week's game will stream live and for free on the RMAC Network. Live stats are also available courtesy of South Dakota Mines.

WEATHER REPORT
A seasonable but windy day is forecast for Rapid City on Saturday, with a gametime temperature of 58 degrees under mostly cloudy skies and winds out of the northwest at 20 mph decreasing through the afternoon. 

LEADING THE WAY
The Mines team has elected four captains for 2022: quarterback John Matocha and running Michael Zeman lead the Orediggers on offense while linebacker Mack Minnehan and cornerback Mason Pierce are the defensive leaders.

A NEW ERA
This season marks a new era for Mines Football under head coach Brandon Moore, named the successor to Gregg Brandon last winter after the former Oredigger boss announced his retirement. Moore is only the seventh head coach of the program since World War II, and since 2000, the Orediggers have known only three coaches - Bob Stitt (2000-14), Gregg Brandon (2015-21), and now Moore. Before being elevated to the head spot, Moore had been on staff at Mines since 2016, including as defensive coordinator since 2018. Moore kept the entire coaching staff from 2021 intact under him, including offensive coordinator Pete Sterbick and special teams coordinator Clement Grinstead, with defensive line coach Tripp Thomas promoted to defensive coordinator. Moore picked up his first career win in Week 3 at Adams State in the Orediggers' 84-10 victory and is now 4-2.

IN THE POLLS
Mines remains in both major polls this week, advancing two spots to #19 in the AFCA coaches' poll but falling two spots to #10 in the D2football.com ranking. After starting out in the top five of both polls in preseason, the Orediggers have retained the pollsters' respect with both of their losses coming to #2/2 Grand Valley State and #3/3 Angelo State by a combined six points. The Orediggers have been ranked in 28 consecutive polls dating back to Week 3 of the 2018 season. Mines was a near-unanimous pick to win its fourth consecutive conference crown in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference preseason coaches' poll announced in August as the Orediggers took nine of 10 first-place votes to lead CSU Pueblo, Western Colorado, and Colorado Mesa in the top four. 

DEFENDING THE CROWN
With a 4-0 start to conference play, Mines is off and running in seeking its fourth consecutive RMAC title. The Orediggers won the crown either outright or shared in 2018, 2019, and 2021 (no champion was awarded in 2020 due to the pandemic), and Mines has won four of the last five dating back to 2016.

AROUND THE RMAC
Week 6 injected some chaos into the RMAC standings, as two of the three unbeaten teams heading into the weekend suffered their first losses. Mines took care of business against Colorado Mesa to move to 4-0 and take over sole possession of first place, but Black Hills State suffered its first loss at an upstart New Mexico Highlands, and South Dakota Mines won on the road at previously-unbeaten Western Colorado. That leaves BHSU, SDM, NMHU, and WCU all tied for second in the league at 3-1 behind the Orediggers, with Western and Black Hills playing each other this weekend.

NOTING THE SERIES
The series between Colorado School of Mines and South Dakota Mines - the last two athletics-playing schools of mines in the United States - dates back to 1917, a 58-6 Orediggers win ... The two met sporadically after that but stopped the series for nearly 50 years after the 1949 game, not resuming until 1996 ... The two have met every year since 2010, and since 2016 when South Dakota Mines became a full D-II and RMAC member ... Colorado School of Mines leads the all-time series 21-1 ... The winning team has scored 37+ points in every game of the series since 1997. 

THE RICHEST GAME IN D-II
This week's game has been touted as the "richest in Division II football" thanks to the high earning potential of graduates on both sides of the line of scrimmage. According to the most recent Payscale.com data, Colorado School of Mines graduates are #1 in NCAA Division II in both early career pay ($79,300) and mid-career pay ($148,700). South Dakota Mines ranks #3 in D-II at $71,800 and $119,600. Combined, that's upwards of $30 million per year in mid-career salary between the future graduates of the teams. 

LAST TIME WE MET
Michael Zeman ran for 116 yards and had four total touchdowns and John Matocha threw for three scores and 273 yards as Colorado School of Mines beat South Dakota Mines 44-24 last season. Jayden Johannsen had 280 total yards with two passing touchdowns for the Hardrockers. After SDM led 10-7, the Orediggers reeled off 30 straight points including a 24-point second quarter on two touchdowns by Zeman, another by Max McLeod, and a Jacob Click field goal to put the game out of reach. Mason Karp's 88 yards and a score led the receivers. The Orediggers' quick-strike capability resulted in five scoring drives of 2:30 or less including two one-play touchdowns. 

SCOUTING THE HARDROCKERS
The Hardrockers are off to one of their best-ever starts at 4-2 overall and 3-1 in the RMAC, rebounding from a rivalry loss to Black Hills State by going to Gunnison and beating Western Colorado 38-10 last week. For the second straight week the Orediggers will face a dynamic dual-threat quarterback, this time in SDM's Jayden Johannsen, who threw for 261 yards and ran for 146 with five total touchdowns in that Western game to earn RMAC Offensive Player of the Week honors. Johannsen is the team's leading rusher (60.2 ypg) while throwing for 1,901 yards and 14 touchdowns (316.8 ypg). Two Hardrocker receivers average 100+ yards per game in Jeremiah Bridges (122 ypg, 8 TD) and Isaiah Eastman (114.3 ypg, 4 TD). Defensively SDM allows 20.8 points and 311.2 yards per game with the RMAC's #1 rushing defense at 90.7 yards per game; they have a -4 turnover margin, however. 

STRENGTH VS. STRENGTH
Both teams this weekend stand at or near the top of the RMAC in multiple statistical categories, and those matchups will be interesting to watch in Rapid City. South Dakota Mines has the RMAC's #1 passing offense at 349.7 yards per game with Colorado School of Mines second at 302.8; the Orediggers own the RMAC's #1 passing defense at 196.8 yards per game with SDM third at 220.5. It's a similar story on the rushing side where the Orediggers rank #1 offensively in the RMAC at 177.3, with the Hardrockers tops defensively at 90.7.

WEEK 6 REWIND
Mines turned the tide just before halftime and scored the final 27 points of the game to defeat Colorado Mesa, 48-21, in Week 6. The Orediggers won their fourth in a row to take over sole possession of first place in the RMAC. John Matocha threw for 328 yards and three touchdowns with Max McLeod producing a career 177-yard, two-touchdown day, while Michael Zeman led a punishing ground attack to the tune of 152 yards and two touchdowns. The Mines defense held Colorado Mesa scoreless after a 21-21 tie, with Mason Pierce's pick-six at the stroke of halftime changing the entire complexion of the game. CMU's dynamic quarterback Karst Hunter threw for 252 yards with a touchdown, but was held to -9 net yards with a score on the ground as the Mines defense limited the Mavericks to only 25 rushing yards. 

MCLEOD, PIERCE WIN WEEKLY AWARDS
Big performances by Max McLeod and Mason Pierce last weekend earned the duo a pair of weekly honors. McLeod was named the National Football Foundation Colorado Chapter's Player of the Week for his career receiving day, while Pierce was tabbed the RMAC Defensive Player of the Week for his game-changing performance. 

WEEK 6 STANDOUTS
Standouts from the Colorado Mesa game:

- John Matocha went 16-of-23 for 328 yards with three touchdowns, averaging 20.5 yards per completion. 
- Max McLeod had a career game with six catches for 177 yards and two touchdowns, both from 40+ yards.
- Michael Zeman had his best game of the season rushing 26 times for 152 yards and two touchdowns.
- Chris Yoo averaged 8.1 yards per carry in a 57-yard day.
- Josh Johnston caught Mines' opening touchdown and accounted for 64 yards. 
- Mason Pierce picked his fourth interception of the year and returned it 27 yards to score.
- Jack Peterson had 1.5 sacks with five tackles.
- Nolan Reeve accounted for 1.5 TFL with five tackles.
- Cam Forrest broke up two passes and made four tackles.

MAKING HOUSE CALLS
Mason Pierce is, simply put, having a season. The senior cornerback is second on the team with 25 tackles, has three pass break-ups, captains the RMAC's #1-rated secondary, and leads the league with four interceptions, all coming in his last five games. Two of those picks have been for touchdowns, coincidentally both coming from 27 yards out at home - one against Angelo State, and one against Colorado Mesa. In his career, Pierce is already the Mines record holder for pass break-ups and is now closing in on 50 career passes defended, with five interceptions and 43 break-ups to his credit. 

DYNAMIC DUO
It's hard to find a better 1-2 outside receiving punch right now than Josh Johnston and Max McLeod. The duo have nearly identical numbers through six games, with Johnston averaging 96.3 yards per game with five touchdowns on 31 catches and McLeod 85.7 yards per game with five touchdowns on 28 catches. Ten of the Orediggers' 16 passing touchdowns have ended up in their hands.

RISING UP THE RANKS, PART I
Michael Zeman's career has seen him shoot up the Mines career lists, and the sixth-year senior now finds himself among the greats. Entering this week, Zeman ranks second all-time at Mines in rushing yardage (3,694) with former teammate Cameron Mayberry's 4,074-yard program record in sight; he is also second behind Mayberry in rushing touchdowns at 43. Zeman's ability in the aerial game also has him rising up the Mines total touchdowns list, where his 50 total scores (43 rush and 7 receiving) has him nine behind all-time leader Brody Oliver.     

RISING UP THE RANKS, PART II
Quarterback John Matocha is only in his third season since starting as a true freshman in 2019, but he's already rapidly moving up the career passer lists at Mines. Matocha ranks third in career touchdowns and fourth in passing yards at Mines, and looks to move up a notch in both categories this week. Matocha also is fourth among active NCAA Division II quarterbacks in career touchdown passes (and the only junior in the top five), and he is also one of only six active D-II quarterbacks with 5,000+ passing and 1,000+ career rushing yards, and the only one with 7,000+/1,000+. This season, he ranks in the national top 10 in completion percentage (2nd), efficiency (2nd), passing touchdowns (5th), passing yards (9th), and yards per passing attempt (4th), and has already started to receive some Harlon Hill Trophy buzz being included on D2football.com's early eight-man watchlist this past weekend.    

RISING UP THE RANKS, PART III
Veteran Josh Johnston has been leading the Mines' receiving corps this season and is in the midst of moving up in the Mines record books. Johnston caught career touchdown #32 last week against Colorado Mesa, moving him to a tie for second all-time at Mines. With his 84-yard touchdown strike against Chadron State (Mines' longest play of the year), Johnston also became the 11th Mines receiver to eclipse 2,000 career receiving yards and now stands at 2,144. This season Johnston is averaging 5.2 receptions, 96.3 yards, and 0.8 touchdowns per game, all team bests.     

VERY EFFICIENT
The Orediggers' passing attack has been one of the best in the country this year, and it all starts with accuracy. Mines and quarterback John Matocha produce 302.8 yards per game in the air with 16 touchdowns against just one interception, and nationally Mines has the second-best completion percentage in NCAA Division II at 73.1 percent. It's not just Matocha and his 71.5 percent completion rating taking care of business; backups Evan Foster (10-of-12) and Jake Sype (5-of-5) have also excelled, and Mines has had a dozen different receivers catch a pass this year.

TAKING CARE OF THE BALL
It takes both sides of the ball working to keep your turnover ratio positive, and the Mines offense has certainly complemented the defense's efforts this season. The Orediggers have committed only three turnovers this season: a pair of fumbles at Grand Valley State and a tipped interception at Chadron State. Meanwhile the defense has nine interceptions and three fumble recoveries to be +9, having generated at least one takeaway in every game this season. Mines is sixth in NCAA Division II in turnover margin, 23rd in turnovers gained, and fifth in fewest committed. Mason Pierce's four interceptions leads the team while Jaden Williams has three total turnovers (2 interceptions and a fumble recovery). 

WHEN IT COUNTS
On both sides of the ball, Mines has been getting it done this season on third and fourth downs. Offensively, the Orediggers rank 16th nationally in third-down conversion rate at 48.2 percent, and they were perfect through five games on fourth down before failing to convert for the first time last week against Colorado Mesa; they now stand fourth nationally at 85.7 percent. Defensively, it's more of the same: Mines is a tough 31.4 percent allowing third down conversions (33rd nationally) and allow just 18.2 percent of fourth downs (10th nationally).