NCAA Division II Football Championship Second Round
#10/7 Colorado School of Mines (10-2) vs. #19/13 Minnesota State (10-2) // Saturday, Nov. 26 // Noon
Alumni Field at Marv Kay Stadium, Golden, Colo.
[Stream: RMAC Network] [Live Stats] [Tickets] [Mines Media Notes] [Minnesota St. Media Notes]

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The postseason marches on as second-seeded Colorado School of Mines matches up with third-seeded Minnesota State in the NCAA Second Round, the first-ever meeting between the programs.

LIVE COVERAGE
Saturday's game will stream for free on the RMAC Network. 

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

- For postseason play, all fans must have a ticket and there is no passlist. All-Sports and faculty/staff passes are not valid for NCAA games. 
- Mines students will be admitted free with their BlasterCard courtesy of Mines Student Life.
- 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. 
- Gates and the tailgating lot open at 10 a.m.
- Parking in Lot K (next to Stermole Soccer Stadium) costs $10 with solar-canopy-covered parking now available. Tailgating is permitted in Lot K only. Fans are encouraged to park for free in the parking garage at 1400 Maple Street, located two blocks south of Marv Kay Stadium. Visit the Mines Parking page for more information.
- Over the summer, the City of Golden changed its residential neighborhood parking to require a permit seven days a week. Fans can not park in the neighborhood surrounding the stadium. Fans can utilize paid City of Golden parking downtown near Washington Street. 

WEATHER REPORT
Saturday's forecast is for temperatures in the low 50s at kickoff under mostly sunny skies and light north winds, but with decreasing temperatures through the afternoon. 

IN THE POSTSEASON
Mines is making its eighth overall appearance in the NCAA Championship, all coming since 2004, including four in a row, which is the third-longest active streak in the nation. The Orediggers made their deepest postseason run ever last year, winning Super Region 4 and advancing to the national semifinals. In this year's bracket, Angelo State hosts Bemidji State with that winner facing off with the Mines-Minnesota State winner in next Saturday's regional final, at the higher seed. This will be the Orediggers' fifth appearance in the NCAA Second Round since 2004.

IN THE POLLS
Mines finished in the top 10 of both major polls to end the regular season, moving up one spot in each to #10 in the AFCA coaches' poll and #7 in the D2football.com media poll this week. Minnesota State's strong finish to the season earned them the #19 spot in the AFCA poll and #13 from D2football.com.

QUAD SQUAD
By clinching its fourth consecutive RMAC title this season, Mines Football joins an elite group of programs to have earned four straight rings: CSU Pueblo (2011-14), Colorado Mesa (1985-88), Western Colorado (1973-79 and 1963-66), and Utah (1928-33). In Mines Athletics history, football becomes the fifth program to four-peat joining men's soccer (six in a row from 2017 to present), women's soccer (2013-16), men's swimming (1981-84), and women's volleyball (2012-15).

OREDIGGERS LEAD ALL-RMAC TEAMS
Mines was well-rewarded for its unbeaten conference season with 24 All-RMAC honors last week, led by Coach of the Year Brandon Moore, Offensive Player of the Year John Matocha, and Offensive Freshman of the Year Landon Walker. Mines' 24 honors led the conference and included all 11 starters on defense earning all-RMAC status; first-teamers included Matocha, Michael Zeman, Josh Johnston, Levi Johnson, Matt Armendariz, Mason Pierce, Adrian Moreno, and Mack Minnehan.

NOTING THE SERIES
This will be the first-ever meeting between Mines and Minnesota State ... The Orediggers have played NSIC teams in each of the last two postseasons, defeating Sioux Falls 24-21 in the 2019 First Round and Bemidji State 55-6 in the 2021 Second Round ... Those are the only two meetings against NSIC programs in Mines football history ... It will be the second different "Mavericks" team Mines has faced this season after beating Colorado Mesa 48-21 in Week 6.

SCOUTING THE MAVERICKS
After starting out 4-2, Minnesota State has won six straight games - including wins over three top-25 teams - to qualify for the NCAA Championship field. They defeated conference rival Wayne State 26-9 in the first round, flipping around a regular-season loss to WSC. Offensively the Mavericks score a balanced 32.7 points per game led by quarterback Hayden Ekern, who has thrown for 13 touchdowns and rushed for three accounting for 1,460 passing yards on a 55.4% completion rate. Running back Shen Butler-Lawson has 923 yards and 10 touchdowns to lead the ground attack, while Nyles Williams is the top aerial target with 642 yards and eight touchdowns. Defensively Minnesota State allows 21.3 points and 350 yards per game with Payton Conrad's 64 total tackles and three forced fumbles leading the team.

FIRST ROUND REWIND
Mines left no doubt in its repeat matchup with CSU Pueblo, dispatching the Thunderwolves 45-24 in the NCAA First Round. Max McLeod caught three touchdowns and John Matocha threw for four in a 316-yard day while the Mines defense was utterly dominant with 10 sacks led by Jack Peterson's impressive 2.5-sack, five-tackle, one-fumble performance. Matocha and Michael Zeman also ran for scores and Josh Johnston added a strike as well. After it was 7-3 Mines, the Orediggers scored 17 straight points to lead 24-10 at halftime, and Matocha's 38-yard strike to McLeod followed by his hard-nosed scoring keeper put the game out of reach in the third quarter.

FIRST ROUND STANDOUTS
Standouts from the CSU Pueblo game:

- Max McLeod caught a Mines postseason-record three touchdowns in a 127-yard day.
- John Matocha threw for 316 yards and four touchdowns, and ran for another as he won his fourth career postseason start.
- Michael Zeman crossed 1,000 yards for the season with 71 yards and a touchdown.
- Josh Johnston had a touchdown among five catches for 81 yards.
- Jack Peterson set a Mines postseason record with 2.5 sacks among five tackles with a forced fumble.
- Jaden Healy had a monster game with a team-best seven tackles, a forced fumble and recovery, 2.5 TFL, and 1.5 sacks.
- Collin Romero snagged an interception and had six tackles.
- Cameron Reller and Mack Minnehan each had 1.5 sacks and combined for 11 tackles and three hurries.
- Zach Hester blocked a punt that led to a Mines touchdown.
- Jacob Click's 40-yard field goal set a Mines postseason record and he was 6-of-6 on PATs along with a 58-yard punt.

LIVING IN THE BACKFIELD
The Oredigger defense did something it hadn't done in 15 years last Saturday: put up double-digit sacks. Mines routed CSU Pueblo for 10 sacks on the afternoon, including 2.5 by Jack Peterson (a program postseason record) and 1.5 each by Jaden Healy, Mack Minnehan, and Cameron Reller. The last time Mines went for more was in the 2007 season, sacking Oklahoma Panhandle State 14 times. The performance puts Mines back at the top of the national statistical rankings in sacks, averaging 4.67 per game (56 total) which leads all divisions of college football by a healthy margin. Peterson leads the team with 9.0 sacks ahead of Nolan Reeve (7.0) and Reller (6.0); the Orediggers are averaging a whopping 6.2 sacks per game over the last five weeks.

IN THE ZONE
The Oredigger offense is high scoring, that's easy to see - they lead NCAA Division II at 47.2 points per game, more than three points better than second-place West Florida. What's even more impressive is how efficient they've been to get there: Mines tops NCAA Division II in red zone offense this season, scoring 50 times on 53 trips inside the 20 (42 touchdowns and eight field goals) for a 94.3 percent conversion rate. The Orediggers have not come away from a red zone visit without points since Oct. 15 against South Dakota Mines, going a perfect 22-of-22 over the last five games. 

MATOCHA GETS HARLON HILL NOD
Quarterback John Matocha, the RMAC Offensive Player of the Year, is having the most productive season of his career, and on Monday he was announced as a nominee for the Harlon Hill Award for the second time in his career. Matocha has compiled huge numbers in 2022: 3,731 passing yards, 37 passing touchdowns, and a 70.7% completion rating. Matocha ended the regular season ranked #1 in NCAA Division II in passing efficiency (188.4), #2 in completion percentage (71.5%), #3 in passing touchdowns (33), and #4 in passing yards (3,436). He is the only active quarterback in NCAA Division II with 9,000+ passing and 1,000+ rushing career yards, and he has a shot to reach 10,000 career passing yards this week as he stands 339 yards from that mark and 212 yards away from passing Chad Friehauf for second all-time at Mines.

ZEMAN CONTINUES RECORD ASSAULT
Running back Michael Zeman keeps on adding to the Mines record book as he has hit four major career milestones over the last two weeks. In the regular-season finale against Fort Lewis, Zeman snapped three major program records, becoming not only the Orediggers' all-time leading rusher and rushing touchdowns leader, but leading scorer as well as he surpassed Cam Mayberry's ground records and Brody Oliver's total touchdowns mark. Last week, Zeman crossed 1,000 rushing yards in a season for the third time, becoming the only Oredigger to do so. Now, Zeman now has two state of Colorado records in sight: with 54 rushing touchdowns, he is two away from tying Cameron McDondle's (CSU Pueblo) state record of 56; Zeman's next touchdown of any type would also surpass Western Colorado great Austin Ekeler for the most touchdowns scored by any player in Colorado history at 64. 

ARMENDARIZ AN UPSHAW FINALIST
On Wednesday, center Matt Armendariz was named one of nine national finalists for the Gene Upshaw Award, given to the most outstanding senior lineman on either side of the ball in NCAA Division II. Armendariz was the 2021 Rimington Award winner as D-II's best center and was a consensus all-American last season as well; in 2022 he is a First-Team All-RMAC honoree while holding down the center spot on the nation's #1 offense. He is the third Mines finalist for the award joining Grant Stewart (2019) and Mark Schiechl (2010).

TO THE MAX
Receiver Max McLeod has played in four NCAA postseason games in his career. The results? Nine receptions, 307 yards, and seven touchdown catches, culminating in last week's First Round win in which he went off for 127 yards and a program postseason-record three scoring catches. Even more impressively, McLeod has caught a touchdown in all four of his postseason games, having one in each round of last year's semifinal round as well as his big start to the 2022 postseason.

TRIPLE THREATS
For the first time in program history, Mines has three 1,000-yard producers on its roster as both Josh Johnston and Max McLeod surpassed the receiving yards mark two weeks ago and Michael Zeman hit the rushing yards plateau last week. How rare is that? Mines is the only program in NCAA Division II, and one of just three nationally at any level, to have three 1,000-yard producers, joining Arizona with receivers Dorian Singer and Jacob Cowing and running back Xazavian Valladay, and Fordham, who actually has four with three 1,000-yard receivers in Fotis Kokosioulis, Dequece Carter, and MJ Wright along with RB Trey Sneed. McLeod (1,146 total yards), Johnston (1,110 total yards), and Zeman (1,244 total yards) have accounted for an even 3,500 total yards and 46 total touchdowns this season.

IT ALL CLICKED
Jacob Click had plenty to do against CSU Pueblo last week, taking over placekicking duties and turning in a perfect Saturday. Click booted a 40-yard field goal in the second quarter - the longest in Mines postseason history - and went 6-of-6 from the PAT spot, while also punting five times for a 37.6-yard average (with a long of 58).

MINES TAKES ACADEMIC HONORS
Mines had seven student-athletes named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team on Tuesday, with Evan Alexander, Mason Karp, John Matocha, Jack Peterson, Nolan Reeve, Tristan Smith, and Kenny Wright selected for their combinations of athletic and academic achievement, all with 3.5+ GPAs. Earlier this month, Mines was also well-represented on the RMAC All-Academic Teams announced last week as Matocha repeated as the RMAC Offensive Academic Player of the Year among five first-team selections. Matocha, Mason Karp, Peterson, Reeve, and Joel Diaz were all named First-Team Academic All-RMAC, and 28 players were named to the Academic Honor Roll for holding 3.3+ cumulative GPAs.

TO THE HOUSE
The Mines defense sports a +13 turnover margin this season, but that only tells part of the story. The Orediggers have also been good at scoring off those turnovers - to the tune of four defensive touchdowns this season. Mason Pierce has a pair of pick-sixes to his credit, but Mines also has a couple of fumble recoveries in the end zone courtesy of James Hess at Adams State and Mack Minnehan at New Mexico Highlands.

GOOSE EGGS
The Orediggers' shutout against Fort Lewis was the second under Brandon Moore as head coach and seventh overall with him on staff. It is the third straight season that Mines has produced two shutouts, and the last time that happened was more than a century ago in the 1914 through 1916 seasons.

Shutouts Under Brandon Moore        
2022 vs. Fort Lewis, 80-0  
2022 vs. Black Hills State, 38-0   
2021 vs. Adams State, 63-0 
2021 at Fort Lewis, 76-0   
2019 vs. Fort Lewis, 42-0   
2019 vs. Western Colorado, 28-0   
2017 vs. N.M. Highlands, 70-0 

NEXT UP
The Mines-Minnesota State winner will meet the winner of Angelo State-Bemidji State at the higher seed in the Super Region 4 final on Dec. 3.