NCAA Division II Football Championship Final
#10/7 Colorado School of Mines (13-2) vs. #5/5 Ferris State (13-1) // Saturday, Dec. 17 // 12 p.m. CT
McKinney ISD Stadium, McKinney, Texas
[TV: ESPNU/ESPN+] [Live Stats] [Tickets] [Mines Media Notes] [Ferris State Media Notes]

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Colorado School of Mines makes its debut in the NCAA Division II Championship game, facing defending national champion Ferris State in McKinney, Texas for a chance at glory.

LIVE COVERAGE
Saturday's game will air nationally on ESPNU and on ESPN+, available to subscribers. There is no local TV or other streaming coverage. A live audio broadcast with the voice of the Orediggers Miles Dunklin  available for free on the RMAC Network. 

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

- Tickets are on sale and more information is available here. 
- The Mines Foundation has developed a Fan Central portal with all the tailgate, watch party, ticket and parking, and other fan information.
- Mines Athletics' official Denver-area watch party will be at The Wild Game in Evergreen located at 1204 Bergen Parkway. 
- Fans should be aware that McKinney ISD Stadium has a no-bags policy. 
- The NCAA Fan Fest will be held Friday night at TUPPS Brewery (721 Anderson St., McKinney, TX 75069) from 6-9 p.m. as a gathering place for Mines and Ferris State fans the night before the game.

WEATHER
The game day forecast for McKinney is a good one with sunny skies and a high of 48 degrees with light winds.

THIS IS IT
For the first time in program history, Colorado School of Mines football heads to the NCAA Division II Championship game, meeting Ferris State at McKinney ISD Stadium in Texas Saturday for the title. A semifinalist for the first time in 2021, the Orediggers now take another step and hope to secure their first NCAA title as well. It will be the end of an unprecedented 16-week season for Mines, which started 0-2 before reeling off 13 consecutive wins to get to this point. 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. 

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. Ferris State finished #5 in both. 

NOTING THE SERIES
This will be the second meeting between Mines and Ferris State ... The two met in Big Rapids, Mich. in the 2016 NCAA Second Round, a 38-17 Bulldogs win ... Mines will be playing a neutral-site game for the first time since 2008 when they played Western Washington in the Dixie Rotary Bowl in St. George, Utah ... After not playing in Texas for 90 years, this will be Mines' third visit to the Lone Star State in back-to-back seasons after playing at West Texas A&M in 2021 and then Angelo State two weeks ago in the SR4 final ... Mines also returns to Angelo State in Week 2 of the 2023 season ... This will be the Orediggers' first appearance ever in the DFW area. 

THE WORLDWIDE LEADER
The final will be televised on ESPNU and also be available on ESPN+, and Mines is no stranger to appearing on the network. Mines has appeared on ESPN four times since 2016, going 3-1 in those games. The final will be the Orediggers' ninth televised game this season overall. 

MAKE IT A BAKER'S DOZEN
Mines' victory over Shepherd last week made them 13-2, setting a new standard for wins in a season. The Orediggers had previously won a dozen in 2004 (12-1), 2019 (12-1), and 2021 (12-2), but never 13. The Orediggers also set the record for most consecutive wins in program history last week at 13 after starting out 0-2, and and will now play in a 16th game for the first time in program history stretching back to 1888.

INTO DECEMBER
Mines is playing in December for the second consecutive year, but appearances in the final month have been few and far between in the Orediggers' history. Mines has played 11 games in December dating back to 1890, and this will be the fifth in the past two seasons as the Orediggers are 7-4 in the month. December 17, however, marks the latest Mines has played in a season in a very, very, VERY long time: the Orediggers' only two later games came in their first season of football, 1888, when they played a game in January and another in February.

AT THE HELM
Mines head coach Brandon Moore, the AFCA Regional Coach of the Year and RMAC Coach of the Year in his first season, is no stranger to national championship games. Moore played in and won a BCS title in 2000 with his Oklahoma Sooners, defeating Florida State at the Orange Bowl. He is also no stranger to big games in the Dallas area, playing in four Red River Showdowns at the Cotton Bowl during his time at OU. 

GET THAT SILVER
Seventeen members of the Mines football team will miss the university's winter Commencement exercises on Thursday and Friday - but they have a decidedly excused absence. Instead, the graduates will receive their diplomas (which, per Mines tradition, are hand-engraved silver certificates) on Thursday at the team hotel via Zoom with President Paul C. Johnson. Of the graduates, eleven are earning their undergraduate degrees and six their master's degrees (and those six are all graduating from Mines for a second time). They will also be recognized back in Golden during the graduate (Thursday night) or undergraduate (Friday morning) ceremonies, as appropriate. The Class of 2022 is:

Evan Alexander, B.S., Mechanical Engineering        
Matt Armendariz, M.S., Computer Science        
Kyle Bahnsen, B.S., Mechanical Engineering        
Jacob Click, B.S., Civil Engineering        
Ben Fuchs, M.S., Eng. & Tech. Management    
Zach Hoffman, B.S., Mechanical Engineering        
Josh Johnston, M.S., Eng. & Tech. Management    
Josh Krause, B.S., Electrical Engineering        
Caleb Marlatt, B.S., Mechanical Engineering        
Mack Minnehan, M.S., Mechanical Engineering    
Jack Peterson, B.S., Mechanical Engineering        
Steele Petty, B.S., Civil Engineering        
Mason Pierce, B.S., Mechanical Engineering        
Cameron Reller, M.S., Eng. & Tech. Management
Roberto Valenzuela, B.S., Biochemistry        
Jacob Wienecke, B.S., Computer Science        
Michael Zeman, M.S., Eng. & Tech. Management    

THE STARS AT NIGHT...
Saturday's game will be a homecoming for a good chunk of the Mines roster, which features 38 Texans. Mines' Max Fecci will be returning to his hometown, and the Orediggers will practice at his alma mater McKinney North on Thursday; his father Mike is the former head coach there and is now the associate athletic director for McKinney ISD. A large contingent of upperclassmen hailing from the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex includes Fecci, Jacob Click (Frisco Lone Star), Logan Rayburn (Parish Episcopal), Will Drogosch (Allen), Landon Walker (Keller Central), Jaden Healy (Allen),  Chandler Poggensee (Burleson), Michael Magar (Southlake Carroll), Kasen Loveless (Southlake Carroll), and numerous other players from further away in the Austin, San Antonio, Houston, and Amarillo areas. More Mines alumni (more than 3,100) live in Texas than any other state outside of Colorado. All of that should add up to an almost home-game-like atmosphere for the Orediggers, despite being the designated visiting team. 

MATOCHA EARNS NATIONAL POTY, IS A HARLON HILL FINALIST
Quarterback John Matocha, the D2CCA Ron Lenz National Offensive Player of the Year and RMAC Offensive Player of the Year, is having the a special season, and he appears to be the frontrunner for the Harlon Hill Award when it's announced Friday evening. Matocha has compiled huge numbers in 2022: 4,570 passing yards, 50 passing touchdowns, and a 69.7% completion rating. Matocha heads into this week #1 in NCAA Division II in passing touchdowns, quarterback rating (184.3), and points responsible for,  #2 nationally in passing yards, and #3 in completion percentage. In the 2022 NCAA postseason, Matocha has accounted for a whopping 126 points on 21 total touchdowns - no other player is responsible for more than 60 points. Two weeks ago he joined 2016 Harlon Hill winner Justin Dvorak as the only other member of Mines' 10,000-yard club, and Matocha is the only active quarterback in NCAA Division II with 10,000+ passing and 1,000+ rushing career yards (and doing so in his junior-eligibility year). Mines is also the only team in D-II with two active Harlon Hill finalists on its roster as Michael Zeman finished fourth in the 2021 balloting. 

OREDIGGERS EARN ALL-AMERICA
The all-America awards are already beginning to roll in for Mines with three awardees as of Wednesday morning. In addition to John Matocha's National Offensive Player of the Year award from the D2CCA, he and center Matt Armendariz earned first-team and Mason Pierce second-team honors from the organization. On Monday, Armendariz was also named a First-Team All-American by the AFCA. 

Regionally and in-conference, Mines has also been well-rewarded topping both the RMAC and D2CCA All-Super Region 4 awards. Six Orediggers - Armendariz, Levi Johnson, Matocha, Pierce, and Michael Zeman - were named First-Team All-SR4 with Mack Minnehan named to the second team, with Matocha also garnering the regional Offensive Player of the Year honor. In November, Mines had 24 All-RMAC honors, led by Coach of the Year Brandon Moore, Offensive Player of the Year 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, Zeman, Josh Johnston, Johnson, Armendariz, Pierce, Adrian Moreno, and Minnehan.

SEMIFINAL REWIND
The Orediggers dominated from start to finish, beating Shepherd 44-13 in the NCAA Division II semifinals and advancing to the championship game for the first time in program history in front of an electric standing-room-only crowd at Marv Kay Stadium. In a battle of the top two candidates for this season's Harlon Hill Award, John Matocha cemented his claim on the trophy with a dominating 28-of-34, 371-yard, 5-touchdown performance with Max McLeod catching a postseason program-record 214 yards and three touchdowns. Matocha outdueled 2021 Hill Award winner Tyson Bagent, who was held without a touchdown on 165 yards of passing - his lowest total in the past two seasons - while taking eight sacks. The Oredigger defense held the Rams without a touchdown until the game was in hand in the fourth quarter, producing interceptions by Mason Pierce and Jaden Williams, and fumbles by Jaden Healy and Nolan Reeve, to keep one of D-II's best offenses on its heels all afternoon. Shepherd was held to just 299 yards and Reeve ended up with a Mines postseason-record 3.0 sacks.

SEMIFINAL STANDOUTS
Quick hit standouts from the Angelo State game:

- John Matocha threw for 371 yards and five touchdowns on 28-of-32 passing in a star-making performance that included SportsCenter's #2 play of the day. 
- Max McLeod caught three touchdowns for the second time this postseason and posted a Mines playoffs-record and career-high 214 yards on a career-high 12 catches.
- Josh Johnston and Mason Karp had touchdown catches as they combined for 108 more yards in the air.
- Nolan Reeve made a Mines postseason-record 3.0 sacks to lead an eight-sack day by the defense. Reeve also forced a fumble that was returned for a touchdown by Logan Rayburn.
- Mason Pierce and Jaden Williams had interceptions as the Mines secondary held reigning Harlon Hill winner Tyson Bagent to his worst yardage output in two years and zero touchdowns.
- Jaden Healy forced a fumble that was recovered by Mack Minnehan as part of a two-sack, five-tackle game. 

"THE PLAY"
There were plenty of memorable moments in Mines' semifinal win over Shepherd, but one will be remembered by Oredigger fans for a long, long time - The Play. On the first play following a Mason Pierce interception, Mines had 1st and 10 at the Rams' 33. John Matocha was all but wrapped up by SU defensive end Kyle Smith, but somehow fell on top of his own tackle Nic Van de Graaf, stayed upright enough to roll out of Smith's grasp, and then threw while being hit by two Ram defenders to a wide-open Josh Johnston 15 yards downfield, and he walked into the end zone for a touchdown. It ended up being the #2 play of the day on SportsCenter that night.

IN THE ZONE
The Oredigger offense is high scoring - they lead NCAA Division II at 46.7 points per game, nearly four 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 63 times on 66 trips inside the 20 (52 touchdowns and 11 field goals) for a 95.4 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 35-of-35 over the last eight games. 

IN THE BACKFIELD
Mines leads all of college football - every division - in sacks this season with 69, and they come from all directions. Twenty different players have a sack - and 11 players have multiple - led by Nolan Reeve (13.5) with Jack Peterson (9.0), Jaden Healy (7.5), Cameron Reller (6.0), and Mack Minnehan (5.5) in the top five.  The defense averages 4.6 sacks per game and has averaged even better, 5.75 per game, in the postseason including tying the D-II postseason record with 10 against CSU Pueblo and then posting eight last week versus Shepherd. 

TRIPLE THREATS, PART 1
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 and Michael Zeman hit the rushing yards plateau. 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 (FBS) and Fordham (FCS). McLeod (1,488 total yards), Johnston (1,288 total yards), and Zeman (1,528 total yards) have accounted for 4,304 total yards and 56 total touchdowns this season.

TRIPLE THREATS, PART II
File this under "things that probably have never happened before anywhere but we can't prove it, so just go with it." In this year's postseason, Mines has had three different receivers each catch three touchdown passes in a game, in four consecutive games. Max McLeod did it against CSU Pueblo in the first round, Josh Johnston against Minnesota State in the second round, and then Tristan Smith had three at Angelo State; McLeod did it again against Shepherd. Heading into the playoffs, Mines had not had any receiver catch three in any game since 2019 (when Johnston did it against Chadron State).
 
COLORADO'S BEST
Running back Michael Zeman has pretty much broken every record there is. He has hit five major career milestones over the last month; 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. In the first round against CSU-Pueblo, Zeman crossed 1,000 rushing yards in a season for the third time, becoming the only Oredigger to do so. Finally against Minnesota State, Zeman became the all-time touchdowns leader by any college football player in the state of Colorado, scoring the 64th of his career to surpass Western Colorado great and current Los Angeles Charger Austin Ekeler. 
 
GET IT STARTED
Mines has deep experience on its roster and it shows in the number of career starts. The Orediggers have five players with 40+ career starts, eight with 30+, and 15 with 20+. WR Josh Johnston and CB Mason Pierce lead the way with 42 career starts (Johnston's a team-best all in a row) while QB John Matocha and OLB Mack Minnehan are at 41 and OC Matt Armendariz joined the 40-start club last week and will make his 40th in a row this week.

MINES TAKES ACADEMIC HONORS
Mines had seven student-athletes named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team last week, 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+ GPAs.

TO THE HOUSE
The Mines defense sports a +20 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 five 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 and then Logan Rayburn's 11-yard scoop and score last week against Shepherd. 

MINES IN THE NATTY
Mines Football is making the first ever appearance in a bracketed tournament national final by an Oredigger team, but Mines is no stranger to national championship glory. The men's cross country team has won three NCAA Division II titles (2015, 2019, and 2022), capturing their third just two weeks ago on Dec. 2 in Seattle. 

COLORADO IN THE NATTY
Mines is the third different program from the state of Colorado to make the NCAA Division II championship game - and all three previous qualifiers won. Northern Colorado went back to back in 1996 and 1997, and CSU Pueblo won in 2014. Outside of Division II, the University of Colorado claimed the D-I FBS national title in 1990.

WHAT ARE THE ODDS?
We're not really used to long losing streaks at Mines, but we figure when you break one, it's worth celebrating. That's what happened in the quarterfinals at Angelo State when Michael Zeman called the coin toss and won it for the first time in 10 tries, since Week 4 against CSU Pueblo. Since then, the Orediggers had lost nine consecutive coin tosses. The odds of that happening are approximately 0.195%, or 1 in 511. Then last week against Shepherd? The Orediggers were back to their losing ways. But the news is not all bad: Mines is 10-0 when losing the coin toss this season. As the designated visiting team, Mines will get to call the coin toss for the national championship game. 

QUAD SQUAD
By clinching its fourth consecutive RMAC title this season, Mines Football joined 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).

BACK FOR MORE
Mines has a senior-heavy roster in 2022 with 33 listed, and five of them are utilizing their additional year of eligibility granted by the NCAA due to the pandemic-impacted 2020-21 school year. Matt Armendariz, Josh Johnston, Mack Minnehan, Cameron Reller, and Michael Zeman were all incoming freshmen in 2017 and are here for a sixth year; each of the five is now a two-time graduate of Mines, as of Thursday. In addition to that quintet, the Orediggers have 26 redshirt seniors (fifth-year seniors) plus two true seniors, and all but one (Mason Pierce) has eligibility to return in 2023 if they choose.