NCAA Division II Football Championship Semifinal
#10/7 Colorado School of Mines (12-2) vs. #11/9 Shepherd (13-1) // Saturday, Dec. 10 // 1:30 p.m.
Alumni Field at Marv Kay Stadium, Golden, Colo.
[TV: ESPN+] [Live Stats] [Tickets] [Mines Media Notes]

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For the first time, the NCAA Division II semifinals come to Golden as Super Region 4 champion Colorado School of Mines hosts Super Region 1 winner Shepherd for the right to a spot in the national final.

LIVE COVERAGE
Saturday's game will stream exclusively on ESPN+, available to subscribers. There is no local TV or other streaming coverage. A live audio broadcast with the Orediggers' crew of Miles Dunklin and Josh Dover will be available 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 two hours before kickoff at 11:30 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 looks as good as it gets for Colorado in mid-December with highs in the mid-40s under mostly sunny skies and light winds. The late kickoff means the game will end at sunset, however, so fans should plan accordingly. 

FOUR REMAIN
The NCAA Division II Championship bracket is down to four teams, with the Orediggers reseeded as the #2 overall team remaining. The winner of Mines-Shepherd will play the winner of West Florida at Ferris State, which kicks off at 10 a.m. MT Saturday, next Saturday, Dec. 17 in the national championship game in McKinney, Texas. For the first time in the current playoff format, no #1 regional seed made the last four, meaning for the first time every team has played three postseason games to get here. 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 are matching their deepest postseason run which came last year, when they ultimately fell at Valdosta State in the semifinals. 

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. Shepherd is right behind them at #11 in the AFCA and #9 in the D2football.com rankings.

NOTING THE SERIES
This will be the first ever meeting between Mines and Shepherd ... Mines has never played a member of the PSAC or Super Region 1 ... It will be Mines' second straight game and third overall this season against a team nicknamed the Rams.

UP IN THE AIR
Saturday's game will be the highest-elevation NCAA Division II semifinal ever with Alumni Field at Marv Kay Stadium standing at 5,707' above sea level. It surpasses CSU Pueblo's 2014 home semifinal at the Thunderbowl (4,931'), which is the only other time a semifinal has been played in Colorado. Since the renovated stadium opened in 2015, Mines is 40-5 at home including 5-2 in the postseason. 

THE WORLDWIDE LEADER
The semifinals will be televised on ESPN+, and Mines is no stranger to appearing on the network. ESPN has visited Marv Kay Stadium twice, in 2016 when Mines defeated CSU Pueblo on a Thursday night, and again late in the 2018 season in a win over Chadron State. Mines also played on ESPN+ at Valdosta State in last year's national semifinal. It will be the Orediggers' eighth televised game this season.

MAKE IT A DOZEN
Mines' victory over Angelo State last week made them 12-2, marking only the fourth 12-win season in program history and third in a row. Mines won a dozen in 2004 (12-1), 2019 (12-1), and 2021 (12-2), and will now play in a 15th 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 10 games in December dating back to 1890, and this will be the fourth in the past two seasons. This week marks the latest game ever hosted at Marv Kay Stadium or its predecessors.

AT THE HELM
Saturday's game will see two of the five AFCA Regional Coaches of the Year face each other, and the only two remaining in the playoffs. Mines head coach Brandon Moore, also the RMAC Coach of the Year in his first season, earned one of the spots while Rams boss Ernie McCook, in his fifth year, another. Both are now finalists for the AFCA National Coach of the Year award which will be announced in January.

MATOCHA A HARLON HILL FINALIST
Quarterback John Matocha, the D2CCA Super Region 4 and RMAC Offensive Player of the Year, is having the most productive season of his career, and last week he was announced as one of nine finalists for the Harlon Hill Award. Matocha has compiled huge numbers in 2022: 4,200 passing yards, 45 passing touchdowns, and a 68.6% completion rating. Matocha heads into this week #1 in NCAA Division II in passing touchdowns, quarterback rating, and points responsible for, and #2 nationally in passing yards. Last week 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.    

ARMENDARIZ THIRD IN UPSHAW VOTE
The results of the Gene Upshaw Division II Lineman of the Year award were announced Monday with center Matt Armendariz finishing third in the national voting. The honor is 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). Shepherd also had a finalist as OT Joey Fisher finished fourth in the final vote; Ferris State DE Caleb Murphy won the award.

MINES LEADS POSTSEASON HONORS
Mines has been well-rewarded in its postseason honors topping both the RMAC and D2CCA All-Super Region 4 awards. Last week six Orediggers - Matt Armendariz, Levi Johnson, John Matocha, Mason Pierce, and Michael Zeman - were named First-Team All-SR4 with Mack Minnehan named to the second team, with Matocha also garnering the 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.

QUARTERFINAL REWIND
 John Matocha guided Mines back to the NCAA semifinals, willing the Orediggers past #2/2 Angelo State 42-24 to avenge a regular-season loss to the Rams in the Super Region IV final. Matocha accounted for all six of Mines' touchdowns - four passing and two rushing - as the Orediggers capitalized on special teams errors to pull away from the top-seeded Rams (12-1) in the second half. Matocha turned in his second consecutive 100-yard rushing day with two touchdowns on the ground, and still managed to throw for four touchdowns despite being limited to 162 yards in the air. Tristan Smith became the third different Oredigger received to catch three touchdowns in this year's NCAA tournament, and Michael Zeman had the other as he also pounded out 48 hard-earned yards in the run game. Mines scored off an opening-drive fumble recovered by Cam Forrest, and also found touchdowns on two short fields left by ASU punt muffs. Leading 21-17 in the third quarter, Matocha ran for a career-long 53-yard touchdown, and after another ASU touchdown made it 28-24, Mines kept them off the board in the fourth quarter as Smith caught his third touchdown and Matocha sealed it with a 10-yard run with 2:34 to go. 

QUARTERFINAL STANDOUTS
Quick hit standouts from the Angelo State game:

- John Matocha accounted for six total touchdowns - four passing and two rushing - and ran for over 100 yards for the second consecutive game.
- Tristan Smith became the latest Oredigger to catch three touchdowns in a game among six catches for 54 yards.
- Michael Zeman caught Mines' opening touchdown and had 57 yards on 19 carries. 
- The Mines special teams had two muffed punt recoveries - by Hall Edmonds and Josh Wojciechowicz - and Jacob Click limited ASU to 6 punt return yards.
- Mason Pierce made a career-high 11 tackles.
- Nolan Reeve had sacks on back-to-back plays in the fourth quarter among six tackles.
- Adrian Moreno forced the fumble on the opening drive and also had a sack.
- Cam Forrest recovered Moreno's strip and had a 39-yard return to set up the opening TD.

SCOUTING THE RAMS
Super Region 1 champion Shepherd, out of West Virginia, heads to Golden for the first time with a 13-1 record overall. Like Mines, they avenged a regular-season loss in the national quarterfinals beating Indiana (Pa.), 48-13, on the road to advance to the semifinals. Shepherd's offensive numbers are very similar to Mines' with a balanced attack led by an outstanding quarterback with 2021 Harlon Hill Award winner Tyson Bagent. The NCAA all-time recordholder in yards and touchdowns, Bagent has thrown for a national-best 4,415 yards this season and trails only Mines' John Matocha in touchdown passes at 41. The Rams also have a very good running game led by Ronnie Brown, who has 18 touchdowns and 1,690 yards this season. Bagent has had to spread the ball around with a depleted receiving corps in the postseason; Marlon Cook is the team's receiving leader with 1,016 yards and 8 touchdowns but did not play against IUP. Defensively the Rams are +15 with 18 interceptions and allow 16 points per game, owning a stout run defense (84.4 ypg).  Dewayne Grantham's 93 tackles and four interceptions lead the team and Kyle Smith tops SU in explosive numbers at 20 tackles for loss and 13 sacks.

IN THE ZONE
The Oredigger offense is high scoring - they lead NCAA Division II at 46.9 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 60 times on 63 trips inside the 20 (50 touchdowns and 10 field goals) for a 96.8 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 32-of-32 over the last seven games. 

IN THE BACKFIELD
Mines leads all of college football - every division - in sacks this season with 61, and they come from all directions. Nineteen different players have a sack - and 11 players have multiple - led by Nolan Reeve (10.5) with Jack Peterson (9.0), Cameron Reller (6.0), Mack Minnehan (5.5), and Jaden Healy (5.5) in the top five.  The defense averages 4.4 sacks per game and has averaged even better, 5.0 per game, in the postseason.

TRIPLE THREATS, PART I
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 (1,274 total yards), Johnston (1,215 total yards), and Zeman (1,435 total yards) have accounted for 3,924 total yards and 52 total touchdowns this season.

TRIPLE THREATS, PART II
File this under "things that probably have never happened before 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 three 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 last week. 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. Zeman now has 4,360 career yards, 55 rushing touchdowns, and 65 total touchdowns.

GET IT STARTED
Mines has deep experience on its roster and it shows in the number of career starts. The Orediggers have four players with 40+ career starts, eight with 30+, and 13 with 20+. WR Josh Johnston and CB Mason Pierce lead the way with 41 career starts (Johnston's a team-best all in a row) while QB John Matocha and OLB Mack Minnehan made their 40th career and consecutive starts last week. OC Matt Armendariz will join the 40-start club 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 +16 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.

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 last week 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. Mines is 9-0 when losing the coin toss this season and 3-2 when winning.

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).

NEXT UP
The national championship game will be played in McKinney, Texas on Saturday, Dec. 17 at 11 a.m. MT and will be televised on ESPNU.