#1/1 Colorado School of Mines (14-0) vs. #3/4 Harding (14-0) // Saturday, Dec. 16 // 12 p.m. CT
NCAA Division II Championship Final - McKinney ISD Stadium - McKinney, Texas
[TV: ESPNU/ESPN+] [Radio: RMAC Network] [Live Stats] [Tickets] [NCAA Bracket] [Mines Media Notes]

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Returning to the NCAA championship game for a second straight year, #1/1 Colorado School of Mines meets a fellow unbeaten in #3/4 Harding with one team walking away with their first national title.

LIVE COVERAGE
Saturday's game will be streamed on ESPN+, ESPN's subscription service available online and on smart TVs. Shawn Kenney and Charles Arbuckle will be on the call. There will also be a free RMAC Network Radio stream with Miles Dunklin and Josh Dover at minesathletics.com/tv. The game video is exclusively on ESPN+ and not on the NCAA Championships app as previous rounds were, and is not televised on any local stations.

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. 
- Visit the Fan Central page for all the tailgate, watch party, ticket, and other fan information.
- Fans should be aware that McKinney ISD Stadium has a clear-bags policy and that no artificial noisemakers (horns, vuvuzelas, cowbells, etc.) are permitted.
- The NCAA Fan Fest will be held Friday night at TUPPS Brewery (721 Anderson St., McKinney, TX 75069) from 5-10 p.m. as a gathering place for Mines and Harding fans the night before the game.

WEATHER REPORT
Game day in McKinney is forecast to be mostly cloudy and breezy with a high of 55 and a chance of morning rain showers.

AT THE HELM
Head Coach Pete Sterbick, the AFCA Regional Coach of the Year, is 14-0 in his first season in charge of the Orediggers after the former offensive coordinator took over the head job last April. With Sterbick's promotion, Mines retained all of its assistant coaches, promoting offensive line coach Tim Brandon to offensive coordinator to replace Sterbick and keeping defensive coordinator Tripp Thomas. 

LEADING THE WAY
The Orediggers elected four captains for the 2023 season, with quarterback John Matocha earning his second "C" patch alongside center Steele Petty, defensive tackle Jack Peterson, and safety Logan Rayburn being first-time captains. 

IT COMES DOWN TO THIS
A meeting of undefeated teams will determine a first-time national champion as #1/1 Mines meets #3/4 Harding in McKinney, with both teams entering at 14-0. Offensively, it's a clash of styles as both teams have arrived at huge numbers (with Mines #2 and Harding #3 nationally in scoring offense) in totally different ways: Mines with its signature spread offense balanced with a power rushing attack, and Harding employing the flexbone triple option to average more than 400 rushing yards per game. Defensively, though, both teams look nearly identical on paper in total defense (Harding 240.1, #5 and Mines 246.6, #6) and scoring defense (Harding 11.1 #2 and Mines 11.2 #3), with both units being takeaway-hungry at +23 and +17 for Mines and Harding, respectively.

THE WORLDWIDE LEADER
The national final will be televised on ESPNU, and Mines will be making its seventh appearance on the Worldwide Leader. ESPN has visited Marv Kay Stadium four times since 2015, including twice in the regular season, and Mines also played on ESPN+ at Valdosta State in the 2021 national semifinal and on ESPNU in the 2022 title game. 

IN THE POLLS
Mines remained #1 in the national polls for the final five weeks of the regular season, the top team in both the AFCA and D2football.com polls. Harding finished the regular season #3 in the AFCA and #4 in the D2football.com polls. Mines owns four wins this season over AFCA top-25 ranked teams this season (by an average score of 40-17) having beaten #3 Grand Valley State, #4 Angelo State, #9 Western Colorado, and #16 Augustana; they also defeated Kutztown, #23 in the D2football.com poll, last week. Harding owned one regular-season win over a ranked team, #20 Henderson State, and has run the postseason gauntlet with wins over #6 Central Missouri, #2 Grand Valley State, and #11 Lenoir-Rhyne.  

MINES SETS WINS RECORD
The 2023 Oredigger squad has set a program record for wins at 14-0, surpassing last year's mark of 13-3. Mines finished its ninth unbeaten, untied regular season in program history with the win at Fort Lewis, and only the third since the Second World War.

Mines Most Season Wins            
14 - 2023                
13 - 2022                
12 - 2004, 2019            

ONE FOR THE THUMB
Mines clinched the outright RMAC championship with their win at Fort Lewis in Week 11, which marks their fifth in a row. That puts the program in elite company: only two other teams, Western Colorado (seven straight from 1973-79) and Utah (six straight from 1928 to 1933) have won five in a row in the 114-year history of the conference. The Orediggers have won 16 RMAC titles all-time.

DECEMBER TO REMEMBER
Mines is playing into December for the third straight year and the 10th season overall. The Orediggers are 9-4 in the final month of the year dating back to 1890, including two wins each of the last two seasons.

THE MATCHUP
As mentioned, Harding is 14-0, champions of the GAC, and making their first national final appearance. Their signature flexbone offense has produced 47.5 points and a D-II-record 5,659 rushing yards, while throwing the ball only 54 times this season. They have 13 different players with a rushing touchdown led by Blake Delacruz (1,296 yards, 21 TD), quarterback Cole Keylon (657 yards, 14 TD), and Braden Jay (914 yards, 9 TD). The Bisons chew up possession averaging 35:30 per game. Defensively Harding has one of the nation's top units that is very similar to Mines on paper, allowing only 11.1 points and 240.1 yards per game, including 68.6 rush yards. They are +17. CLark Griffin leads Harding with 88 total tackles including 12 for loss and four sacks, and Dre Hall has 10.5 sacks.

NOTING THE POSTSEASON/SERIES
The Orediggers are making their second consecutive appearance in the national final and their ninth NCAA championship appearance overall ...  Harding is making its first national championship game trip ... Mines is the #1 seed in Super Region 4 while Kutztown was the #1 seed in Super Region 3 ... It will be the first matchup of undefeated teams in the final (both Mines and Harding are 14-0) since 2018 when 13-0 Valdosta State beat 15-0 Ferris State ... Mines' five consecutive NCAA appearances are tied for the second-longest active streak in the country ... Mines has not played an active member of the GAC; the only history with a current member is a 1-1 series in 2003-04 against Northwestern Oklahoma State, who was an NAIA member at the time.

BIG AND BRIGHT
The national championship game is a homecoming for the 45 Texans on Mines' roster, and 10 members of the active game roster hail from the Dallas-Fort Worth area: K/P Jacob Click (Frisco/Frisco Lone Star HS), SS/LB Blake Ramsey and FS Will Ramsey (Argyle/Argyle HS), RB Landon Walker (Fort Worth/Keller Central HS), FS Logan Rayburn (Dallas/Parish Episcopal HS), CB Will Drogosch (Allen/Allen HS), OLB Jaden Healy (Allen/Allen HS), OLB Max Fecci (McKinney/McKinney North HS), C Chandler Poggensee (Burleson/Burleson HS), and OT Michael Magar (Southlake/Southlake Carroll HS)Mines has huge alumni bases in Dallas, Houston, and west Texas, with Houston its largest alumni city outside of Denver.

JOHNSON WINS UPSHAW AWARD
Last week, Mines right tackle Levi Johnson was named the winner of the Gene Upshaw Award, given to the outstanding senior lineman in Division II. Johnson, with 37 career starts under his belt, has led an excellent Oredigger line this season that has powered the nation's #2 scoring offense of 49.4 points per game along with the #2 total offense, #6 passing offense, #12 rushing offense, and #11 in fewest tackles for loss allowed. Johnson is the first Mines winner of the award, which is presented by the Manheim Touchdown Club of Pennsylvania; the Orediggers had had three previous finalists.

TRIO ARE ALL-AMERICANS
Also last week, WR Max McLeod, QB John Matocha, and LB Nolan Reeve were named AFCA All-Americans. Matocha is now the program's first four-season all-American, McLeod earns a nod for the second straight year, and Reeve his first.

SEMIFINAL REWIND
Mines combined its trademark stifling defense with John Matocha's final masterpiece at Marv Kay Stadium, returning to the NCAA Division II Championship game with a 35-7 win over Kutztown. Matocha was 30-of-37 for 292 yards and three touchdowns, and ran for another score as he broke the college football all-time record for passing touchdowns in a career. Flynn Schiele had a career game with 11 catches for 181 yards and two touchdowns, while the Mines defense got red-zone turnovers from Collin Romero and Zach Hester to hold the Golden Bears to 236 total yards. Mines never trailed, getting out to a 14-0 lead with touchdowns on their first two possessions before Kutztown worked its way back into the game; an Oredigger two-minute drill before halftime gave them breathing room, and the defense worked another second-half shutout to help them win going away.

SEMIFINAL QUICK HITS
Standouts from Week 15's win vs. Kutztown:

- John Matocha was an efficient 30-of-37 for 292 yards and three touchdowns, and also ran in a score.
- Flynn Schiele had a career game with 181 yards and two touchdowns off 11 catches.
- Noah Roper ran for 73 yards and Landon Walker averaged 9.2 yards per carry with a touchdown as Mines had 165 yards off only 29 rushes.
- Nolan Reeve had a team-high seven tackles with a sack and a hurry.
- Zach Hester recovered a fumble (his second straight game with a turnover) and Collin Romero had an interception in the end zone to help Mines be +2.
- Braelon Tate ripped off Mines' longest kick return of the season to start the game, setting up a touchdown with his 48-yard take.

MINES TOPS RMAC, REGIONAL HONORS
The postseason awards have been rolling in for Mines, which captured a program-record 11 D2CCA all-region awards and 28 all-RMAC slots. For the first time in program history, Colorado School of Mines swept the three major player awards in the All-RMAC football teams as 28 total Orediggers were recognized in the season-end honors. John Matocha repeated as the Offensive Player of the Year, Nolan Reeve earned Defensive Player of the Year, and Blake Doud was the Special Teams Player of the Year to lead the teams. In total, 28 Orediggers were honored including 14 first-teamers: Matocha, Noah Roper, Max McLeod, Levi Johnson, and Steele Petty on offense; Reeve with Jackson Zimmermann, Jaden Williams, Adrian Moreno, Jaden Healy, Kyle Bahnsen, and end Zach Hester on defense; and Hunter Pearson joined Doud on the special teams first team. The D2CCA All-Region teams were led by Offensive Player of the Year Matocha along with Johnson, Petty, McLeod, Moreno, Reeve, Bahnsen, Zimmermann, Pearson, and Doud on the first team and Williams on the second.

HERE TO PLAY SCHOOL
Mines student-athletes have also swept the RMAC's three major postseason academic awards as quarterback John Matocha and linebacker Nolan Reeve are the RMAC Offensive and Defensive Academic Players fo the Year, respectively, and safety Will Ramsey is the RMAC Summit Award winner for having the top GPA on the conference championship team. In addition, eight Orediggers were named First-Team Academic All-RMAC: Matocha, Reeve, Ramsey, Zach Hoffman, Zach Heckman, Jack Peterson, Ben Fuchs, and Blake Doud. 

MATOCHA MAKES HISTORY
As he plays the final game of a superlative career on Saturday, Harlon Hill Award finalist (and 2022 winner) John Matocha continues to set records, and while he had already produced more touchdowns than any player in college football history (190 and counting), he set another all-CFB record last week by becoming the undisputed passing touchdowns king. Matocha threw three touchdowns against Kutztown to surpass Tyson Bagent's college football record of 159, and he now stands at 161. It goes with a bevy of other career marks that Matocha has taken down this season, including the Mines, RMAC, and Colorado records for passing yards (14,736) and total offensive yards (16,731). He is now second all-time in D-II history in total offensive yards and also moved into third all-time in passing yards last week.

College Football Career Total Touchdowns        
1. John Matocha, Mines        190        
2. Case Keenum (Houston)        178        
     Blaine Hawkins (Central Iowa)    178        

College Football Career Passing Touchdowns        
1. John Matocha, Mines    161    D-II        
2. Tyson Bagent, Shepherd    159    D-II        
3. Alex Tanney, Monmouth    157    D-III        

NCAA D-II Career Total Touchdowns        
190 - John Matocha, Mines (161 pass/28 rush/1 rec.)    
171 - Tyson Bagent, Shepherd (159 pass/12 rush)        
166 - Jason Vander Lann, Ferris State (85 pass/81 rush)    

NCAA D-II Career Total Offensive Yards        
1. Tyson Bagent, Shepherd         17,213        
2. John Matocha, Mines         16,731        
3. Bo Cordell, Tusculum        16,432        
4. Jimmy Terwilliger, E. Stroudsburg    16,064        
5. Steven Gachette, SW Baptist    15,235        

NCAA D-II Career Passing Yards            
1. Tyson Bagent, Shepherd         17,034        
2. Bo Cordell, Tusculum        16,265        
3. John Matocha, Mines         14,736        
4. Zach Amedro, West Liberty        14,733        
5. Jimmy Terwilliger, E. Stroudsburg    14,350        

TO THE MAX
Max McLeod became the first Oredigger in program history to surpass 100 catches in a season last week, and now has 101 in 2023. He leads NCAA Division II in receiving yards (1,503) and is fourth in receiving touchdowns (16). He now has the second-most yards ever in a Mines season, surpassing his own 2022 campaign of 1,492 yards, and is 124 yards shy of breaking Brody Oliver's program record of 1,627 yards in 2016.

Mines Career Receiving Yards            
1. Brody Oliver (2014-2018)    4,010        
2. Justin Gallas (2001-2005)    3,561        
3. Max McLeod (2021-pres.)    3,457        

Mines Career Receiving Touchdowns        
1. Brody Oliver (2014-2018)    59        
2. Max McLeod (2021-pres.)    44        
3. Josh Johnston (2018-22)    40        

WELL GROUNDED, PART I
The Orediggers have had an extremely productive rushing offense in 2023, with their 214.2 yards per game on the ground ranking 14th nationally. Behind a veteran offensive line, it's been a true group effort as Noah Roper and Landon Walker - both all-RMAC selections - have combined for 1,685 yards and 28 touchdowns (plus 6 more receiving scores), with John Matocha adding another 444 and 5, and Braelon Tate 309 and 4. Mines has been over 200 yards rushing in a game eight times and 250 yards five times this year including their 508-yard performance at Fort Lewis in Week 11, which was the second-best single-game mark in program history. 

WELL GROUNDED, PART II
On the other side of the ball, the Orediggers' run defense has been one of the nation's elite units in 2023, and they will face their toughest test against the nation's #1 run team. Mines ranks third in NCAA Division II allowing only 64.4 rushing yards per game; they have given up only eight rushing touchdowns this season and two in their last eight games. The Orediggers have allowed 100 or less yards in 11 games and have five - vs. Adams State (5 yards), Western Colorado (7), Fort Lewis (-33), Augustana (6), and Central Washington (7) - of less than 10 yards allowed. Mines has 113 tackles for loss overall led by their outside linerbackers Nolan Reeve (13.5) and Jaden Healy (10.5) and middle Hayden Gregg (8.0). 

VERY OFFENSIVE
Under Pete Sterbick as OC between 2019 and 2022, Mines' offense routinely ranked among the best in the nation, leading the RMAC in scoring all three of those seasons (and leading the nation last year), and also ranking atop the RMAC in total offensive yards twice and in the NCAA top-10 last year. This year? Mines has the highest numbers of Sterbick and now-offensive coordinator Tim Brandon's careers so far, producing 49.4 points per game (#2 in D-II) and 520.5 yards per game (also #2).

POSTSEASON STOPPERS
Mines' defense has twice broken its program postseason record for total defense this year, allowing 250 total yards against Augustana in the second round and then only 214 against Central Washington in the quarterfinals. Last week, Mines kept the stifling defense going giving up only 236 total yards to Kutztown. The Orediggers' 6 rushing yards allowed vs. Augustana was also a program postseason-best; CWU mustered only 7 net yards on the ground.

REEVE LEADS THE WAY
As RMAC Defensive Player of the Year and AFCA All-American Nolan Reeve closes his career this weekend, he will do so as college football's active leader in sacks with 42.5. Reeve has a team-leading 10.0 sacks and 13.5 tackles for loss this season to go with 59 tackles, 4 forced fumbles, and two recoveries (one for a TD). This postseason, Reeve has 20 total tackles, 4.5 TFL, 3.0 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, a recovery, six hurries, and a pass break-up in three games.

NCAA Football Active Sacks Leaders      
1. Nolan Reeve (Mines)        42.5        
2. Ryan Bodolus (Ursinus)        36.5        
3. Josh Bever (Ohio Northern)    36.5        

YOINK!
Mines is an exceptional +23 on turnover margin this season, which ranks fourth in NCAA Division II, and they lead the nation in turnovers gained with 33 (and also lead D-II in fumble recoveries with 16). It's come from all directions, with 23 different Orediggers having a hand in at least one turnover this season; cornerback Jackson Zimmermann's six interceptions leads Mines in total turnovers, with Evan Alexander (1 INT, 1 FF, 1 FR), Jaden Williams (1 INT, 1 FR), Nolan Reeve (2 FR, 3 FF) Jaden Healy (1 INT, 2 FF), Joey Beckner (1 FF, 2 FR), Eb Alfred-Igbokwe (2 FR), Logan Rayburn (1 INT, 1 FR), and Zach Hester (1 FF, 2 FR) also having stats in multiple columns. 

WORKING OVERTIME
Mines' game against Kutztown represented the 13th career playoff game for Mines' seniors (and the 14th for the sixth-year seniors), meaning that the Orediggers have essentially played more than five full seasons of football in the last four as an NCAA Division II regular season contains 11 games. John Matocha is Mines' active and all-time leader in starts at 56 (all consecutive), with Jaden Williams (48) and Cam Forrest (41) also over 40 and Nic Van de Graaf and Nolan Reeve each at 39.

THIIIIIIIRD DOWN
Third downs have been kind to the Orediggers this season on both sides of the ball as Mines ranks third in NCAA Division II third down conversion offense and fourth in defense. Mines has converted 56 percent of its third-down opportunities offensively, while the defense has allowed opponents to convert only 26.1 percent; both marks lead the RMAC. 

BIG LEG BLAKE
Punter Blake Doud became Mines' first RMAC Special Teams Player of the Year since 2013 as he has excelled in his first year starting. Doud leads the RMAC by two full yards in punting average at 46 yards per punt on 41 boots; that total includes 15 beyond 50 yards and 19 inside the 20-yard line, and he has the RMAC's longest punt of the year at 77 yards (which was at Angelo State, not at elevation). Opponents have managed only nine punt returns against the Orediggers this season, averaging 3.9 yards per. Doud's average would lead the nation but Mines has not punted enough for him to be ranked in the national stats; the Orediggers lead NCAA Division II in net punting at 41.1 yards per punt. 

COLORADO IN THE NATTY
Mines is the third different program from the state of Colorado to make the NCAA Division II championship game, and the second to go twice. Northern Colorado won 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.