#2/4 Colorado School of Mines (0-0) vs. #3/2 Grand Valley State (0-0) // Thursday, Aug. 31 // 6 p.m.
Alumni Field at Marv Kay Stadium, Golden, Colo.
[TV: KWGN 2] [RMAC Network] [Live Stats] [Tickets] [Mines Media Notes]

---

With both teams holding national championship hopes, #2/4 Colorado School of Mines hosts #3/2 Grand Valley State in a heavyweight non-conference match-up to start the 2023 season.

LIVE COVERAGE
Thursday's game will air live locally on KWGN Colorado's Own Channel 2, and stream for free on the RMAC Network. Miles Dunklin and Aniello Piro have the call. 

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

- Fans are highly encouraged to purchase digital tickets or print at home tickets ahead of time at minesathletics.com/tickets.
- Mines students, faculty, and staff will be admitted free with their BlasterCard. 
- Gates and the tailgating lot open two hours before kickoff at 4 p.m.
- Tailgating is permitted in Lot K only (next to Stermole Soccer Stadium). 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 Parking page for more information.
- The City of Golden's street parking requires 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
Thursday will be hot and mostly sunny with a high in the upper 80s, going to the low 80s at kickoff with a northwest breeze. 

AT THE HELM
For the third consecutive season, Mines will have a new head coach to open the season, but once again it will be a familiar face. Pete Sterbick elevates from the offensive coordinator position he had held since 2019 to take over the program from Brandon Moore, who departed for San Diego. Mines retained all of its assistant coaches, promoting offensive line coach Tim Brandon to offensive coordinator to replace Sterbick. Grand Valley State will also have a new head coach in Scott Wooster, but like Sterbick he was promoted from the Lakers' offensive line coach after the depature of Matt Mitchell to Wisconsin. 

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.

2023 SCHEDULE OUTLOOK
The Orediggers' schedule is a mirror of 2022, and again one of the toughest in the country, starting with the Week 1 clash against Grand Valley State before heading to Angelo State in a rematch of the last two regional finals on Sept. 9. As of today, both of those games are top-5 clashes as Mines entered the AFCA preseason top-25 at #2, GVSU at #3, and Angelo State at #5. It marks the final year of both out-of-conference series. The RMAC schedule begins at home Sept. 16 against Adams State, with other home contests against Chadron State, South Dakota Mines, Western Colorado, and New Mexico Highlands; road RMAC contests are at CSU Pueblo, Colorado Mesa, Black Hills State, and Fort Lewis. 

A HISTORIC 2022
Mines' historic 2022 season set a program record for wins as the Orediggers went 13-3. Perhaps most impressive was how they got to that baker's dozen of victories - after starting the season 0-2 with out-of-conference losses to Grand Valley State and Angelo State, Mines essentially had to play nine straight "playoff" games to run the table in the RMAC and qualify for the NCAA tournament, where they won the the Super Region IV title for a second straight season and advanced to the NCAA Division II title game for the first time in program history. The Orediggers finished ranked #2 in the AFCA and #3 in the D2football.com polls, both program bests, and led the nation in scoring offense, red zone offense, sacks, and turnovers produced.

QUAD SQUAD
Mines has had a dominating run through the RMAC in recent history, capturing four consecutive conference titles since 2018 (no championship was awarded in 2020) and going 36-2 in that span against the RMAC. Last year's campaign saw Mines go a perfect 9-0. Mines joins an elite list of programs to have won four straight rings: CSU Pueblo (2011-14), Colorado Mesa (1985-88), Western Colorado (1973-79 and 1963-66), and Utah (1928-33).

MINES MOURNS MARV KAY
Mines legend Marv Kay passed away on April 19, and the Orediggers will remember their former player, coach, and athletic director with a "MK74" decal on their helmets this season. Kay spent more than 40 years in a variety of roles at Mines, best remembered by fans for serving as head football coach from 1969 to 1995, and the Orediggers' home stadium is now named in his honor. Kay's #74 jersey was retired at his celebration of life ceremony in May, and current Oredigger offensive lineman Zack Morris will continue to wear the number in his honor until his graduation.

IN THE POLLS
Mines and Grand Valley State flip-flopped positions in the two major national preseason polls, with Mines appearing at #2 and GVSU #3 in the AFCA Coaches' poll, and the Lakers #2 and Orediggers #4 in the D2football.com media poll. Mines was the unanimous choice atop the RMAC Preseason Coaches' poll in early August, and Grand Valley State was second behind defending national champion Ferris State in the GLIAC poll.

STARTING THE WEEKEND EARLY
The game with Grand Valley State will be the 46th time Mines has played on a Thursday ... Thanksgiving games were common prior to World War II, and the Orediggers played 32 times on Turkey Day between 1888 and 1947 ... Mines' first Thursday game was in its very first season, 1888, beating Denver Cricket Club 12-0 on Thanksgiving ... Mines has played a Thursday season opener just five previous times: against Washburn in 1954 and 2008, against CSU Pueblo in 2016 and 2017, and against Western Oregon in 2021 ... This will be only the seventh time playing on a Thursday since the 1954 season ... It is the third time Marv Kay Stadium has hosted a Thursday game; Mines is 2-0 in its other games (vs. CSU Pueblo in 2016 and Western Oregon in 2021) ... The old Brooks Field hosted eight Thursday games ... Mines is 16-26-3 on Thursdays.

LAST YEAR VS. GRAND VALLEY ST.
Mines began the 2022 season facing Grand Valley State in Michigan, and fell 25-22 on a last-minute touchdown after a furious second-half comeback. The Orediggers trailed 17-0 in the third quarter before four consecutive scores - a 49-yard Max McLeod touchdowns, a 26-yard Matthew Eich field goal, a one-yard Michael Zeman punch-in, and a 40-yard Josh Johnston catch - put Mines ahead 22-17 late in the fourth quarter. GVSU won it in the final minute when Cade Peterson hit Jayk Slager on a two-yard pass, and Mines ran a one-minute drill to the GV 5-yard line before running out of clock. John Matocha passed for 350 yards and two touchdowns, while Peterson went for 266 and one. Jaden Healy had a breakout game with 10 tackles, 1.5 sacks, and a forced fumble for Mines.

SCOUTING THE LAKERS
Like Mines, Grand Valley State enters the 2023 season with high expectations after suffering only one loss - to the eventual national champion Ferris State - a year ago. The Lakers (12-1 and GLIAC champions in 2022) made the Super Region 3 final last year and had six players appear on this season's D2football.com preseason Elite 100 list including linebacker Abe Swanson, running back Tariq Reid, offensive linemen Garrett Carroll and Jordan Davis, defensive lineman Christian McCarroll, and quarterback Cade Peterson. Peterson threw for 2,439 yards and 16 touchdowns against only four interceptions last season, but loses his top two targets with Cody Tierney (482 yards, 4 TD) their top leading returner at receiver. Reid returns as the feature back after rushing for 1,027 yards and 19 touchdowns in 2022, and one of the nation's best defenses (11.2 ppg allowed) brings back leading tacklers Swanson (95 TT, 4.0 S) and Damonte McCurdy (58 TT, 1 INT) at linebacker.

PRESEASON HONORS
Mines players received a number of preseason honors over the summer, most recently with a quartet named to the D2football.com Preseason Elite 100 list in mid-August. Quarterback John Matocha, right tackle Levi Johnson, and receiver Max McLeod earned first-team spots and Zach Hester was named to the Elite 100 Squad. Lindy's magazine also gave preseason all-America honors to Matocha and McLeod, also naming Matocha its preseason D-II MVP.

OFFENSIVE FIREWORKS
Under then-offensive coordinator Pete Sterbick, Mines' offense had a historic 2022 season as they led the nation in scoring (44.6 points per game) and red zone offense (97%). Mines had the nation's #6 passing offense (314.9 yards per game) and #7 total offense (467.3 yards per game), and also took care of the ball committing only 14 turnovers in 16 games to have the nation's #3 turnover margin. 

QB1 RETURNS
John Matocha's electric 2022 season caught national attention, and the quarterback returns for a fourth and final season in 2023 after winning the Harlon Hill Award as Division II's national player of the year. His 2022 numbers were staggering: 4,778 passing yards, 52 passing touchdowns, five rushing touchdowns, and just eight interceptions as he compiled the third-most total yards (5,221) in NCAA Division II history. He won just about every award possible including the Harlon Hill as well as consensus All-America, the Academic All-American of the Year, Colorado Male College Athlete of the Year, and D2CCA and D2football.com National Offensive Player of the Year honors. A starter since week 2 of his true freshman season in 2019, Matocha is 36-6 since then and is now approaching several of fellow Harlon Hill winner Justin Dvorak's Mines and RMAC passing records (needing 15 touchdowns and 2,758 yards to tie those), and is now 40 passing touchdowns away from ex-Shepherd and current Chicago Bears quarterback Tyson Bagent's NCAA D-II record.

HARLON HILL HISTORY
Matocha's win in the Harlon Hill Award voting made him the third different Oredigger to win D-II football's biggest individual prize, joining Justin Dvorak (2016) and Chad Friehauf (2004). It made Mines the only school in the history of the trophy to have three different recipients; Matocha is the first Mines winner to return for another season after receiving it. 

MATOCHA IS TOP STUDENT-ATHLETE
Matocha's postseason honors weren't limited to his on-field performance, as he picked up another major award in late July when he was named the College Sports Communicators Academic All-American Overall Team Member of the Year as D-II's top student-athlete. Matocha was selected from more than 122,000 NCAA D-II student-athletes, and becomes the first Oredigger, first RMAC football player, and only the third D-II football player to receive the honor.

BIG TARGETS
Matocha's huge passing numbers last season produced one of only two 1,000-yard receiving duos nationally in Max McLeod and Josh Johnston; McLeod returns after his breakout 79-catch, 1,492-yard, 18-touchdown campaign that saw him rank second nationally in scores and third in yards. McLeod is now the nation's leading returning receiver in both categories and is both a Lindy's and D2football.com Preseason All-American this summer after earning AP All-America honors last fall. With only two seasons under his belt, McLeod has 1,954 career yards and 28 touchdowns. Depth-wise, receiver was the position most hit by graduation with Tristan Smith and Mason Karp also gone, but Mines returns veterans Zach Hoffman, Sean Roberts, Josh Krause, Billy Pospisil III, and Flynn Schiele, and a deep group of underclassmen are ready to step into elevated roles including redshirt freshman Nick Stone, named one of the starters, and classmate Aksel Richard, who backs up McLeod. The Orediggers also possess a deep group of tight end targets with returning starter Kenny Wright, Blake Smotherman, and Jack Walters.

THE BACKFIELD
The running back position takes a hit as the program's rushing GOAT, Michael Zeman, has graduated, but their room is by no means empty this season as Mines returns Zeman's 2022 backup Chris Yoo (269 yds, 5 TD), RMAC Freshman of the Year Landon Walker (220 yds, 3 TD) and veteran Konnor Mickelsen (61 yds, 1 TD), while also adding Dartmouth grad transfer Noah Roper and having redshirt freshman Braelon Tate available. 

VETERANS UP FRONT
One of Mines' strongest returning position groups is on the offensive line, where the Orediggers graduated Rimington Award winner Matty Armendariz at center, but return five players with starting experience and a number of experienced backups. All-American right tackle Levi Johnson and All-RMAC left tackle Nic Van de Graaf hold down the edges, and all-RMAC right guard Steele Petty moves to center while Zach Heckman and Caleb Marlatt, who split starts at left guard last year, each take a side in this year's lineup. In addition, Mines has veterans Preston Rose and Cole Johnson back, who each played a hybrid OL/TE role last year, as well as four of five backups on last year's final two deep.

WELL-AWARDED DEFENSE
Mines has eight defensive starters returning in 2023, and all eight earned all-RMAC honors last year: linemen Zach Hester and Kyle Bahnsen; linebackers Nolan Reeve, Adrian Moreno, and Hayden Gregg; and defensive backs Cam Forrest, Jaden Williams, and Logan Rayburn.

SACK LEADERS RETURN
Mines led all of college football - every division - in sacks last season with 71, and they came from all directions. This year, the Orediggers return 18 of the 20 players who had at least one sack last season, including leaders Nolan Reeve (13.5), Jack Peterson (9.0), and Jaden Healy (7.5). The defensive aggressiveness was especially on display in the postseason as Mines had 25 sacks in five games, including tying the NCAA Division II single-game playoff record with 10 in the first round against CSU Pueblo. 

GIMME THAT
Mines had one of the best turnover margins in the country last year at +19 (ranking third in D-II), and it was thanks to both sides of the ball. Offensively in 16 games, Mines had only eight interceptions and lost four fumbles, while defensively Mines led the nation recovering 18 fumbles and ranked 18th with 15 interceptions. Jaden Williams is the team's leading returning turnover generator coming off four picks and a fumble recovery last year, with nine other returning players earning the right to wear the Turnover Hardhat having either an interception or fumble recovery.

ON THE LINE
Nowhere was Mines' rotation-heavy defensive scheme more on display last year than on the line, where they lose only one starter in Cam Reller and return a senior-heavy group that has had significant reps over the past several seasons. End Zach Hester, nose Kyle Bahnsen, and tackle Jack Peterson led the way as Hester has 13.5 sacks over the past two seasons, Peterson had a breakout 12.5 TFL, 9.0-sack 2022, and Bahnsen established himself of as one of the nation's best run stuffers in the middle with 7.0 TFL and 2.5 sacks. The depth and experience behind them is significant, with seniors James Hess, Peyton Rose, Eb Alfred-Igbokwe, Josh Pollard, and Maxwell Nwokeukwu all contributing last year with redshirt sophomore Ethan Kremer starting the year as Bahnsen's backup before suffering a season-ending injury in the first game. 

EXPERIENCED LB ROOM RETURNS
Mines' linebacking corps has a similar story to the line with a rotation-experienced veteran group that also lost only one player from its two-deep in Mack Minnehan. Outside linebacker Nolan Reeve tied Mines' single-season sacks record with 13.5 in 2022 and has 32.5 in his decorated career, while starting middles Adrian Moreno and Hayden Gregg established themselves with a combined 108 tackles and 8.0 TFL last season. The depth is impressive; on the outside, Jaden Healy doesn't have a career start but had 47 tackles, 10.5 TFL, and 7.5 sacks last year with Evan Alexander producing 40/4.5/2.5, and Max Fecci worked into the two deep by the end of 2022 with 18 tackles. Inside returning experience includes Ben Fuchs (30/4.0/1.0) and Steve Street (19/3.5/3.0).

NO-FLY ZONE
A deep and experienced Mines secondary loses only one player from last year's two-deep, all-American corner Mason Pierce, who is now in the CFL. Corner Cam Forrest and strong safety Jaden Williams each have 34 career starts, with Williams' Mines leading active tackler at 178, and free safety Logan Rayburn had a breakout first season starting in 2022. All of the depth pieces return as well, with corners Jackson Zimmermann and Will Drogosch and safeties Collin Romero and Joel Diaz plus the returns off injury of seniors Nate Sutter and Blake Ramsey.

VERY SPECIAL
All three of Mines' key specialist starters return from 2022 with punter/kicker Jacob Click, kicker Matthew Eich, and long snapper Josh Wojciechowicz. Click and Eich split kicking duties last year combining for a 14-of-20 field goal percentage and 90-of-96 PATs; Click handled punts with an average of 38.5 yards and only 15 returnable punts in 61 tries. Backups Gabe Whipple and Blake Doud are also back and are competing for spots, and Mines adds former Virginia kicker Hunter Pearson.

BACK FOR MORE
With Mines electing not play a season in 2020, any player who was on the roster had their year of eligibility returned should they want to utilize it, and 22 players are doing so this season as the Orediggers will have one of the nation's most veteran rosters. Of that group, 17 are sixth-year seniors who entered in the recruiting class of 2018; the Orediggers' sixth-year players are marked on the roster (page 7-8) as "6-Sr." Zach Heckman, John Matocha, Logan Rayburn, and transfer Noah Roper are the only fifth-year seniors in their final seasons of eligibility as they each did not take a redshirt season.

2023 RULE CHANGES
There are several major rule changes for the 2023 college football season, most notably a change to not stop the game clock on first downs except when it's under two minutes in each half, and teams are no longer able to call consecutive timeouts. Two that will be big changes specific to Division II, however, are the adoption of instant replay for officials' review without having a booth replay official, and allowing true freshman to play in up to three games while maintaining their red shirt. After the replay rule was piloted by the MIAA last season, the RMAC is one of several D-II conferences to adopt instant replay this year with all reviews taking place on-field by the referee, and D-II now adopts the freshman rule already in place at the FBS and FCS levels.

BIG BRAIN SQUAD
Mines' 2022 team was recently honored as the RMAC's Brechler Award winner for holding the top team GPA in the conference last season. The Orediggers combined for a 3.21 GPA to win the award for the fourth time in the last decade. 

GET THAT SILVER
The 2023 Mines roster features 27 student-athletes who are already college graduates, including 23 with Mines silver-plated diplomas and two graduate transfers. All 27 are enrolled in master's programs at Mines in 2023-24, which marks an all-time high for the program. Ben Fuchs is already a double Mines graduate and is getting a second master's in chemical engineering; Mines also has four graduate transfers who earned bachelor's degrees from other universities.

OH BROTHER
The Mines roster sports three pairs of brothers this season, including one set of twins. The Rose twins, Peyton and Preston, are sixth-year seniors and play on opposite sides of the line as both have become impactful players over their Oredigger careers. Sixth-year offensive guard Caleb Marlatt and redshirt junior nose tackle Tyler Marlatt are another sibling pair facing each other in practice every day, while redshirt senior Blake Ramsey, who has played at both safety and linebacker, is joined by his younger brother Will, a redshirt freshman defensive back.

NEXT UP
Mines heads to #5 Angelo State in Week 2 for a second straight night game, visiting the Rams Sept. 9 with a 6 p.m. CT kickoff.