#2 Colorado School of Mines (2-0) vs. Adams State (1-1) // Saturday, Sept. 16 // 12 p.m.
Alumni Field at Marv Kay Stadium, Golden, Colo.
[TV: KCDO Local3] [RMAC Network] [Live Stats] [Tickets] [Mines Media Notes]

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Now 2-0 after consecutive wins over top-10 opponents, #2 Colorado School of Mines returns home to open RMAC play against Adams State in Week 3.

LIVE COVERAGE
Mines Football will be televised on its new home for the first time this week as the game will air live on KCDO Local3 in Colorado, and stream for free on the RMAC Network. Miles Dunklin and Josh Dover 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 10 a.m.
- Tailgating is permitted in Lot K only (next to Stermole Soccer Stadium, $10). 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. 
- The New Terrain Beer Garden in the McKee West End Zone will be open for all fans 21+. 

WEATHER REPORT
Saturday looks to be a beautiful day for football with sunny skies and a high around 73. 

AT THE HELM
Head Coach Pete Sterbick has won his first two games 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. Adams State is led by third-year head coach Jarrell Harrison, who has his Grizzlies off to a 1-1 start this season.

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.

MINES SIGNS NEW TELEVISION DEAL
Mines Football has a new television home for the rest of the 2023 season, announcing a deal with KCDO Local3 in Denver earlier this week. All five remaining RMAC home games will be carried live on Local3 as well as streamed on the RMAC Network. 

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 stayed at #2 in both major polls this week, tying their best showings in program history in both the AFCA and D2football.com rankings. Mines did pick up an additional first-place vote in the AFCA poll as they trail Ferris State in both. In the conference poll announced in August, Mines was selected atop the RMAC preseason coaches' poll, with Adams State checking in at #9.

QUAD SQUAD
With RMAC play beginning this week, the Orediggers hope to continue one of the most dominant runs in conference history as they seek their fifth consecutive RMAC crown. The Orediggers have won either an outright or shared title each year since 2018 (no championship was awarded in 2020), going 36-2 in that span against the RMAC. 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).

NO PLACE LIKE HOME
Marv Kay Stadium is a tough place to play, and that's especially true against conference foes; Mines has not lost a home RMAC game since 2016. The Orediggers are 31-2 all-time against the RMAC since Marv Kay Stadium opened in 2015, and have won 27 straight since that 2016 loss, a span of 2,555 days.

LAST YEAR VS. ADAMS ST.
Mines routed Adams State, 84-10, on the road last season, averaging 9.1 yards per play on 637 total offensive yards, while limiting ASU to just 231 yards of total offense and no points in the second half. Michael Zeman ran 20 times for 147 yards and three touchdowns, while John Matocha had an efficient 16-for-20, 211-yard, four-touchdown game in just a little over a half of play. Max McLeod had five catches for 85 yards, and Landon Walker had his first breakout performance with two second-half touchdowns for 130 rushing yards. Mason Pierce and Jackson Zimmermann had interceptions.

SCOUTING THE GRIZZLIES
Adams State is 1-1, beating Lincoln (Calif.) 35-16 in Week 1 before losing to West Texas A&M 28-7 last week. ASU made a quarterback change last week with Connor Underhill starting and throwing for 110 yards, a touchdown, and an interception against WT. Daylen Boddie has had a solid start to the season as their feature back with 160 yards and two touchdowns, and Aaron Johnson (111 yds, 1 TD) and Kentrell Petite (82 yds, 2 TD) lead the receivers. Defensively ASU is allowing 346 yards per game, and they are led individually by Daniel Mendoze, who has 22 total tackles, 3.0 for a loss, and a sack. Edward McClendon and Je'quari Godfrey each have interceptions. 

NOTING THE MINES-ADAMS ST. SERIES
This will be the 75th meeting between Mines and Adams State in a series dating back to 1947 ... The series is tied 36-36-2 ... Mines had trailed in the series since 1964 but has won nine straight over the Grizzlies to tie it ... The all-time series is close no matter how you slice it: ASU leads 34-32-2 in RMAC play, Mines leads 20-18-1 in Golden ... Mines has won nine in a row and 14 of the last 15 dating back to 2007 ... The Orediggers have scored 40 or more points in each of their wins in the current nine-game winning streak, including last year's 84-10 win that was the most lopsided score in either direction in the series' history.

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.

WEEK 2 REWIND
Mines scored 21 points in the fourth quarter and rallied back from a 14-3 halftime deficit to defeat #4/6 Angelo State, 31-21, on the road in Texas last week. The Orediggers ground out a punishing win, with Landon Walker and Noah Roper combining for 119 yards and three rushing touchdowns (all in the second half) and John Matocha hitting Max McLeod on a stunning one-play, 84-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter to take the lead for good. Mines' second-half turnaround saw them limit the Rams to just a single score early in the fourth quarter while finding the end zone four times, including Walker's 38-yard dagger in the final minute to deny ASU of a comeback opportunity. 

WEEK 2 QUICK HITS
Standouts from Week 2's win at Angelo State:

- John Matocha went 17-for-34 for 245 yards and a touchdown while also running for 19 net yards.
- Max McLeod hauled in six receptions for 147 yards, and his 84-yard touchdown put Mines ahead for good in the fourth quarter.
- Landon Walker rushed for 66 yards and two touchdowns, and Noah Roper had Mines' first end zone trip in a 53-yard night.
- Flynn Schiele had 50 yards and 50 catches and Nick Stone 33 on three.
- Evan Alexander snagged a key second-half interception with a 31-yard return to set up Walker's touchdown to open the fourth quarter.
- Will Drogosch made his first career start at corner and had a team-high 6 tackles.
- Jack Peterson had 1.5 TFL among 4 tackles including half a sack.
- Eb Alfred-Igbokwe was involved in both of Mines' sacks in the game.
- Blake Doud continued his breakout start to the season averaging 51 yards on seven punts including a career-long 77-yarder.
- Hunter Pearson hit a first-half field goal from 30 yards.

WELL AWARDED
For the second straight week, Mines had a pair of RMAC Player of the Week awards as Max McLeod took home the offensive honor and Blake Doud repeated as specialist of the week, and for a second straight week Doud also earned the D2football.com National Specialist of the Week award. McLeod earned the first of his career with a six-catch, 147-yard, 1-touchdown game that included Mines' longest play of the year with an 84-yard score. Doud booted seven punts for an average of 51 yards, and had two downed at the 1-yardline including one late in the fourth quarter to pin back Angelo State in a one-score game. Doud is the first Mines player at any position to earn two straight D2football.com weekly honors.

MATOCHA MAGIC
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 38-6 since then and is now approaching several of fellow Harlon Hill winner Justin Dvorak's Mines and RMAC passing records, and is now 37 passing touchdowns away from ex-Shepherd and current Chicago Bears quarterback Tyson Bagent's NCAA D-II record. Matocha is also at the top or close to the top of several NCAA all-division categories, and leads all of college football in touchdowns responsible for with 146 in his career:

HARLON HILL HISTORY
Matocha's win in the 2022 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 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.

MAX MOVES UP
Max McLeod became the latest Oredigger to reach 2,000 career receiving yards in Week 1, and last week he cracked the Mines all-time top-10 in receiving yards as he stands at 2,258 in three seasons. McLeod is also now tied for fifth in career touchdown catches at 29. Through two games, McLeod's 304 receiving yards is second among receivers in NCAA Division II.

TWO-HEADED MONSTER
One of the biggest offseason questions for Mines was at running back after the graduation of all-time leading rusher Michael Zeman, but that question was answered in the first two weeks with the impressive emergence of Landon Walker and Noah Roper, who have nearly identical numbers through two games. Roper, a graduate transfer from Dartmouth, has 113 yards and two touchdowns (plus 24 yards and another receiving TD) while Walker, the 2022 RMAC Offensive Rookie of the Year, has 112 yards rushing with three scores and also owns a receiving TD on 55 yards in the air. The duo have been a key receiving outlet for John Matocha, having seven combined catches. 

RIGHT WHERE THEY LEFT OFF
Mines led all of college football - every division - in sacks last season with 71, averaging 4.4 quarterback visits per game. The Orediggers have been just as relentless early this season with seven sacks with six different players getting hits in so far. Jaden Healy leads Mines with 2.0 sacks and Nolan Reeve and Eb Alfred-Igbokwe each have 1.5.

REEVE LEADS THE WAY
Nolan Reeve enters Week 2 as college football's active leader in sacks, compiling 34 in his career to lead all divisions of the NCAA. Reeve still has work to get to Mines' career record, held by former Jacksonville Jaguar and all-American Marc Schiechl at 46.0, but Reeve has compiled double-digit sacks in each of the last two seasons, including tying Schiechl's single-season mark of 13.5 last year. Reeve also ranks third among active D-II players in tackles for loss with 42.5.

VERY POSITIVE
Mines had one of the best turnover margins in the country last year at +19 (ranking third in D-II), and the trend has continued this season as the Orediggers are +3 on an interception by Jackson Zimmermann and game-sealing fumble recovery by Jack Peterson against Grand Valley State, and Evan Alexander's interception at Angelo State. The offense has been turnover-free this season. 

BIG BOOT
Punter Blake Doud has certainly impressed through his first two career games, earning back-to-back RMAC Special Teams Player of the Week awards and the D2football.com National Specialist of the Week honor after the Grand Valley State game. With 13 punts, he is averaging a D-II-leading 52.0 yards per punt (which would be tied for sixth in FBS), has put nine of the 13 inside the 20, and hit seven punts over 50 yards including a career-high 77-yarder last week at Angelo State. The entire Mines punt unit has been outstanding, most notably in getting down the field to down balls - the Orediggers have had three punts downed at the 1 this season, including a couple of acrobatic stops by Evan Perilloux.   

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.

PRODIGGER
Former all-American cornerback Mason Pierce made his professional debut on Labor Day, earning a call up from the Toronto Argonauts' practice squad to make four tackles in the Argos' 41-28 win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. He was again in the lineup last weekend against Montreal, making a pair of stops. Pierce, who signed with the Argos back in the spring, was a captain on the 2022 Orediggers squad and had 180 career tackles with six interceptions and a program-record 53 passes defended.

NEXT UP
Mines heads to #22/21 CSU Pueblo in Week 4 for a 2 p.m. kickoff on Sept. 23.