#2/2 Colorado School of Mines (1-0) at #4/6 Angelo State (1-0) // Saturday, Sept. 9 // 6 p.m. CT
Legrand Stadium - San Angelo, Texas
[LSC Digital Network (PPV)] [Live Stats] [Tickets] [Mines Media Notes]

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Coming off a statement win over #3/2 Grand Valley State to start the season, #2/2 Colorado School of Mines visits #4/6 Angelo State in another tough top-10 non-conference test.

LIVE COVERAGE
Saturday's game will stream live on the Lone Star Conference Digital Network, which costs $15 for a single game broadcast. 

MINES TAILGATE INFORMATION
Mines Alumni is hosting a Friday night pep rally for the Orediggers at the Moontower Saloon in Austin, and then a pregame tailgate on Saturday near the stadium. For more information and to register, visit the Mines Alumni site. 

WEATHER REPORT
Saturday's weather calls for extremely hot temperatures in San Angelo with a forecast for 101 degrees around kickoff at 6 p.m. and cooling into the upper 80s in the second half. Thankfully, very low humidity is forecast for Saturday. 

AT THE HELM
Head Coach Pete Sterbick won his first game in charge of the Orediggers last week 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. This week, Sterbick's counterpart will be Jeff Girsch, in his sixth season at Angelo State having elevated the Rams into a national power and consistent top-10 program with a 40-15 record in his tenure.

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. 

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.

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, PART I
Mines stayed at #2 in this week's AFCA Coaches' poll but did pick up a first-place vote for the first time in program history. In the D2football.com poll, Mines moved up two spots to its highest-ever showing at #2. Angelo State moved up one place to #4 in the AFCA poll and remained at #6 in the D2football.com Top 25. Both Mines and Angelo State were their conference's top picks in those preseason polls with the Orediggers leading the RMAC coaches' poll and the Rams the Lone Star Conference's. 

IN THE POLLS, PART II
This weekend's game will mark the first time in program history that Mines has played consecutive games against teams in the top five of the AFCA poll, with Grand Valley State at #3 last week and now Angelo State at #7. Mines also started last season against the same two teams in the top 10 - #5 for GVSU and #7 for Angelo State - and beat Angelo State later in the year when they were ranked #2.

LAST YEAR VS. ANGELO ST.
Mines met Angelo State twice in the 2022 season, avenging a regular-season loss by defeating the Rams in the NCAA national quarterfinals. Mines fell 30-27 in overtime to ASU on Sept. 10 in Golden, with the Rams scoring a late touchdown in regulation and then hitting Asa Fuller's 36-yard overtime field goal to win. The Angelo State defense held John Matocha to 13-of-26 passing for 167 yards and a touchdown. Mines flipped the script on Dec. 3 in San Angelo, however, pulling away 42-24 in a star-making performance by Matocha, who had six total touchdowns in the game. Matocha threw for four touchdowns on 161 yards and ran for 102 yards and two scores, with Tristan Smith catching three TDs. ASU quarterback Zach Bronkhorst threw for 323 yards and three TDs but turnovers were costly for the Rams with an opening-drive fumble and two muffed punts going to the Orediggers.

SCOUTING THE RAMS
Despite having to replace some key pieces in the offseason, Angelo State didn't skip a beat in Week 1 as they defeated West Alabama on the road 38-14. Trailing 14-10 at halftime, the Rams scored 28 unanswered points in the second half as they held UWA to only 196 total yards in the game. New quarterback Gerald Gardner threw for 292 yards and two touchdowns with a pair of interceptions, and a running back-by-committee approach yielded 159 yards and three scores on the ground. Offensive explosives were key for the Rams as they had second-half touchdowns of 34, 71, and 77 yards. The ASU defense had three picks thanks to Onyei Orupabo, Amieh Williams, and Kason McCullough-Cooper.

NOTING THE MINES-ANGELO SERIES
This will be the fourth meeting between Mines and Angelo State, all coming since December 2021 ... The Orediggers won each of the last Super Region IV finals against the Rams, and Angelo State won 30-27 in overtime in Week 2 of the 2022 season ... This will be Mines' second trip to San Angelo in five games, having also flown there for last year's national quarterfinal ... Mines and Angelo State originally had a home-and-home series slated for 2020 and 2021 that was cancelled due to the pandemic, and this is the second and last year of the current scheduling agreement ... Mines is 4-2 against the Lone Star Conference. 

DEEP IN THE HEART OF TEXAS
This week's game will only be Mines' second regular-season appearance - and fourth overall - in Texas in 92 years. After not visiting the Lone Star State since a date at Texas Tech in 1931, Mines played at West Texas A&M in 2021, then Angelo State in last year's NCAA quarterfinal and last year's national championship game in McKinney. Mines is not due back in Texas in the regular season until 2025, when they will have a Week 1 clash at West Texas A&M. The Orediggers sport 45 players on their roster hailing from Texas.

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 1 REWIND
Hunter Pearson's 41-yard field goal with two seconds remaining pushed #2 Mines past #3 Grand Valley State in a thrilling season opener. The Lakers came back from 28-7 down in the third quarter to tie the game on a Cade Peterson touchdown run with 36 seconds to go, but John Matocha marched the Orediggers 51 yards in 34 seconds to field goal range to win it in the closing seconds. Matocha unrolled 327 yards and two touchdowns on 27-of-41 passing while Peterson went for 294 yards, three total touchdowns, and rushed for 64 in a battle of two of the nation's top quarterbacks. Mines running backs Noah Roper and Landon Walker each had two-touchdown games, and Max McLeod caught 11 passes for 157 yards to lead all receivers. 

WEEK 1 QUICK HITS
Standouts from Week 1's win over Grand Valley State:

- John Matocha threw for 327 yards and two touchdowns and was interception free, marching Mines 51 yards in 34 seconds to set up the winning field goal.
- Landon Walker had 101 total yards and two touchdowns, and Noah Roper 79 total yards and two scores as the two running backs were versatile in both phases to spur Mines' offense.
- Max McLeod was targeted 16 times and caught 11 passes for 157 yards to cross 2,000 career yards.
- Flynn Schiele had four catches, with three coming on the final drive, for 49 yards in his first career start.
- Jaden Healy led the defense with two sacks among five tackles; he co-led the team in stops with Nolan Reeve, who also had a sack.
- Jackson Zimmermann had three pass break-ups and an interception in his first start at corner.
- Blake Doud had a monster punting night averaging 49.2 yards with six of six attempts put inside the 20.
- Hunter Pearson was 4-for-4 on PATs in addition to his game-winning 41-yard field goal.

WELL AWARDED
For their performances against Grand Valley State, punter Blake Doud and quarterback John Matocha were well-awarded earlier this week. Doud earned both the D2football.com national and RMAC special teams player of the week awards, and Matocha was named the RMAC offensive player of the Week. It's the first career honors for Doud, who becomes the first national specialist of the week since Austin Toussaint in 2019; for Matocha it's his 10th career RMAC honor in 33 regular-season starts.

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 37-6 since then and is now approaching several of fellow Harlon Hill winner Justin Dvorak's Mines and RMAC passing records, and is now 38 passing touchdowns away from ex-Shepherd and current Chicago Bears quarterback Tyson Bagent's NCAA D-II record:

Mines Career Passing Touchdowns            
1. Justin Dvorak (2013-16)        134        
2. John Matocha (2019-23)        121        
3. Chad Friehauf (2001-04)        84        

Mines Career Passing Yards                
1. Justin Dvorak (2013-16)        13,466        
2. John Matocha (2019-23)        11,035        
3. Chad Friehauf (2001-04)        9,873        

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 145 in his career:

NCAA Career Touchdowns Responsible For        
1. John Matocha (Mines)    145        
2. Austin Reed (Western Ky.)    140        
3. Braxton Plunk (Mount Union)    136        
4. Sam Hartman (Notre Dame)    134        

NCAA Career Touchdown Passes            
1. Braxton Plunk (Mount Union)    127        
2. John Matocha (Mines)    121        
3. Austin Reed (Western Ky.)    120        
4. Sam Hartman (Notre Dame)    116        

NCAA Career Total Offensive Yards            
1. Sam Hartman (Notre Dame)    14,281        
2. Austin Reed (Western Ky.)    13,118        
3. John Matocha (Mines)    12,577        
4. Bo Nix (Oregon)    12,509        

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 2K
Max McLeod became the latest Oredigger to reach 2,000 career receiving yards last week, catching 11 passes for 157 yards to become the 11th player in program history to reach the mark. McLeod, in only his junior-eligibility season, has 114 catches for 2,111 yards and 28 touchdowns in 31 career games. It was McLeod's fifth career 100+ yard game. 

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 Week 1 with the impressive emergence of Landon Walker and Noah Roper. Roper, a graduate transfer from Dartmouth, sparked the Orediggers in the first half with a pair of touchdowns - a hard-nosed three-yard run in the first quarter and then a 12-yard catch-and-run in the second - to compile 60 rushing yards and 79 total yards, and then Walker, the 2022 RMAC Offensive Rookie of the Year, kept it rolling in the second half with a 34-yard receiving touchdown and then a two-yard wildcat punch-in. Walker ended up with 46 rushing yards and 55 receiving yards in a 101-yard night. 

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. In Week 1 against Grand Valley State, they upped that rate even further hitting the Lakers five times. Jaden Healy accounted for two of those, both solo, while Nolan Reeve halved on two and Zach Hester and Will Drogosch also got into the action. 

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 continued in Week 1 as the Orediggers were +2 on an interception by Jackson Zimmermann and game-sealing fumble recovery by Jack Peterson, while the offense went turnover-free.

HEALY'S BIG NIGHT
Taking over the outside linebacker spot for his first career start last week, Jaden Healy didn't disappoint as he co-led Mines with five total tackles and a pair of solo sacks. The Allen, Texas redshirt junior has greatly enjoyed playing against GVSU the last two seasons; in last year's game, he compiled a career-high 10 total tackles with 1.5 sacks and a forced fumble to be the RMAC Defensive Player of the Week. In two career games against the Lakers, Healy went for 15 tackles and 3.5 sacks.

VERY SPECIAL
Week 1 was a showcase for Mines' specialists as the combination of kicker Hunter Pearson, punter Blake Doud, kickoff taker and holder Jacob Click, and long snapper Josh Wojciechowicz had flawless performances. For Pearson, a graduate transfer from the University of Virginia, it marked his first appearance in a collegiate game since 2018. The redshirt senior had struggled through injuries during his time at UVA and spent last year out of football entirely, working a job in Denver before walking on to the Mines team in early summer. Doud, in his collegiate debut, averaged a whopped 49.2 yards per punt and put all six inside the 20, three inside the 10, and two inside the 5 with a 10.3-yardline average starting position. Click had three touchbacks in six tries and GVSU's kick returners never got past the 22, and Wojciechowicz was perfect in 11 snaps. 

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 Monday, 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. 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.

BIG BRAIN SQUAD
In July, Mines' 2022 team was 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. 

NEXT UP
RMAC play begins at home with Mines hosting Adams State Sept. 16 at noon.