Colorado School of Mines (3-2-1, 3-1 RMAC) at Colorado Mesa (3-3, 2-2 RMAC) // Saturday, Oct. 17 // 1 p.m.
Stocker Stadium - Grand Junction, Colo.
[RMAC Network PPV] [Live Stats] [Tickets] [Mines Media Notes]

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The Nyikos Cup is on the line as Colorado School of Mines heads across the Rockies to face Colorado Mesa in the 50th all-time meeting between the rivals.

LIVE COVERAGE
This week's game will stream on the RMAC Network (pay-per-view).

RMAC NETWORK 
The RMAC Network continues to have a pay-per-view model for all events. Fans can purchase monthly and annual subscriptions that will provide them access to all regular-season, championship, and archived broadcasts on the RMAC Network. A monthly subscription costs $25, and an annual subscription costs $130. Single-game passes are available for $12.50, which grants access to a single game for 24 hours. For technical support questions, fans can contact Hudl Support or email the RMAC directly (rmac@rmacsports.org). For further support, fans can visit the RMAC Network Help page.

WEATHER REPORT
Saturday should be a perfect fall day for football with a high of 68 under sunny skies in Grand Junction.

LEADING THE WAY
Mines will again select gameweek captains this season, with safety Joe Gonzales, center Patrick Mologne, defensive end Christian Peluse, and tight end Blake Smotherman picked as captains for this week's game.

IN THE POLLS
For the first time since preseason, Mines received a vote in this week's AFCA top-25 poll. In the preseason RMAC coaches' poll, Mines was selected third and Colorado Mesa fifth.

NOTING THE SERIES
Mines and Colorado Mesa are meeting for the 50th time ... The two have met every year since 1977 save for the canceled 2020 season ... The series has been very competitive in recent years with Mesa leading 6-4 ... The Orediggers won the first meeting 21-7 in 1975 ... Grand Junction has been a tough place to play with CMU holding a 19-7 all-time series lead, but the two have split their last four meetings there.

LAST YEAR
Colorado Mesa retained the Nyikos Cup, using a last-minute comeback to stun Colorado School of Mines 28-24 at Marv Kay Stadium. The Mavericks scored with 11 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter to take the lead after Mines hit a late go-ahead field goal. CMU had an outstanding ground game to rush for 369 yards, while Mines  was more balanced as Joseph Capra threw for 216 yards and two touchdowns, and he and Braelon Tate combined for 163 rushing yards. Brandon Belgrave accounted for 209 yards and two touchdowns on the ground with another in the air, and Aiden Taylor ran for 110 yards. CMU ran the ball 49 times to only 20 passes, most of which came on their final drive. Capra ended 22-of-28 for 216 yards passing, with Pierce Richards collecting a career-high 10 catches for 77 yards. Tate wound up with 75 yards and a touchdown.

LAST WEEK
Before the bye week, Mines cruised in a 38-13 win over Black Hills State at Marv Kay Stadium, combining defense with a stout ground attack to shut the Yellow Jackets down. Max Barnes ran for 147 yards and two touchdowns to lead an Oredigger (3-2-1, 3-1 RMAC) offense that had 276 yards overall on the ground, while Mines' defense had another outstanding performance to limit the Yellow Jackets (4-2, 2-2 RMAC) to only 224 total yards and 3-of-15 on third down. Pierce Richards and Braelon Tate caught touchdown passes from Joseph Capra, and Mitch Jensen punctuated the win with an 83-yard scoring run late in the fourth quarter. Capra was 22-of-30 for 199 yards, while Mines did well to contain BHSU's dual-threat quarterback Kade Weber, who was sacked twice and constantly put under pressure rushing for 39 yards while going 17-for-32 for 161 yards in the air.

FOR THE NYIKOS CUP
The winner of the Mines-Mesa game gets to keep the Nyikos Cup to go with the bragging rights for the next year. The alumni associations of the two universities established the cup in 2010 in honor of Dr. Michael Nyikos, who was Vice President of Institutional Advancement at Mesa, as well as Vice President of Student Affairs and External Relations at Mines. In February 2002 Dr. Nyikos was appointed to the Mines Board of Trustees, and reappointed in March 2006. He served as Chairman of the Board, and was also a member of the Board of the Mines Foundation until his death in February 2009. The Orediggers have won it nine times to CMU's six.

SCOUTING THE MAVERICKS
Colorado Mesa is 3-3 overall and 2-2 in RMAC play, coming off a 30-20 win over Chadron State before the bye week. All three of their losses have come to AFCA top-10-ranked teams. Offensively, CMU scores 26 points per game as the quarterback duo of Liu Aumavae and Cole Hansen have thrown for 1,047 yards and nine touchdowns, and Hansen is also a mobile option with two touchdowns and 152 rushing yards. Bronco Hartson (259 yards, 4 TD) and Jalen Hankins (220 yards, 2 TD) are their featured backs, while Trek Keyworth is their leading receiver with 256 yards and two touchdowns. Defensively, CMU allows 28.5 points per game with leading tackler La'Markus Reed producing 66 stops and 5.5 for loss; Noah Williams leads the team with 6.5 tackles for loss and 4.0 sacks plus a pair of fumble recoveries.

BYE BYE BYE
The entire RMAC is coming off a bye in Week 6, the first time the league has set up a mandatory week off under a new schedule rotation that began this year. It was the Orediggers' first bye week since the 2023 season when they skipped the first week of the NCAA playoffs as the #1 seed; Mines had not had a regular-season bye since the 2010 season.

BARNES, RUN GAME GET GOING
After keying Mines' win over Black Hills State, Max Barnes was named the NFFCC Colorado Player of the Week on Oct. 6. Barnes ran for 147 yards and touchdowns of 49 and 37 yards, averaging a healthy 9.2 yards per carry. Barnes now has back-to-back 100-yard games and season totals of 438 yards yards and two touchdowns on 87 carries. The Mines run game as a whole has averaged 217 yards per contest over their last three outings, versus 105 yards over their first three. 

GO LONG
Running back Mitch Jensen had a first touchdown to remember against Black Hills State, providing not only a fourth-quarter punctuation to the Homecoming win, but giving Mines its longest play of the year. With 2:15 remaining in the game, Jensen got a block on the edge and took full advantage, outrunning his pursuers 83 yards to the end zone for the score.

SHOW STOPPERS
Under first-year defensive coordinator Scott McLaughlin, the Orediggers' front seven has been one of the most improved in the nation and it's shown in the defensive run game, with Mines ranking eighth nationally allowing 82.8 yards per game and only three rushing touchdowns in 2026. Over their past three games, they have allowed only 75 cumulative net rushing yards, sacking Fort Lewis into -27 total yards, giving up just 39 at Chadron State, and then stopping Black Hills State for 63. Mines has not allowed a rushing touchdown since Week 3 at CSU Pueblo.

BECKNER'S BACK
The Mines defense was lifted by the return of sixth-year senior edge Joey Beckner against CSU Pueblo, playing in a game for the first time since the end of the 2024 season. Beckner, who had missed 13 games across the last two seasons due to injury, has been a terror since his return, carrying a four-game sack streak into the Colorado Mesa game with 10 tackles, 4.5 TFL, 3.5 sacks, and three hurries in that span. 

BLOCK PARTY
David Baba's block of a Chadron State field goal was the Orediggers' second kick block of the season after Jack Mills got to a PAT at Washburn. Baba's block was  a rare feat, however, marking the Orediggers' first blocked field goal since the 2022 seasonwhen Kyle Bahnsen stopped one in the NCAA playoffs against Minnesota State.

LINEBACKERS LEAD THE WAY
Mines has had the same three starters at linebacker all season, and the trio of Mo Russolillo, Jack Mills, and Luke Johnson have been consistent leaders for the defense as they top the tackling numbers for the Orediggers through six games. Russolillo leads the team with 39 total tackles ahead of Mills and Johnson at 34 and 32, respectively, and they have combined for 8.0 tackles for loss as a unit.

HE DOESN'T SKIP LEG DAY
Returning all-American punter Lucas LeSieur has dipped below the minimum number of punts per game to be nationally ranked, but would lead the nation easily in punt average this week as he's averaged 48.0 yards per kick on 18 boots this season. LeSieur has put nine inside the 20 and kicked seven over 50 yards this year against only two touchbacks; Mines ranks fourth nationally in net punting at 42.0 ypp.

RICHARDS SETS CATCHES RECORD
Receiver Pierce Richards had a monster start to 2026, breaking the Mines program record for receptions against Western Oregon in Week 0. Richards, a redshirt junior, hauled in 18 catches on 21 targets for a career-high 153 yards and a touchdown. He had an impressive 131 yards after catch, including all of 39 yards on his second-quarter touchdown catch from Joseph Capra. Richards had the most receptions in the RMAC since 2009 and broke the Mines record of 16 that had been co-held by David Pawelek and Jerrod Doucet since 2012. 

NEXT UP
Mines returns home to host South Dakota Mines on Oct. 24 at noon.