Colorado School of Mines (4-2-1, 2-1 RMAC) vs. South Dakota Mines (5-2, 3-2 RMAC) // Saturday, Oct. 24 // 12 p.m.
Alumni Field at Marv Kay Stadium - Golden, Colo.
[TV: The Spot Denver 3] [RMAC Network PPV] [Live Stats] [Tickets] [Mines Media Notes]

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On a four-game win streak, Colorado School of Mines tries to stay in the RMAC title hunt as they host South Dakota Mines in Week 8.

LIVE COVERAGE
This week's game will stream on the RMAC Network (pay-per-view) and simulcast on TV in the Denver metro on The Spot Denver 3 (KCDO). Miles Dunklin and Josh Dover have the call. 

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.

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

- Gates open at 10 a.m.
- Free shirts and hats will be available at Gates 1 and 2 for the first 500 fans courtesy of Canvas Credit Union.
- The Ore Cart Shuttles will run on game day for fans - visit the Parking page for more information.
- Fans are strongly encouraged to purchase digital tickets or print at home tickets ahead of time at tickets.minesathletics.com. Mines students and employees can access their free tickets by logging in with their Mines SSO.
- Gates and the tailgating lot open two hours before kickoff.
- 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. 
- The Kraemer Beer Garden in the McKee West End Zone will be open for all fans 21+. 

WEATHER REPORT
Saturday's forecast is for a high of 52 under mostly cloudy skies, with a 15% chance of an afternoon shower.

LEADING THE WAY
Mines will again select gameweek captains this season, with safety Joe Gonzales, defensive tackle Eli Krawczuk, receiver Pierce Richards, and tight end Blake Smotherman picked as captains for this week's game.

IN THE POLLS
For the second straight week, Mines received votes in this week's AFCA top-25 poll, upping their showing to eight votes. South Dakota Mines had received a vote in each of the last two AFCA polls but dropped out this week. In the preseason RMAC coaches' poll, Mines was selected third and South Dakota Mines seventh.

The first NCAA Power Index (NPI) rankings were announced this week, and Mines sits 14th in Super Region IV, which consists of the RMAC, Lone Star, MIAA, and GAC leagues. New for 2026, the NPI will ultimately determine the field for the postseason, with the top ranked teams filling out the eight-team regional bracket once automatic qualifiers are accounted for. Harding leads this week's NPI ahead of CSU Pueblo with Emporia State, Northwest Missouri State, Western Colorado, Central Washington, Central Missouri, and East Central rounding out the top eight. NPI takes into account winning percentage and strength of schedule, quality wins, and home/away weights, rewarding challenging schedules and road wins more so than in years past.

NOTING THE SERIES
The series between Colorado School of Mines and South Dakota Mines - the last two athletics-playing schools of mines in the United States - dates back to 1917, a 58-6 Orediggers win ... The two met sporadically after that but stopped the series for nearly 50 years after the 1949 game, not resuming until 1996 ... This will be the 27th meeting all-time ... The two have met every year since 2010, and since 2016 when South Dakota Mines became a full D-II and RMAC member ... Colorado School of Mines leads the all-time series 24-1.

THE RICHEST GAME IN D-II
This week's game has been touted as the "richest in Division II football" thanks to the high earning potential of graduates on both sides of the line of scrimmage. And it has nothing to do with NIL - according to the 2025 Payscale.com data, Colorado School of Mines graduates are #1 in NCAA Division II in both early career pay ($87,800) and mid-career pay ($165,700). South Dakota Mines ranks #3 in D-II at $79,800 and $131,500. Combined, that's upwards of $70 million per year in mid-career salary between the future graduates of the teams. 

LAST YEAR
Colorado School of Mines came away with a hard-nosed road win, defeating South Dakota Mines 24-14 in Rapid City last season. The Orediggers were led by Joseph Capra's three-touchdown day, while the defense allowed a season-low 14 points to the Hardrockers. Capra threw for 269 yards and three touchdowns, two of them to Nick Stone, while Aksel Richard had a then-career-high 104 yards receiving and Braelon Tate went off for 132 total yards and a receiving TD. Dawson Dunbar led SDM with 117 rushing yards and a touchdown, and Mason Galbreath caught seven passes for 123 yards and a score. Quarterback Gage Baker threw for 182 yards and a touchdown with an interception to William Brown.

LAST WEEK
Mines reclaimed the Nyikos Cup, beating Colorado Mesa on the road 31-24 last week. Joseph Capra threw for four touchdowns and Mines (4-2-1, 4-1 RMAC) held the ball nearly 36 minutes as they spoiled the Mavericks' (3-4, 2-3 RMAC) homecoming at Stocker Stadium. Pierce Richards caught two touchdowns with Caydon Coffman and Connor McGrath adding the other scores. Preston Kyle kicked Mines' longest field goal since 1973 with a 60-yarder to end the first half. Capra had his best performance of the season, going 25-for-32 for 278 yards and four touchdowns, and also rushing for 47 yards. The Oredigger defense held CMU to 297 total yards but their quarterback Cole Hansen had a bounceback second half to produce 202 yards and three touchdowns on 16-of-30 passing after being held to only 55 yards on four completions in the first half. Parker Johnson generated the game's only turnover early in the third quarter, forcing a fumble recovered by Mo Russolillo.

SCOUTING THE HARDROCKERS
South Dakota Mines comes into this week 5-2 overall and 3-2 in the RMAC, hoping to bounce back after a rivalry loss to Black Hills State, 21-13, in the 141st edition of the Black Hills Brawl. This season, the Hardrockers have scored 31.7 points per game on offense that's balanced nearly 50/50 between the run and pass. Quarterback Gage Baker has thrown for 1,348 yards and 11 touchdowns against only one interception, while also rushing for 184 yards; Dawson Dunbar has been the RMAC's most productive running backs with 718 yards and 11 touchdowns, both of which lead the league. Joshua Morales has been Baker's top target with 23 catches for 303 yards and five scores. Defensively, the Hardrockers allow 22.4 points per game and lead the RMAC - just in front of the Orediggers - in rushing defense at 85 yards per game. They also lead the league with 10 interceptions in seven games. Jarin Allen has three of those picks, while leading tackler Charlie Johnson has two interceptions and a fumble to go with 54 tackles. 

WELL REWARDED
Mines' win at Colorado Mesa resulted in a pair of weekly awards, with Joseph Capra winning the NFFCC Colorado Player of the Week, and Preston Kyle the Fred Mitchel Award Kicker of the Week honors. It's the second time Capra has won the NFFCC honor this season, while it's Kyle's first team being recognized.

DOUBLE DIGITS
With a 12-tackle day at Colorado Mesa last week, Luke Johnson became the fourth different Oredigger to record a 10+ tackle game this season. All three of Mines' starting linebackers - Johnson, Mo Russolillo, and Jack Mills - have done so, along with safety Joe Gonzales. This season's double-digit tackling games:

Mo Russolillo at Washburn - 11    
Jack Mills at CSU Pueblo - 12    
Joe Gonzales vs. Black Hills St. - 10    
Luke Johnson at Colorado Mesa - 12    

RUNNING OUT THE CLOCK
Mines held a nearly 12-minute time of possession advantage at Colorado Mesa (35:58 to 24:02), and nowhere was that more apparent than on the game's final drive to run out the clock. Taking over up a touchdown with 5:37 remaining, Mines ran the ball seven times - six times by Max Barnes and once by Joseph Capra - and generated five or more yards on six of those carries, making the three first downs necessary to set up victory formation. This season, Mines has averaged 32:05 of possession per game.

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 seventh nationally allowing 84.6 yards per game and only three rushing touchdowns in 2026. Over their past four games, they have not allowed less than 100 rushing yards in each game, and Mines has not allowed a rushing touchdown since Week 3 at CSU Pueblo.

BECKNER'S STREAK
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 had at least half a sack in every game since then, currently a five-game streak; in that span he has 13 total tackles, 5.0 tackles for loss, and 4.0 total sacks with three hurries. 

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 seven games. Johnson leads the team with 46 total tackles ahead of Russolillo (44) and Mills (40), with the unit combining for 8.5 tackles for loss, four pass break-ups, and three total turnovers.

GOLDEN LEG, PART I
Preston Kyle's 60-yard field goal at Colorado Mesa was a superlative kick, ranking not only as his career long, but also as the longest in NCAA Division II this season. In fact, Kyle's kick is tied for the longest in college football this year, along with UNLV's Ethan Schwartz - who did it this past weekend against Air Force - and Florida Atlantic's Collin Rogers, who did it against Navy in September. Kyle's previous career long was 56 yards against Washburn in 2025, and he attempted - and had the distance - on a 63-yarder at Washburn this year that would have bested Mike Flater's long-held program record of 62 yards set in 1973. This season, Kyle is the only D-II kicker with six 40+ yard field goals.

GOLDEN LEG, PART II
Kyle's field goal was impressive, but one of his most valuable contributions this season has been the consistency and depth of his kickoffs. In 2026, Kyle has put 36 of his 39 kickoffs into the end zone for touchbacks, leading NCAA Division II with a 92% touchback rate - and second place sits at 83%. Mines has allowed a national-low 37 kick return yards, and ranks second in net kickoff coverage at 12.33 yards per return.

GOLDEN LEG, PART III
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 48.5 yards per kick on 22 boots this season. LeSieur has put 10 inside the 20 and kicked nine over 50 yards this year against only three touchbacks; Mines ranks third nationally in net punting at 41.48 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. This season, Richards is Mines' leading receiver with 473 yards off 55 catches and five touchdowns.

NEXT UP
Mines visits Adams State on Halloween for a noon kickoff.