Colorado School of Mines (5-2-1, 5-1 RMAC) at Adams State (0-8, 0-6 RMAC) // Saturday, Oct. 31 // 12 p.m.
Rex Stadium - Alamosa, Colo.
[RMAC Network PPV] [Live Stats] [Tickets] [Mines Media Notes]

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Winners of five in a row, Colorado School of Mines hits the road to visit Adams State, hoping to keep pace with the top of the RMAC with three games remaining in the regular season.

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
It will be football weather in Alamosa with a kickoff temperature of 51 under partly cloudy skies and light winds.

LEADING THE WAY
Mines will again select gameweek captains this season, with defensive end Dom Caggiano, offensive tackle Ty Deppe, safety Will Ramsey, and tight end Blake Smotherman picked as captains for this week's game.

IN THE POLLS
For the third straight week, Mines received votes in this week's AFCA top-25 poll, staying steady at eight votes. In the preseason RMAC coaches' poll, Mines was selected third and Adams State 10th. The second NCAA Power Index (NPI) rankings were announced this week, and Mines rose one spot to 13th 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 Emporia State with CSU Pueblo, Western Colorado, Central Washington, Northwest Missouri State, Henderson State, and Central Missouri 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
This will be the 78th meeting between Mines and Adams State in a series dating back to 1947 ... Mines leads the series 39-36-2, taking the series lead in 2023 ... Mines had trailed in the series since 1964 but has won 12 straight over the Grizzlies ... The Orediggers hope to even the all-time series played in Alamosa, which ASU currently leads 18-17-1 ... Mines has won 12 in a row and 17 of the last 18 dating back to 2007 ... Bob Stitt is 13-2 against Adams State in his career ... The Orediggers have scored 40 or more points in each of their wins in the current winning streak, including last year's 72-14 win in Golden.

LAST YEAR
Mines rode an offensive explosion as they routed Adams State 72-14 in the 2025 season. The Orediggers generated 763 yards of total offense led by six first-half touchdown passes from Joseph Capra, with Mines leading the Grizzlies 49-14 at the break.Max Barnes ran for an impressive 201 yards and a touchdown while Pierce Richards caught three scores on 88 yards receiving. Capra, in only one half of play, was 14-of-18 for 226 yards and six touchdowns and ran for 67 yards. The Orediggers' ground game was dominant with 476 rushing yards, averaging 9.9 yards per attempt. Mines scored on all of its possessions save its final one, with 10 touchdowns and a Preston Kyle field goal in all.

LAST WEEK
Defense ruled the day as Colorado School of Mines outlasted South Dakota Mines, 17-10, at Marv Kay Stadium last week. In an old-school, smash-mouth football game between the RMAC's two best run defenses, the Orediggers (5-2-1, 5-1 RMAC) held on to win their fifth in a row despite being shutout in the second half by the Hardrockers (5-3, 3-3 RMAC). Both teams only just broke 200 yards of total offense as the Orediggers shut down the RMAC's leading rusher in SDM's Dawson Dunbar (46 yards) and held the Hardrockers to only 69 total rushing yards, while the Orediggers were equally held in check with only 88 yards on the ground and 120 in the air. Despite spending nearly 36 minutes on the field - including 22 just in the second half - the Oredigger defense held to generate three turnovers and three sacks. Will Ramsey had an interception and a forced fumble and Justin Vaughn had two key sacks to lead the defense, with both Mo Russolillo and Luke Johnson recording 10 tackles each. All 17 of Mines' points came in the second quarter as Joseph Capra ran for a score and then threw one to Tyson Mauck, and Preston Kyle hit a 50-yard field goal to end the half.

SCOUTING THE GRIZZLIES
Adams State has had a challenging season at 0-8 overall and are coming off a 59-12 loss to Colorado Mesa last week. Andre Branch has been a highlight of their offense, rushing for 619 yards and five touchdowns, while this week's listed starting quarterback Khalil Abdul-Aziz has thrown for 479 yards and four touchdowns against two interceptions in six games. Kayden LaFramboise is their leading receiver with three touchdown grabs among 282 yards overall. Defensively, the Grizzlies allow 59.3 points and 582.3 yards per game, with Zachary Ray leading them in tackles with 49. 

TRICK OR TREAT
This will be the 18th time Mines has played football on Halloween, and in recent times it's been more trick than treat for the Orediggers, who haven't won on Oct. 31 since 1992. However, Mines is 9-8 overall on Halloween, including a win in their only meeting against Adams State back in 1953 (20-7). 

FINISHED WHAT HE STARTED
Long snapper Josh Hildebrand achieved one of the rarest feats in football last week when he started and ended a play with the ball in his hands thanks to his first career fumble recovery during a punt return. Late in the first quarter, Hildebrand snapped to Lucas LeSieur, who boomed a 56-yard punt to South Dakota Mines' Jadon Lemmons; during the return, Lemmons was crunched by Mason Dickerson and Aaron Gall to force the ball out, and a pursing Hildebrand ended up with it on the bottom of the pile. It was one of three Oredigger turnovers gained in the game.

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

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

INSTANT IMPACT
After missing the first six games of the season, defensive end Justin Vaughn has had an impactful last two games, returning with a tackle and half a sack at Colorado Mesa, and then coming up big with two sacks, a hurry, and three tackles last week against South Dakota Mines. In his first career start against the Hardrockers, Vaughn had one drive-stopping third-down sack in the second quarter, then his second in a pivotal spot of the fourth quarter to back SDM up at midfield on the way to a game-ending turnover on downs.

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

WHATEVER IT TAKES
Starting at one position is hard enough. Two? Really difficult. But Mines offensive lineman Tyson Kestner has now racked up four different starting positions, including three just this season after his start at right guard last week. Kestner has 16 career starts, with 11 at left tackle (all in 2025), three at left guard, one at right tackle, and one at right guard.

TWICE AS NICE
Safety Will Ramsey came up big for the Oredigger defense against South Dakota Mines, keying two of Mines' three turnovers in the game. Ramsey came up with an interception in the third quarter, then had the game-ending forced fumble with a hit on an offensive lineman on SDM's last-gasp lateral play attempt.  Ramsey is the first Oredigger to record two total turnovers in a game since former secondary-mate Joel Diaz had two picks against CSU Pueblo in 2025.

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 the same day 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. Kyle also hit from 50 last week against South Dakota Mines and has seven field goals of 40 yards or longer this season.

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 39 of his 42 kickoffs into the end zone for touchbacks, leading NCAA Division II with a 92.8% touchback rate. Mines has allowed a national-low 37 kick return yards, and ranks third 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 48.7 yards per kick on 27 boots this season. LeSieur has put 11 inside the 20 and kicked 11 over 50 yards this year against only three touchbacks; Mines ranks second nationally in net punting at 42.25 ypp.

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.

NEXT UP
Mines visits unbeaten Western Colorado on Nov. 7.