Photo courtesy Washburn Athletics
TOPEKA, Kan. - Yes, there can still be ties in college football.
Colorado School of Mines and Washburn battled through sweltering conditions at Yager Stadium on Saturday, but in the end only the heat won as they finished their game 16-16 after four quarters.
The game was headed to overtime when it stopped by the MIAA's extreme-heat rules at around 11:30 a.m. local time, after the kickoff of the game was moved to 9 a.m. to try and beat the forecast for triple-digit temperatures in Topeka.
It was an ending neither team wanted after a see-saw second half saw Mines (0-0-1) dominate for stretches before the Ichabods (1-0-1) came back to tie in the closing minutes.
Nick Stone produced a career game with nine catches for 125 yards and a touchdown, and
Max Barnes got going with 83 rushing yards to lead all players on the ground.
Joseph Capra completed 21-of-33 passes for 214 yards and a touchdown, while also rushing for 32 yards, and counterpart Logan Madden was 20-for-35 for 268 and two scores. Nathan Lewis Jr. had both of Washburn's touchdowns in a game-leading 141-yard day.
Both teams scored on their opening drives, with Washburn starting hot thanks to Lewis' 28-yard catch from Madden and Mines settling for a 43-yard
Preston Kyle field goal to make it 7-3.
The score would stay that way until the end of the first half with missed Oredigger opportunities including two missed field goals and a
Jackson Harmon fumble recovery leading to no more points for the visitors. Washburn ultimately put points on the board with a 26-yard Aidan Battle chip-shot field goal to end the second quarter, taking a 10-3 lead to the break.
A refocused Mines had a great start to the second half, scoring first thanks to a spectacular leaping touchdown catch by Stone to make it 10-10, and then taking the lead when Kyle drilled a 43-yarder at the end of the third quarter.
The Oredigger defense began piling up stops, and Kyle extended the lead on a 29-yard field goal after a punishing seven-minute drive in the fourth quarter made it 16-10 with 5:37 to go. Washburn, however, managed to score on a breakout play just inside the two-minute warning with Lewis streaking 47 yards for a touchdown to tie the game at 16. Another consequential special teams play followed as
Jack Mills crashed through the line to block the PAT, and Kyle had the distance but just missed a would-be game-winning field goal from 64 yards at the buzzer.
At that point, the game appeared headed to overtime but was suspended under MIAA rules due to the extreme heat. After lengthy discussion between the teams and officials, the game was declared complete with a final score of 16-16 in line with NCAA rules on suspended games.
NOTABLES
- It was the first tie for the Orediggers since the overtime era began, with Mines and New Mexico Highlands knotting at 13-13 in 1994. College football introduced overtime for the 1996 season.
- The game was stopped due to an MIAA rule stipulating that any wet bulb temperature above 92.1 will cause a contest to be suspended until it falls to a safe temperature. With the forecast calling for extreme heat past sunset in Topeka, the two teams mutually agreed to end the game in a tie. The heat index at the time of suspension was 107 degrees.
- Due to the forecast, the game had one of the earliest kickoffs in Mines history, starting at 9:05 a.m. local time. In the 80s at the start of the game, the heat index rose to top 100 by the fourth quarter.
- Mines dominated the time of possession with 36:06 on offense. The Orediggers went 2-for-2 on fourth downs to extend drives as they recorded 361 yards of total offense.
- Stone had his second career 100+ yard receiving game as he set a new career high with 125 yards off nine catches.
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Mo Russolillo led all Orediggers with a career-high 11 tackles, including one for loss.
Jacob Sanders had Mines' lone sack.
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Dominic Caggiano forced the first-half fumble recovered by Harmon, and
Christian Peluse also forced a fumble picked back up by Washburn.
- Washburn was held to 344 yards of offense and only 76 net yards on the ground.
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Lucas LeSieur was a weapon in the punting game, averaging 42.5 yards epr punt and putting three of his four inside the 20, including one downed at the 1 by
Connor Cade.
- It was the first tie in Mines' series with Washburn that dates back to 1953. The Ichabods lead 13-7-1 all-time.
NEXT UP
Mines begins RMAC play at CSU Pueblo next Saturday with a 2 p.m. kickoff.
