2002 Colorado School of Mines Football
(5-4 Overall, 2-4 RMAC)
Week #10 Notes - at Adams State (5-4 Overall, 4-2 RMAC)

THE HEAD COACHES: Bob Stitt (Doane College ‘86) is in his third season at the helm of the Oredigger football program. He claims an overall record of 14-16, including a 7-15 mark in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. A year ago, Stitt coached CSM to a 7-4 mark, which marked the most wins for a football team at Mines since 1958 and the first winning season in Golden since 1991. Adams State is led by third-year Head Coach Wayne McGinn. During his time in Alamosa, McGinn claims a record of 10-20 and is 21-41 in his career as a head coach.

ALL-TIME SERIES: Adams State leads the all-time series with CSM, 35-18-2, which dates back to the 1935 season when Mines defeated ASC, 26-0.

NEXT WEEK: The Orediggers will travel to Western State for a 1:00 pm game. It will be the season finale for Mines.

TAKE IT TO THE HOUSE: Senior wide receiver/kick returner Brian Sump recorded his sixth career touchdown off a return with a 45-yard punt return for a touchdown in the victory over South Dakota Tech. He now has five career kickoff returns for touchdowns and one career touchdown off a punt return. Last season, Sump set an NCAA Division II record as he returned four kickoffs for touchdowns, including one against Adams State.

TAKE IT TO THE HOUSE PART DEUX: Sophomore wide receiver/return specialist Jonny Chan has returned two kickoffs for touchdowns this season. On Oct. 12, Chan took one 100 yards in a loss at Nebraska-Keraney. Two weeks later, he opened the game with a 97 yard kickoff return for a touchdown.

LAST TIME OUT (11/2/02): The Colorado School of Mines football team dropped to 5-4 overall and 2-4 in the conference following a 35-30 loss to Mesa State in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action on Saturday afternoon at Brooks Field. Mines jumped out to a 14-0 lead midway through the first quarter as sophomore quarterback Chad Friehauf tossed a pair of touchdowns to wide receivers Andrew Schmid and Cole Henderson. After Mesa sliced its deficit to 14-7 on a two-yard scoring run by Alfonso Alfini with 2:10 left in the first quarter, CSM gained a 17-7 lead on a 22 yard field goal by redshirt freshman Scott Hahn with 11:00 left in the first half. The Orediggers extended their lead to 24-7 as Friehauf threw his third touchdown pass of the half, this one a nine-yard strike to Schmid. However, the Mavericks scored the next 28 points of the game over the second, third and fourth quarters to claim a 35-24 lead on a 25 yard touchdown run by quarterback Jeff Mowry with 11:20 remaining in the game. CSM managed to cut its deficit to 35-30 when senior quarterback Nate Jackson hooked up with senior wide receiver Brian Sump with 2:01 left in the game. The ensuing onside kick was recovered by the Mavericks and they proceeded to run out the clock to preserve the victory. Friehauf and Jackson were a combined 19-of-35 for 241 yards and four scores, while sophomore running back Craig Van Horn toted the ball 11 times for 90 yards. The Mines defense had four players in double digits for tackles, led by senior free safety Matt Oliver who registered a career-high 17 stops.

LAST TIME VS. ADAMS (10/27/01): Colorado Mines jumped out to a 48-0 halftime lead in defeating Adams State, 52-14, at Brooks Field. Brian Sump opened the game with a 94 yard kickoff return for a touchdown, while Nate Jackson threw three touchdown passes to Dayven Johnston in the second quarter. Jackson finished the game 13-of-24 for 235 yards and three touchdowns and also ran for a score, while Johnston and Sump each surpassed the 100 yard receiving mark in the win.

THANK YOU, VERY MUCH: The Oredigger defense has come up with at least one interception in each of the first nine games this season, including a season-high three at Western New Mexico on Sept. 21. As a team, Mines ranks second in the RMAC with 12 picks, while sophomore cornerback Grant Newton is ranked second in the conference with five picks.

FIVE DOWN ONE TO GO: The CSM football team has not compiled back-to-back winning seasons in more than 25 years. In fact, the last time it happened was 1975 and 1976 when the 1975 squad posted a 6-4 record and the 1976 team followed with a 5-4 record. After a 7-4 record last season, Mines needs one win in its final two games to assure itself of a winning season in 2002.

13 OVER 2: The CSM football team has not won a total of 13 games over a two season span since the 1912-13 seasons. One win in the final two games will give Mines 13 wins over the 2001-02 seasons. In addition, no CSM teams have earned 14 victories over a two season span meaning with two more wins this season, the 2001-02 squads will be the first teams in Mines football history to record 14 victories over a two season span.

RECORD SETTER: With his three TD receptions at Western New Mexico, senior wide receiver Brian Sump broke the school record for career touchdown receptions and now has 24 for his career. In addition, Sump is just 6 catches shy of breaking the CSM record for career receptions (145). In all, Sump claims 21 game, season and career records as an Oredigger.

JUST IN CASE: True freshman wide receiver Justin Gallas has been prepared to step in in case one of the starting wide receivers went down this season. Such was the instance against New Mexico Highlands on Oct. 26 when Gallas started in place of an injured Oredigger receiver and responded with career-highs in receptions (10) and receiving yards (133). He also caught his first career collegiate touchdown, a 33 yarder.

STICK A FORK IN IT: In CSM’s Oct. 19 game at Fort Lewis, the two teams combined for 13 fumbles. Mines fumbled the ball six times and lost two, while the Skyhawks committed seven fumbles and lost four. CSM also threw one interception, while FLC quarterbacks threw two interceptions as Mines forced six turnovers in the game.

FOURTH QUARTER DOMINANCE: Colorado Mines has outscored its opponents, 94-38, in the final quarters of games this season. In fact, Mines has blanked four of its opponents in the final stanza, while holding three others to seven points each. On Oct. 26, Mines limited New Mexico Highlands to just four first downs and 98 total yards in the second half.

NO SOPHOMORE SLUMP HERE: Sophomore strong safety Daniel Leger leads the RMAC with 89 tackles this season, an average of 9.9 stops per game. In addition, Leger, an Honorable Mention All-RMAC pick as a true freshman last season, has contributed eight tackles for loss, eight pass deflections, four sacks, two interceptions and two fumble recoveries this season. Against Fort Hays State, Leger scored his first career touchdown as he returned a fumble 40 yards to the end zone.

FOR ALL-PURPOSES: Colorado Mines claims two of the top all-purpose yardage players in the conference. Sophomore Jonny Chan leads Mines with 1,087 all-purpose yards in eight games this season, an average of 135.9 ypg. Meanwhile, senior Brian Sump has totaled 937 all-purpose yards in seven games this season and is averaging 133.9 ypg. The duo is ranked second in third in the RMAC in all-purpose yards.

“THE VAN”: In Pittsburgh, the Steelers have Jerome Bettis, also known as “The Bus”, to run through defenses. In Golden, the Orediggers may have found their version of the bus in sophomore running back Craig Van Horn, who leads the team in rushing with 521 yards on 75 carries for an average of 6.9 yards per run and three touchdowns. In addition, he has also caught 28 passes for 270 yards and two scores. After running for 107 yards in the season opener, Van Horn was held in check for much of the next five games, gaining just 115 yards in those five contests. However, he ran for 110 yards and a score at Fort Lewis two weeks ago and just missed 100 yard games the next two weeks, running for 99 yards and two scores on 16 carries two weeks ago and gaining 90 yards on 11 carries in the loss to Mesa State on Saturday.

MAKING A NAME: Redshirt freshman linebacker Jared Heath has been outstanding while filling in for injured CSM players. Heath, who did not play in the season opener or against Mesa State, has recorded at least six tackles in five of the six games he has played in, including a career-high 13 in the loss at Fort Lewis on Oct. 19. Heath is ranked third on the team with 50 stops this season.

SCOUTING ADAMS STATE: The Grizzlies enter the week at 5-4 overall and tied for third in the RMAC at 4-2. On Saturday, Adams State knocked off Western State, 24-20, in Alamosa, Colo. The win enabled ASC to reach the five-win plateau for the first time in the school’s Division II history (1992-present). ASC led Western, 17-10 at the half and extended its lead to 24-10 with 6:13 left in the third quarter as Scott Coxon found paydirt from one-yard out. WSC cut the lead to 24-17 after going on a 10-play, 71-yard third-quarter march and added a late fourth quarter field goal. For the season, Matt Gotta has completed 99-of-259 passes for 1,268 yards and 12 scores, while Bryan Bohanan has caught 30 balls for 358 yards and 3 touchdowns. Bobby Solano leads the Grizzly running attack as he has toted the ball 110 times for 370 yards and four touchdowns. The Adams State defense, which is giving up 22.3 points per game, is paced by linebacker John Lopez who is ranked second in the RMAC with 85 tackles.

SILVER AND BLUE LUNCHEON: Every Wednesday throughout the season, the Colorado Mines athletics department will host a Silver and Blue Luncheon in the Ben Parker Student Center. The lunch, which begins at 11:30 am, features speeches by all of the in-season coaches. For more information, call 303-384-2254.

ON THE WEB: Be sure to follow all the latest news, game recpas, stats and updates of all the Oredigger athletic teams on the web at athletics.mines.edu