2002 Colorado School of Mines Football
(0-0 Overall, 0-0 RMAC)
Week #1 Notes - at Oklahoma Panhandle State (0-0, 0-0)

THE HEAD COACHES: Bob Stitt (Doane College ‘86) is beginning his third season at the helm of the Oredigger football program. In his first two seasons, he has led the squad to a 9-12 record, including a 5-11 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. Panhandle State is led by Ryan Held.

ALL-TIME SERIES: Panhandle State claims a slight 4-3 edge in the all-time series with School of Mines. However, the Orediggers have won the last two meetings with the Aggies, including last year’s 47-0 triumph at Brooks Field. The Aggies last defeated Mines in 1997, 10-7.

NEXT WEEK: The Colorado School of Mines football team will open its 2002 home schedule with a game against South Dakota School of Mines. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 pm at Brooks Field.

LAST TIME OUT (11/10/01): Nate Jackson completed 21-of-26 passes for 344 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Orediggers to a 62-28 victory over Western New Mexico at Brooks Field in the final game of the 2001 campaign. CSM jumped out to a 28-14 halftime lead behind Jackson’s 5-yard TD pass to Derek Lis and touchdown runs by Craig Van Horn and Andy Nord. Jackson hooked up with Brain Sump for a pair of thrid quarter scores to extend the Mines lead to 41-21 after three quarters. Van Horn added a 14-yard scoring run to open the fourth quarter and backup quarterback Chad Friehauf threw two fourth quarter touchdowns to provide the final outcome. Sump finished with five catches for 171 yards and three scores, while Tolu Lasaki posted eight tackles to lead the Oredigger defense.

LAST TIME vs. PANHANDLE STATE (9/8/01): Nate Jackson completed 9-of-19 passes for 179 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Orediggers to a 47-0 victory over the ???? at Brooks Field. CSM jumped out to a 33-0 lead at the half behind two field goals from Josh Hodsdon, a 12-yard interception return by Tolu Lasaki, two fumble recoveries for touchdowns and a 41-yard strike from Jackson to Brian Sump. Jackson added two more third quarter touchdown tosses to provide the final outcome. Chad Van Horn finished the afternoon with 13 carries for 100 yards, while Jackson added five carries for 58 yards.

CATCH ME IF YOU CAN: Senior wide receiver/return specialist Brian Sump has the chance to tie an NCAA Division II record with his performace this season. Sump needs three kickoff returns for touchdowns to tie the all-time NCAA Division II record with eight career kickoff returns for touchdowns. Last season, Sump returned 21 kickoffs for 780 yards and a Division II-record four touchdowns. In addition, his 37.1 yards per return average led Division II and was also the fifth-highest single-season mark in DII history.

SUMP PART II: When he is not returning kicks, Sump is making noise by cathcing passes. In his three-year career, Sump has hauled in 100 career passes for 1,615 yards and 17 touchdowns. As a junior, he was the Orediggers top receiver with 59 cathces for 1,175 yards and 12 touchdowns, all of which were school records.

ACTION JACKSON: Senior quarterback Nate Jackson returns for his fourth and final season under center. Jackson produced his finest season to date last year as he completed 227-of-396 passes for 3,240 yards and 30 touchdowns, all of which were school records. Jackson earned honorable mention all-conference honors a year ago.

IT’S BEEN AWHILE: 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. The 1975 squad posted a 6-4 record and the 1976 team followed with a 5-4 record. Head Coach Bob Stitt and his unit will be out to follow last year’s 7-4 record with another winning season and post CSM’s first consecutive winning seasons in 26 years.

LET’S BEGIN: The Orediggers are 1-1 in season openers under Head Coach Bob Stitt. CSM lost its first game under Stitt, 43-34, to MidAmerica Nazarene and rebounded to win its 2001 season opener at South Dakota Tech, 52-27. In their last 15 openers, School of Mines has posted a 12-3 mark. In overall season openers, the Orediggers are 54-53-5.