2002 Colorado School of Mines Football
(1-0 Overall, 0-0 RMAC)
Week #2 Notes - vs. South Dakota Tech (0-0)

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 10-12, 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. South Dakota Tech is led by third-year Head Coach Darren Soucy, who claims a 2-18 record in his two seasons at Tech.

ALL-TIME SERIES: Colorado School of Mines is a perfect 5-0 against the Hardrockers, including last year’s 52-27 victory at South Dakota Tech in the season opener for both teams.

LAST TIME OUT (8/31/02): The Colorado School of Mines football team opened the 2002 season with a 14-0 victory over Oklahoma Panhandle State on Saturday afternoon. After three scoreless quarters to open the game, the Orediggers scored a pair of fourth quarter touchdowns to seal the victory. CSM jumped on the board with its first touchdown with 14:07 left in the fourth quarter as senior quarterback Nate Jackson hooked up with sophomore wide receiver Andrew Schmid from 2-yards out. The duo of Jackson and Schmid hooked up again with 4:52 left, this time from 6-yards out, to end the scoring. Jackson finished the game 20-of-30 for 168 yards and two touchdowns, while senior wide receiver Brian Sump caught eight passes for 84 yards. Schmid finished the game with three catches for 16 yards and the two scores. The Orediggers rushed 29 times for 224 yards and were led by sophomore Craig Van Horn who toted the ball 13 times for 107 yards. The Mines defense was led by sophomore strong saftey Daniel Leger who totaled 10 tackles, including two sacks.

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. In Saturday’s opener, Sump was limited to one kick return for 12 yards.

MAKING THEM COUNT: Sophomore wide receiver Andrew Schmid made his catches count in Saturday’s 14-0 victory at Oklahoma Panhandle State. Despite catching just three balls for 16 yards, Schmid found the end zone on two occasions to help lift the Oredigger’s to the win. For Schmid, the TD catches were the third and fourth of his career.

JUST LIKE MY OLDER BRO: Sophomore running back Craig Van Horn recorded his first career 100 yard game as he rushed for 113 yards on 13 carries in the victory over Panhandle State. In fact, it was the first time an Oredigger running back had rushed for 100 yards since Week 2 of last season when Chad Van Horn (Craig’s older brother) ran for 100 yards on 13 carries in a 47-0 victory over Panhandle State.

TOUGH DIGGER “D”: The School of Mines defense got off to a great start by earning a shutout at Panhandle State on Saturday. It marked the second consecutive time CSM has shutout the Aggies (47-0 in 2001). Leading the way for the defense was sophomore strong safety Daniel Leger, who totaled 8.5 tackles and two sacks that lost a combined 22 yards. The CSM defense will be out to post back-to-back shutouts, a feat that has not been accomplished at School of Mines since the 1958 season when that squad blanked Omaha (47-0) and Colorado State (3-0)

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.

SCOUTING SOUTH DAKOTA TECH: This weekend will be South Dakota Tech’s 2002 season opener. The Hardrockers return 50 letterwinners and 12 starters (8 offensive, 4 defensive) from last year’s 2-8 team.

NEXT WEEK: The Orediggers will have on off week, before returning to action on September 21 at Western New Mexico at 1:00 pm.