2005 COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES
FOOTBALL WEEKLY RELEASE #5

Colorado School of Mines at Chadron State
Saturday, September 24, 2005 - 1:00 pm
Elliott Field - Chadron, Neb.

Click HERE for a complete .PDF version of the notes

ABOUT THE SERIES
Saturday’s game between Colorado School of Mines and Chadron State will be the 28th all-time meeting between the schools. Chadron holds an 18-9 advantage in the series and had won 10 straight before CSM’s 40-39 win at Brooks Field last year. It was the Orediggers first win over the Eagles since 1976.

THE HEAD COACHES
Bob Stitt is in his sixth season as the head coach at CSM and claims a 35-25 (.583) overall record. Stitt’s .583 winning percentage is the highest by a CSM football coach who has coached in at least 20 games and the highest for a modern day coach at CSM. In addition, his 35 wins are the third most in CSM history and trail only Marv Kay (84 wins from 1969-1995) and Fritz Brennecke (78 wins from 1947-1969). Stitt is 1-4 all-time against CSC.

Chadron State is led by first-year Head Coach Bill O’Boyle. He is 1-3 this season and 0-0 against CSM in his career.

ALL-TIME RECORD
CSM claims a 359-505-30 all-time record since its first collegiate football game in 1888, a 6-4 win over Denver University.

CSM vs. THE “C’s”
CSM is 91-130-8 all-time against schools that begin with the letter “C”.

RMAC OPENERS
CSM’s 45-13 win over Western State on Sept. 10 was the second straight year that the Orediggers won their RMAC opener. CSM is now 2-11-1 record in 14 all-time RMAC openers since 1992. Last year’s 58-0 win at Western State was the first time CSM won its RMAC opener in school history.

UP NEXT FOR CSM
CSM will return to action on Oct. 1 when it travels to Fort Hays State for a 1:00 pm kickoff.

COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES ON THE INTERNET
Now you can get all the latest and most comprehensive news on Oredigger football and Colorado School of Mines athletics 24 hours a day by visiting the Colorado School of Mines Athletics Department official website at ...
http://athletics.mines.edu.

MINES INTERNET RADIO
CSM fans can now listen to all 11 Oredigger football games online. Simply visit radio.mines.edu and click on the listen live link to access the game live online.

JOIN THE OREDIGGER EMAIL LIST
Get all the latest news on all of Colorado School of Mines Athletics by signing up for the Orediggers’ E-Mail List. Receive daily updates, game recaps and press releases on all of CSM’s athletic teams by emailing Sports Information Director Gregory Murphy at gjmurphy@mines.edu. You can sign up to receive updates on one sport, numerous sports or all sports. Please indicate in your email what sports you would like to be included on or if you would like to be included for all sports.

ALL ABOUT CHADRON STATE
Chadron State enters the week with an overall record of 1-3 (1-1 RMAC) following a 45-6 win at home over Fort Hays State on Saturday. Danny Woodhead ran 26 times for 178 and two scores, while Tyler Hidrogo completed 19-of-24 passes for 238 yards and a touchdown. Austin Bailey notched a game-best 11 tackles, including two for losses.

WHEN THE EAGLES HAVE THE BALL
The Eagle offense is led by sophomore running back Danny Woodhead who has run 96 times for 587 yards and six scores. Tyler Hidrogo has completed 66-of-109 passes for 864 yards, five touchdowns and five interceptions, while Ben Woodhead has caught 15 passes for 261 yards and four scores. CSC averages 27.2 points and 390.2 yards of offense per game.

AND WHEN THEY DON’T
The Chadron State defense is allowing 359.0 yards and 24.5 points per game this season. Austin Bailey leads the squad with 40 tackles, including four for losses. Paul Schweger has amassed 37 stops, while Eric Barker has tallied 20 tackles and a team-best two interceptions. Kalan James leads the team with five sacks.

LAST TIME vs. CHADRON STATE (9/25/04)
Colorado School of Mines quarterback Chad Friehauf scored on a two-yard keeper with 35 seconds left and then hit wide receiver Derek Dykstra for the two-point conversion to lift the Orediggers to a 40-39 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference football victory over Chadron State at Brooks Field. Chadron State claimed a 39-25 lead with 6:45 to play after Danny Woodhead scampered 66 yards for a touchdown. However, the Oredigger responded when Friehauf hit running back Bryan Florendo with an across the field pass and Florendo went 54 yards for a touchdown. After CSM stopped the Eagles on fourth and eight from the Mines 25-yard line, Friehauf went to work to direct the game-winning drive. He wound up going 4-for-4 for 68 yards and added five rushing yards on the final drive. Friehauf finished 24-of-31 for 411 yards and three scores and also extended his streak of not throwing an interception to 141 straight. Chan finished with seven catches for 105 yards and a score, while Florendo also caught six balls for 101 yards and a score. The CSM defense was led by linebacker Danny Sprague who produced 17 tackles. Woodhead led the Eagles with 260 rushing yards and two scores on 39 carries. The two teams combined for 1,099 yards of offense, with Chadron amassing 554 and Mines producing 545.

STITT IN OPENERS
CSM Head Coach Bob Stitt is 4-2 in season openers at CSM after a 28-17 loss to Washburn to open the 2005 season. CSM lost its first game under Stitt, 43-34, to MidAmerica Nazarene but rebounded to win four straight season openers before Saturday’s loss to Washburn. In the last 19 openers, CSM is 15-4. In overall season openers, CSM is 57-54-5.

BACK IT UP
Last season, the CSM football team captured its first RMAC Championship since 1958. A second consecutive RMAC Championship in 2005 would give CSM back-to-back conference titles for the first time since 1906-07.

PRESEASON RMAC POLL
CSM was picked second in the Preseason RMAC Poll with 17 points and three first place votes. Chadron State was voted first with 12 points and four first place votes, while Adams State received the other two first place votes and 25 points to finish third. Nebraska-Kearney was fourth with 30 points and was followed by Fort Hays (35), Mesa State (42), Fort Lewis (47), Western State (54) and New Mexico Highlands (62).

PRESEASON ALL-RMAC SELECTIONS
CSM had six players named to the Preseason All-RMAC Team. Senior Justin Gallas was named to the team as a wide receiver and punt return speacialist. Also earning honors were senior right guard Travis Yenne, junior linebacker Danny Sprague, senior linebacker Jared Heath, senior defensive end Mark Donnelly and senior cornerback Nick Gilbreath.

PRESEASON ALL-AMERICANS
The following CSM players received 2005 Preseason All-American honors

Justin Gallas Senior WR 6-1 185 Westminster, Colo.
Street and Smith’s First Team Lindy’s Second Team
CollegeSportsReport.com Fourth Team Don Hansen’s National Football Gazette

Travis Yenne Senior OL 6-4 290 Murietta, Calif.
Lindy’s Second Team Don Hansen’s National Football Gazette

Jared Heath Senior LB 6-0 220 Highlnds Ranch, CO
Don Hansen’s National Football Gazette

THE DRIVE FOR FIVE
With four straight winning seasons in the books, CSM will be going after its fifth straight winning season, a feat that has never been accomplished in program history. The squad needs to post a minimum of five more wins to accomplish the feat.

RULE OF TWO
The number two has been pretty kind to CSM recently. In 24 of the last 28 games, including all 13 last season, CSM had at least one player find the end zone two times. The Orediggers are 19-9 during that span.

IT WAS ALL REGULAR
CSM had won 13 straight regular season games dating to the 2003 season before the season opener loss to Washburn. The last time it lost a regular season game before that was Nov. 1, 2003, at Mesa State (48-18).

HOME SWEET HOME
Prior to the Aug. 27 loss to Washburn, the Orediggers had won nine straight games at home, six last season and three in 2003. From 2001 to present, CSM is 19-7 at Brooks Field.

TOPPING THE CENTURY MARK
CSM has had at least one wide receiver top the 100-yard plateau in 21 of the last 22 games. The only time it did not happen was the 2004 regular season finale at Adams State when Jonny Chan led the team with 83 yards.

THIS JUST IN
Senior wide receiver Justin Gallas returns as one of the top players in all of Division II. The All-American set one CSM career record in the Sept. 3 loss at Northern Colorado and is closing in on several CSM other career records. Gallas’ 11 receptions against the Bears gave him 198 for his career and broke the old mark of 197 catches set by Jonny Chan (2000-04). He now has 214 career receptions. Gallas needs just 441 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns to break CSM career records in those categories. Through four games, he has 39 catches for 499 yards and three touchdowns. He has gone over 100 receiving yards 12 times in his career, including six straight games overall. Gallas is averaging 248.5 all-purpose yards per game this season, which is among the best in the nation.

MEHL ON THE MOVE
Junior Garrett Mehl has been the No. 1 quarterback position since coming off the bench in the second quarter of the season opener against Washburn. In his first career start Sept. 3 at Northern Colorado, Mehl completed 37-of-54 passes for 395 yards and a touchdown. His 395 yards passing was the most by a CSM quarterback in his first career start. He followed that effort by accounting for 463 yards of total offense and six touchdowns in a 45-13 win over Western State on Sept. 10. He completed 23-of-33 passes for 349 yards and three scores and also ran 16 times for 114 yards and three more touchdowns.

FUNKY COLD MEDINA
Senior quarterback Danny Medina came into Saturday’s game against South Dakota in the fourth quarter and led CSM back from a 41-13 deficit to tie the game at 41-41 and send it into overtime. Medina wound up completing 17-of-22 passes for 242 yards and two touchdowns, including a 27-yard “Hail Mary” touchdown pass to Justin Gallas on the final play of regulation.

GO FLO
Junior running back Bryan Florendo has been solid as the No. 1 running back this season. He has 82 touches (rushing and receiving) for 449 yards and six touchdowns this year, including four scores in Saturday’s loss to South Dakota (three rush and one receiving).

“H” IS FOR HUCK
Redshirt freshman Corey Huck will remain the starting H-Back for Saturday’s game. In his first four collegiate games, Huck has run eight times for 26 yards and also caught 15 balls for 83 yards and two touchdowns.

THE CURL ROUTE
Sophomore wide receiver Michael Curl is slowly but surely making his prescence felt on the field. The Blinn J.C. transfer has caught 13 passes for 187 yards and one touchdown this season. His 14.4 yards per catch is tops on the team.

EXPERIENCE UP FRONT
The Oredigger offensive line is one of the most experienced groups under Head Coach Bob Stitt. The line features four returning starters from last year’s group which allowed just 15 sacks in 13 games and none through the first three games. The four returnees include junior left tackle Zach Ballard, senior All-American right guard Travis Yenne, junior two-time All-RMAC honoree Nick Belden and sophomore right guard Stephen Immel. In addition, sophomore James Reeves has seen significant playing time on the right side due to injuries.

ON THE DEFENSIVE
The CSM defense returns nine starters from last season, along with senior cornerback Grant Newton who was a two year starter before missing last season with an injury. In all, eight of the projected 11 starters on defense have earned All-RMAC honors, while three players have earned All-American accolades in Newton, senior cornerback Nick Gilbreath and senior linebacker Jared Heath at some point in their careers.

TURNING IT OVER
Last season, the CSM defense forced 32 turnovers in 13 games and had three or more turnovers six times. CSM forced a season-high six turnovers in its 52-33 win over Midwestern State in the first round of the NCAA II Playoffs. However, in 2005, the Oredigger defense has forced just seven turnovers in the first four games. CSM is minus-5 in turnover margin.

PICK OFFS
In each of the last four seasons, a CSM defensive back has recorded at least five interceptions. Three of the players who accomplished the feat return this year. Junior free safety Tim Miller posted six last season, while senior cornerback Nick Gilbreath tallied five in 2003 and senior cornerback Grant Newton notched eight in 2002.

IT’S MILLER TIME
Junior free safety Tim Miller enjoyed a breakout season last year en route to First Team All-RMAC honors after leading the team with six interceptions, five of which cam in the first four games. He also finished with 72 tackles, three forced fumbles and three pass breakups. Miller picked off his first pass of the season in the loss at Northern Colorado on Sept. 3 and returned in 33 yards.

TURN UP THE “HEAT”HER
Senior linebacker Jared Heath has begun the season just as expected as he earned RMAC Defensive Player of the Week honors following his 11 tackle performance in a loss to Washburn on Aug. 27. In addition, he posted three tackles for loss, two sacks and recovered a fumble. In Saturday’s loss to South Dakota, Heath posted a school-record 20 tackles en route to RMAC Defensive Player of the Week honors. He currently leads the team with 50 tackles, six tackles for loss and three sacks. During his tenure in Golden, Heath has amassed 336 tackles and 42 tackles for loss. Last year, he recorded 117 tackles and as a sophomore, Heath was in on a then school-record 114 stops.

OH DANNY BOY
Junior linebacker Danny Sprague will once again be counted on to control the middle of the field. Sprague has been a regular for the CSM defense since making his first career start two seasons ago in a 37-7 win over Fort Lewis. In that game, Sprague posted eight tackles and two sacks en route to RMAC Defensive Player of the Week honors. Last year, he totaled 103 tackles, including 17 in a 40-39 win over Chadron State.

A.J. TO THE RESCUE
Freshman linebacker A.J. Montalvo was forced into action against Western State due to injuries at the position. The true freshman came through with three tackles, including a tackle for a four yard loss on his first play from scrimmage.

RING ‘EM UP
Senior defensive lineman Caleb Ring had one of his finer games in a 45-13 win over Western State. Ring posted three tackles, a half sack and also recovered a fumble.

CAN’T PICK ON NICK
Senior cornerback Nick Gilbreath is back for his third year as a starting cornerback. The All-RMAC, All-Region and All-American selection picked off his 10th career pass in a loss to Washburn on Aug. 27. He is five short of tying the school-record of 15 set by Tolu Lasaki from 1998-2001.

READY, WILLING AND ABEL
Sophomore placekicker Aaron Abel is off to a great start in 2005. In the Sept. 3 loss at Northern Colorado, Abel broke the CSM career record for extra points as he made all four PAT’s to raise his career total to 70 (now at 81) . Abel has nailed all 17 of his extra point attempts and 5-of-6 field goals, including a career long 42-yard field goal in the win over Western State.

WELCOME BACK
CSM will welcome back a pair of seniors after the duo missed last season due to injuries. Returning are senior cornerback Grant Newton and senior wide receiver Andrew Schmid. Newton, an All-American honoree in 2002 after leading the RMAC with eight interceptions, has notched 178 career tackles and nine interceptions. Schmid has hauled in 70 passes for 896 yards and nine touchdowns in his career. As a sophomore, Schmid tied for the team lead with seven touchdown catches.

FIRST QUARTER WOES
Through the first three games, CSM has been outscored, 57-20, in the first quarter. From the second through fourth quarters, CSM has outscored its opponents, 114-80, including 52-14 in the final stanza.

WORKIN’ OVERTIME
Saturday’s 44-41 overtime loss to South Dakota was the first overtime game for CSM since a 52-45 overtime victory at Fort Hays State on Sept. 22, 2001, a span of 45 games.