2005 COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES
FOOTBALL WEEKLY RELEASE #10

Colorado School of Mines at Mesa State
Saturday, October 29, 2005 - 1:00 pm
Stocker Stadium - Grand Junction, Colo.

Click HERE for a complete .PDF version of the notes

ABOUT THE SERIES
Saturday’s game between Colorado School of Mines and Mesa State will be the 30th all-time meeting between the schools. Mesa State holds a 24-5 advantage in the series. Last season, CSM snapped a six game losing streak to the Mavericks with a 42-21 win in Golden.

THE HEAD COACHES
Bob Stitt is in his sixth season as the head coach at CSM and claims a 39-26 (.600) overall record. Stitt’s 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 39 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 Mesa State.

Mesa State is led by eighth-year Head Coach Joe Ramunno who is 47-42 during his time at MSC. Ramunno, who is 6-1 all-time against CSM, led Mesa State to the 2003 RMAC Championship and a berth in the NCAA Division II Playoffs. He also led the Mavericks to the 2000 NCAA Division II Playoffs, including a 40-21 win over Northeastern Oklahoma State.

ALL-TIME RECORD
CSM claims a 363-506-30 all-time record since its first collegiate football game in 1888, a 6-4 win over Denver University.

CSM vs. THE “M’s”
CSM is 15-34-2 all-time against schools that begin with the letter “M”. Included in that total is a 52-33 win over Midwestern State in the first round of the 2004 NCAA Division II Playoffs at Brooks Field.

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 Nov. 5 when it hosts Adams State at 1:00 pm at Brooks Field in the final regular season game of 2005.

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 MESA STATE
Mesa State enters the week at 4-5 overall and 3-3 in the RMAC following a 22-8 win at home over Fort Hays State on Saturday. Mesa State, which led 16-0 at the half, was led by Bobby Coy who rushed for 241 yards and two touchdowns on 29 carries en route to RMAC Offensive Player of the Week honors. He gained 247 of the 324 yards by the Mavericks. Brandon Charles led the MSC defense with a game best 16 tackles.

WHEN THE MAVERICKS HAVE THE BALL
As a team, the Mavericks average 25.3 points and 331.3 yards of offense per game. Freshman running back Bobby Coy leads the offense with 206 carries for 949 yards and 10 touchdowns. Sean McGraw has completed 102-of-196 passes for 1,228 yards, eight scores and three picks, while Drew Bohannan is the top receiver with 52 catches for 1,002 yards and eight touchdowns. No other Maverick receiver has caught more than 13 passes or has more than 115 receiving yards.

AND WHEN THEY DON’T
As a team, the Mavericks give up 27.4 points and 392.7 yards per game. The defense is led by Scott Hodges who has 77 tackles, including 8.5 for loss this season. Brandon Charles has posted 76 tackles and four interceptions, while Art Berlanga leads the team with seven picks and Creed James is tops on the squad with 6.5 sacks.

LAST TIME vs. MESA STATE (10/30/2004)
The 12th-ranked Colorado School of Mines football team clinched a share of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Title with a 42-21 victory over Mesa State at Brooks Field. Mesa State took a 7-0 lead less than three minutes into the game when Charles Dukes scampered 55-yards for a score. After the Mavericks forced Mines to punt, the Mavericks were on the verge of taking a 14-0 lead with 10 minutes to play, but CSM strong safety Daniel Leger stuffed Dukes just short of the end zone on fourth and one to keep the score 7-0. It was all Orediggers from there as they went on to score 35 unanswered points in moving to 10-0 overall and 7-0 in the RMAC. Quarterback Chad Friehauf got things going with 2:22 left in the first quarter with a 4-yard touchdown run. He then threw a 62-yard scoring pass to wide receiver Justin Gallas to make it 14-7 at the half. Running back Craig Van Horn took things over as he scored on touchdown runs of eight, one and three yards in the third quarter to extend the lead to 35-7. Friehauf finished 18-of-27 for 287 yards and two touchdowns and also ran 14 times for 110 yards and another score. Van Horn toted the ball 19 times for 110 yards and three touchdowns, whiel Gallas hauled in eight passes for 202 yards and two touchdowns. The CSM defense was led by linebacker Jared Heath (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Highlands Ranch) who amassed 14 tackles.

LAST TIME OUT (10/22/2005)
The Colorado School of Mines football team picked up a 45-37 victory over New Mexico Highlands in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action Saturday afternoon at Perkins Field and improved to 5-4 overall and 5-1 in the RMAC. The win also enabled CSM to climb into a first place tie with Nebraska-Kearney in the conference after the Lopers were dealt a 28-22 loss by Fort Lewis earlier today. UNK now stands at 7-2 overall (5-1 RMAC), while Fort Lewis is 5-3 overall (5-2 RMAC). CSM trailed 10-0 after the first quarter, but outscored NMHU, 28-7, in the second period to take a 28-17 halftime lead. Junior running back Bryan Florendo did most of the damage as he scored three rushing touchdowns in the quarter from 26, 47 and 2 yards. He also threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Justin Gallas. The teams traded two touchdowns apiece in the third quarter with CSM junior quarterback Garrett Mehl throwing a 68-yard scoring strike to sophomore wide receiver Michael Curl and running in for a 2-yard touchdown. Sophomore kicker Aaron Abel booted a 44-yard field goal with 35 seconds left to give CSM the final margin of victory. Florendo ran 20 times for 140 yards, while Curl caught three passes for 91 yards and a score. Mehl finished 11-of-18 for 152 yards and a touchdown and also ran 15 times for 76 yards and a score. Junior linebacker Danny Sprague led the defense with a game-best 15 tackles, including one for loss, while senior linebacker Jared Heath posted 13 tackles and forced a fumble.

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 the 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. CSM is currently tied for first place in the RMAC with Nebraska-Kearney at 5-1. CSM plays at Mesa State this week and hosts Adams State next Saturday, while the Lopers travel to Fort Hays on Saturday and host Mesa State next Saturday.

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 one more win over the final two games to accomplish the feat.

RULE OF TWO
The number two has been pretty kind to CSM recently. In 27 of the last 33 games, including all 13 last season, CSM had at least one player find the end zone two times. The Orediggers are 23-10 during that span.

RMAC SMACK
CSM’s loss to Nebraska-Kearney on Oct. 8 snapped its RMAC winning streak at 13 straight games. The last time CSM lost an RMAC game prior to that was Nov. 1, 2003, a 48-18 setback at Mesa State.

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, CSM had won nine straight at home, six last season and three in 2003. From 2001 to present, CSM is 20-8 at Brooks Field, but only 2-3 in 2005.

TOPPING THE CENTURY MARK
CSM has had at least one wide receiver top the 100-yard plateau in 24 of the last 27 games. The only three times it did not happen was the 2004 regular season finale at Adams State when Jonny Chan led the team with 83 yards, the Sept. 24 win at Chadron State when Brent Chacon led the squad with 40 yards and Saturday’s win at N.M. Highlands when Michael Curl posted a team-best 91 yards.

THIS JUST IN
Senior wide receiver Justin Gallas has proven he is among the best receivers in the RMAC and all of Division II. Through eight games, he leads the team with 72 receptions, 984 yards and seven touchdowns. In his stellar career, Gallas has totaled a school-record 247 catches, a school-record 3,347 receiving yards and 22 touchdowns. In the Oct. 1 win at Fort Hays, Gallas broke the previous RMAC record of 220 catches by Johnny Cox of Fort Lewis (1990-93) and his 247 career receptions are 11th all-time in Division II. He now needs just 265 receiving yards to break the RMAC career record of 3,611 set by Johnny Cox (1990-93). Gallas has gone over 100 receiving yards 15 times in his career, including seven of the nine games this year, and is averaging 253.5 all-purpose yards per game this season, which is tops in Division II. He also leads the nation in receptions per game (8.0 rpg).

MEHL ON THE MOVE
Junior Garrett Mehl made his first career start Sept. 3 at Northern Colorado and 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 the Sept. 17 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 completed 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. Since that time, Medina has gone 93-of-140 for 1,194 yards, eight touchdowns and just two picks in wins at Chadron State, Fort Hays State and New Mexico Highlands, at home against Fort Lewis and a loss to Nebraska-Kearney. He has thrown for more than 320 yards in three of the last five weeks.

MEDINA PART DEUX
Medina is also serving as the CSM punter this season and is averaging 37.6 yards per kick. Of his 31 punts, 12 have landed inside the opponent 20-yard line. In the Oct. 8 loss to Neb-Kearney, Medina punted five times for an average of 45.6 yards. His long was 51 yards and four of his kicks landed inside the UNK 20-yard line.

THE TRIFECTA
Medina and junior running back Bryan Florendo both came through with the trifecta in the Oct. 15 win over Fort Lewis as each threw for, ran for and caught a touchdown pass. It was the first time in program history a player had accomplished the feat. The feat was also accomlished the following day by San Diego Charger star running back LaDainian Tomlinson which marked the first time it happened in the NFL since 2001.

GO FLO
Junior running back Bryan Florendo has been solid as the No. 1 running back this season. He has 191 touches (rushing and receiving) for 1,219 yards and a team-best 15 touchdowns this year, including four scores in the Sept. 17 loss to South Dakota (three rush and one receiving). In the Sept. 24 win over Chadron State, Florendo ran 21 times for a career-best 171 yards and followed that up with 21 carries for 141 yards and three more touchdowns in the Oct. 1 win at Fort Hays State. He has three 100 yard rushing games, two 100 yard receiving games this year and has scored at least three touchdowns in four different games this year.

THE CURL ROUTE
Sophomore wide receiver Michael Curl is making his prescence felt on the field. The Blinn J.C. transfer has caught 31 passes for 506 yards and three touchdowns this season and his 16.3 yards per catch is tops on the team. In the Oct. 8 loss to Nebraska-Kearney, he caught five passes for 100 yards. It was his first 100-yard game at CSM. He had three catches for 91 yards, including a 68-yard TD in Saturday’s win at Highlands.

EXPERIENCE UP FRONT
The CSM offensive line is one of the most experienced groups this year. 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 group has given up 20 sacks this year. 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. In 2005, the Oredigger defense has forced 15 turnovers and is minus-2 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. Junior linebacker Luke Salmans picked off his team-leading second pass of the year in the win at Chadron State on Sept. 24, while Newton notched his second pick of 2005 Saturday at Fort Hays State to tie Salmans for the team lead.

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 came 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. He is currently fifth on the team with 38 tackles.

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 the season opening loss to Washburn on Aug. 27. In addition, he posted three tackles for loss, two sacks and recovered a fumble. In the Sept. 17 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 92 tackles, eight tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks. During his tenure in Golden, Heath has amassed 370 tackles and 44.5 tackles for loss. Last year, he recorded 117 tackles and as a sophomore, Heath was in on a then school-record 114 stops. He is eight tackles shy of his third straight 100 tackle season.

OH DANNY BOY
Junior linebacker Danny Sprague is once again being 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. In the Sept. 24 win against the Eagles, Sprague was in on a team-high 10 tackles. He is currently second on the squad with 69 tackles, including a season-high 15 in Saturday’s win at N.M. Highlands.

A.J. TO THE RESCUE
Freshman linebacker A.J. Montalvo was forced into action against Western State on Sept. 10 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. Of his seven tackles this year, two are for losses.

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. In the Oct. 1 win at Fort Hays, Ring was in on two tackles, both sacks. He has 13 tackles and 2.5 sacks this year.

MAR “IN” THE BACKFIELD
Sophomore defensive end Marin Richardson, last seasons RMAC Defensive Freshman of the Year, posted a huge game in the Oct. 8 loss to Kearney. He recorded six tackles, including 2.5 sacks, forced a fumble and recovered a fumble on the afternoon. He is second on the team this year in tackles for loss (7) and sacks (4.5) and has posted 30 total tackles.

READY, WILLING AND ABEL
Sophomore placekicker Aaron Abel is having a great year. 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 101) . Abel has nailed 39-of-40 extra point attempts and 13-of-17 field goals, including a career long 45-yarder in the win at Chadron State on Sept. 24. He also connected on the game-winning 24-yard field goal with three seconds left against Chadron State on Sept. 24. In the Oct. 1 win at FHSU, Abel nailed all four of his field goal attempts. Abel, who is second on the team with 78 points this year, is a perfect 3-of-3 on field goals between 40 and 49 yards.

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 201 career tackles and 11 interceptions, which is four off tying the school-record. Schmid has hauled in 82 passes for 995 yards and 10 touchdowns in his career. As a sophomore, Schmid tied for the team lead with seven touchdown catches.

WORKIN’ OVERTIME
The 44-41 overtime loss to South Dakota on Sept. 17 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.

EDGING THE EAGLES
The Sept. 24 win at Chadron State (27-26) in the last seconds was the second consecutive year that CSM defeated the Eagles in the final seconds. This year, CSM trailed 26-24 with a minute to play and drove 55 yards for Aaron Abel’s game-winning kick. Last year, CSM trailed 39-25 with just over six minutes to play and won it with 39 seconds left when Chad Friehauf scored on a QB keeper and then hit Derek Dykstra for a two-point conversion.

POINTS ON THE BOARD
CSM’s win on Saturday extended its streak of not being shutout to 62 straight games dating back to a 47-0 loss at Mesa State on Oct. 16, 1999. During Bob Stitt’s tenure as coach at CSM, the Orediggers have scored at least 30 points 39 times (out of 62 games).