2004 COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES
FOOTBALL WEEKLY RELEASE #4

Colorado School of Mines (3-0, 1-0 RMAC) at NW Oklahoma State (2-0, 0-0 CSFL)
Saturday, September 18, 2004 - 1:00 pm
Ranger Field - Alva, Oklahoma

Click HERE for a complete .PDF version of the notes

COLORADO 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 Athletic Department’s official website at ...
http://athletics.mines.edu.

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 Mines’ athletic teams by emailing Sports Information Director Greg 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.

SILVER AND BLUE LUNCHEONS
Every Wednesday throughout the season, the Colorado School of 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.

PRESEASON ALL-AMERICAN
Junior cornerback Nick Gilbreath was named to the 2004 Don Hansen’s National Football Gazette Preseason All-American Team. A year ago, Gilbreath led the team with nine pass breakups and five interceptions en route to First Team All-RMAC, Second Team All-State and Second Team All-Region honors. Gilbreath, who picked off four passes in the first five games of the 2003 season, also totaled 49 tackles, including one for loss.

PRESEASON ALL-RMAC HONOREES
Nick Gilbreath, senior wide receiver Jonny Chan and junior punt returner Justin Gallas were all named to the 2004 All-Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) Preseason Team as voted on by the nine conference coaches. The trio was also named to the d2football.com Preseason All-Southwest Region Team.

MINES PICKED FIFTH IN RMAC POLL
CSM was picked to finish fifth out of nine teams in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Preseason Coaches Poll. Mesa State, the defending RMAC Champions, received six first place votes and 12 points to top the poll. Chadron State earned the other three first place votes and 13 total points to finish second in the voting. Nebraska-Kearney (23 points) was third and was followed by Fort Hays State (34), Colorado Mines (35), Adams State and Western State (44 points each), Fort Lewis (57) and New Mexico Highlands (62).

NW OKLAHOMA STATE HEAD COACH
Garin Higgins is in his fifth season at the helm of NWOSU and claims a 44-7 overall mark during his time there. He has led the Rangers to the NAIA National Championship game two times, including last season, and a total of four NAIA playoff appearances.

ABOUT NORTHWESTERN OKLAHOMA STATE
The Rangers, the second ranked NAIA team, enter the week at 2-0 overall following a 39-12 victory over Lincoln last weekend. NWOSU is averaging 344.5 yards of offense per game and holding its opposition to 219.5 yards per game. The Rangers have outscored their first two opponents, 89-24.

WHEN THE RANGERS HAVE THE BALL
The Rangers have a very balanced offensive attack, led by running back Chourse Young who has 24 carries for 197 yards and three touchdowns. Ryan Porter is listed as the No. 1 quarterback, but has completed just 8-of-26 attempts for 109 yards and an interception. Vincent Butler leads the receiving corp with five catches for 65 yards and a score.

AND WHEN THEY DON’T
The Ranger defense is led by defensive end Van Brown who has produced 11 tackles, including three sacks. Brown is a transfer from the University of Southern California and played on the Trojan’s National Championship team last season (seven total tackles). B.J. Hodshire leads the squad with 13 stops, while Kelvin Morgan has four interceptions through the first two games.

MINES LAST TIME OUT (9/11/04)
Colorado School of Mines senior quarterback Chad Friehauf continued his torrid pace to open the season and the Oredigger defense posted its first shutout since the 2002 season opener during Saturday afternoon’s 58-0 victory at Western State’s Mountaineer Bowl. Friehauf finished the game 26-of-33 for 415 yards and three touchdowns as the CSM offense gained 686 yards and a school-record 32 first downs. In contrast, the Mines defense held the Mountaineers to just 270 yards of offense to earn the win. Senior running back Craig Van Horn opened the scoring with a 1-yard run five minutes into the game. Friehauf added a 6-yard scamper and a 52-yard pass to senior wide receiver Derek Lis in the second quarter to extend the Oredigger lead to 23-0 at halftime. CSM kept the heat on in the third quarter as Van Horn added another 1-yard scoring run at the 11:54 mark and a 52-yard pass from Friehauf less than three minutes later to make it 37-0. Friehauf capped his day late in the third quarter with a 14-yard strike to junior wide receiver Justin Gallas. The Orediggers two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter to provide the final margin. Senior wideout Jonny Chan caught seven balls for 118 yards, while Gallas caught seven passes for 71 yards and a score and Van Horn totaled 39 rushing yards and 75 receiving yards and three total touchdowns. Senior strong safety Daniel Leger notched 11 tackles, including three for losses, a forced fumble and a sack to lead the CSM defense. The Oredigger defense produced four sacks and two turnovers and held All-American running back Chaumount Bouknight to just 64 yards on 24 carries.

STITT IN OPENERS
CSM Head Coach Bob Stitt is now 4-1 in season openers at Mines after a 34-28 win at Washburn to open the 2004 season. CSM lost its first game under Stitt, 43-34, to MidAmerica Nazarene but has rebounded to win its last three season openers, including a 51-10 triumph over Western New Mexico last year. In the last 17 openers, CSM is 15-3. In overall season openers, CSM is 57-53-5.

FOUR SCORE AND NINE YEARS AGO
With three straight winning seasons in the books, the Orediggers will be going after their fourth straight winning season, a feat that has not been accomplished by the program since 1912-15, or, 89 years ago. CSM needs to win three of its final eight games to assure itself of a season above .500.

65 YEAR ANNIVERSARY
The Oredigger Football Program will be celebrating the 65th Anniversary of arguably the greatest team in school-history. The 1939 team posted a perfect 8-0 record and outscored its opponents, 268-45, that season. Leading the way was running back Lloyd Madden who was college football’s leading scorer that year with 141 points and also ended the season rushing for 1,316 yards on 92 carries (14.3 yards per carry) and scoring 23 touchdowns. That same year, he captured the Blanchard Trophy as Colorado’s Most Outstanding Athlete.

RECORD BREAKER
Senior quarterback Chad Friehauf broke three CSM career records in a win over Missouri-Rolla on Sept. 4. The 6-foot-7 slinger broke school-records for career passing yards, touchdowns and pass attempts. He now has 5,756 yards, 51 touchdowns and 444 completions during his career. In Saturday’s win at Western State, Friehauf broke another school-record, career pass attempts (816).

“HAUF” THE HOOK
Senior quarterback Chad Friehauf has been on fire through the first three weeks of the season and is on his way to seriously contending for the Harlon Hill Trophy, presented annually to the top player in Division II. He has completed 82-of-109 passes (75.2%) for 967 yards and 10 touchdowns. Friehauf has thrown just one interception and has a quarterback efficiency of rating of 178.19. Friehauf is averaging 362.7 yards of total offense this season.

FRIEHAUF vs. WESTERN STATE
Senior quarterback Chad Friehauf will be sad not to see Western State on the schedule anymore. In three career games against the Mountaineers, he completed 67-of-101 (.663) passes for 1,135 yards, 10 touchdowns and one interception. He surpassed the 400 yard mark two times and the Orediggers were 3-0 in those games.

GREAT GAMES
Senior quarterback Chad Friehauf has turned in some of the best performances in the country this season. His 502 yards of total offense against Western State (Sept. 11) is the third highest in Division II this season. Meanwhile, his 415 passing yards against Western State and 31 completions at Washburn (Aug. 28) are the fourth best for a single game in Division II this year.

RULE OF TWO
The number two has been pretty kind to the Orediggers recently. In 11 of the last 14 games, Mines had at least one player find the end zone two times and CSM has posted an 9-5 record in those games.

HOP ON THE “VAN”
In Pittsburgh, the Steelers have tended to ride Jerome “The Bus” Bettis in dire times. Here in Golden, the Oredigger football team can always turn to senior running back Craig Van Horn when a big play is needed or when the team needs to grind out yards. Case in point, the win over Missouri Rolla on Sept. 4 when Van Horn ran 20 times for a career-high 185 yards and a touchdown. His run of 71 yards against UMR was the longest by an Oredigger in more than 15 years. Van Horn is averaging 6.0 yards per carry and 98 rushing yards per game this year.

GO FLO GO
Van Horn’s backup, sophomore Bryan Florendo, is showing why the loss of the senior at the end of the season won’t be a tough pill to swallow. He has carried the ball just 15 times this year, but has gained 165 yards, an astounding 11.0 yards per carry. He has runs of 69, 18, 16 and 14 yards this season.

THE CHAN CHAN MAN
Senior wide receiver Jonny Chan is closing in on several career records currently held by former Oredigger standout Brian Sump. Chan needs just 283 receiving yards (2,464), three touchdowns (24) and 17 catches (146) to break the CSM career records. He has 19 catches for 255 yards and three touchdowns this season despite seeing constant double and some triple teaming.

S “LEDGE” HAMMER
Senior strong safety Daniel Leger, a three-time Honorable Mention All-RMAC selection, is on pace to become the first CSM player to record at least 100 tackles in four straight seasons. Leger posted a team-high 109 tackles as a freshman, set a school-record and led the conference with 110 stops as a sophomore and made 103 tackles a year ago. He leads the team with 33 stops this season.

JUST IN CASE
Junior wide receiver Justin Gallas has molded into an outstanding No. 2 receiver opposite senior Jonny Chan. After not playing in the first two of the first three games of the 2002 season, Gallas was pressed into action due to injuries. He responded by finishing second on the team with 36 catches for 408 yards and a score en route to Team Newcomer of the Year honors. Last season, Gallas again finished second on the team with 44 catches for 602 yards and four touchdowns. Through three games this season, Gallas has caught 28 passes for 323 yards and four scores. His 107.7 yards per game leads the RMAC, while his 19.4 yards per punt return is second in the conference.

THE “HEAT”HER
Junior linebacker Jared Heath made quite a name for himself last season as he led the team and finished second in the RMAC with 114 tackles. His efforts led him to Honorable Mention All-RMAC and Third Team All-Region accolades. His his 10.4 tackles per game ranked 26th in Division II a year ago. He is second on the team with 27 tackles this season.

FOR ALL-PURPOSES
Last year, the Orediggers had three players who amassed more than 100 all-purpose yards per game. That includes rushing and receiving yards, as well as punt, kick and interception return yards. After three weeks, the Orediggers appear to be on their way to the same feat as senior running back Criag Van Horn (166.7), junior wide receiver Justin Gallas (153.0) and senior wideout Jonny Chan (119.0) are above the century mark and rank fourth, fifth and seventh, respectively in the RMAC.

NINE WOULD BE FINE
As the season continues, the Orediggers could have their sights set on the number nine. Why? No team in CSM Football history has won more than eight games in a season. The 1939 team posted a perfect 8-0 mark, while the 1912 team went 8-1.

100/100 MEN
Last season, the Orediggers experienced a rare feat as wide receiver Jonny Chan and running back Craig VanHorn each went over the 100-yard mark in the same game. In the win over Missouri Rolla on Sept. 4, Van Horn again topped the 100-yard mark with 185 yards, while junior wide receiver Justin Gallas totaled 142 receiving yards.

EXPERIENCE UP FRONT
The Oredigger offensive line comes into the season as one of the most experienced groups under Head Coach Bob Stitt. The line features seniors Gary Metz and Travis Yenne at right tackle and left guard, respectively, while sophomores Nick Belden, an Honorable Mention All-RMAC pick last season, (center), Zach Ballard (left tackle) and Brandon Richardson (right guard) are listed at No. 1 on the depth chart at their respective positions. Metz and Yenne are each four-year starters, while Belden started nine games last season and Richardson and Ballard the final seven games. The five up front have not allowed a sack this season and have paved the way for CSM to lead the RMAC with 575.7 yards of offense per game.

OH DANNY BOY
Sophomore linebacker Danny Sprague has made quite a name for himself since making his first collegiate start in a 37-7 win over Fort Lewis on Oct. 18, 2003. In that game, the Wheat Ridge High School graduate racked up a team-high eight tackles, including two for loss, and two sacks en route to RMAC Defensive Player of the Week honors. He finished the year with 40 tackles, including five for losses, and a fumble recovery. He notched a career-best 10 tackles in the 2004 season opener at Washburn.

PICK OFFS
Over the last three seasons, the Orediggers have featured a defensive back who has notched at least five interceptions. Last year, cornerback Nick Gilbreath kept the streak alive with five picks. In 2002, Grant Newton picked off an RMAC-leading eight passes, while Tolu Lasaki recorded seven picks in 2001.

IT’S MILLE R TIME
Sophomore free safety Tim Miller is well on his way to keeping that streak of interceptions alive after posting four through the first two games of the season.

READY, WILLING AND ABEL
True freshman kicker Aaron Abel has been reliable after the first two games as he has converted 17-of-19 extra point attempts. Abel also connected on his first career field goal Saturday at Western State, a 29 yarder.

BEND, BUT DON’T BREAK
The Oredigger defense has adopted the “Bend, but Don’t Break” philosophy so far this season and has come up with the big play when needed, as evidenced with two interceptions in the end zone against Missouri-Rolla and a third one to stop a drive deep in CSM territory. One week earlier, the Orediggers stopped Washburn on a 4th and one play at midfield with 55 seconds to play that sealed the win.

ZERO ON THE BOARD
The shutout of Western State on Saturday was the first for the Oredigger defense since the 2002 season opener at Oklahoma Panhandle State on Aug. 31. CSM won that game, 14-0.

STREAKS
Several Orediggers will be looking to keep streaks alive this week. Senior quarterback Chad Friehauf has thrown a touchdown pass in nine straight games and senior wide receiver Jonny Chan has caught at least one pass in 14 straight games, dating back to the 2002 season finale.

PILING UP YARDS
CSM has posted huge offensive days in each of the last two weeks. On Sept. 4, the Orediggers rolled to 616 yards of offense in a win over Missouri Rolla and followed that up with 686 yards in Saturday’s win at Western State. The 686 yards are the fourth most in a Division II game this season, while the 616 yards is the seventh best total this year. In addition, the Orediggers 474 passing yards is the second highest in a Division II game this year, while the 58 points put on the board at Washburn is the 11th highest point total in a game this year.

OREDIGGER OFFENSE ROLLING
The Oredigger offense is rolling after three games and is ranked first in several categories in the RMAC. Following is a list of where CSM ranks in the RMAC after three weeks ...

CATEGORY RANK TOTAL
Scoring Offense 1st 46.7 ppg
Pass Offense 1st 347.7 ypg
Rush Offense 1st 228.0 ypg
Total Offense 1st 575.7 ypg
Punt Returns 1st 19.4 ypr
First Downs 1st 82
Sacks Against 1st 0
Red Zone Offense 2nd 16-18 (.889)
Pass Efficiency 2nd 171.0

BUT DON’T FORGET THE DEFENSE
As much success as the Oredigger offense is having, the same can be said of the CSM defense. After finishing in the lower part of the conference the last few seasons, the defense is one of the best in the RMAC. Following is a list of where CSM ranks in the RMAC after three weeks ...

CATEGORY RANK TOTAL
Scoring Defense 1st 13.0
Sacks 1st 8
Red Zone Defense 1st 3-7 (.429)
Turnover Margin 1st +6
Rushing Defense 2nd 120.3 ypg
Opponent First Downs 3rd 53