2004 COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES
FOOTBALL WEEKLY RELEASE #2

Colorado School of Mines vs. Missouri Rolla
Saturday, September 4, 2004 - 1:00 pm
Brooks Field - Golden, Colorado

Click HERE for a complete .PDF version of the notes

COLORADO MINES ON THE INTERNET
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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 at the same positions.

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.

ROLLA HEAD COACH
Missouri-Rolla is coached by sixth-year Head Coach Kirby Cannon. He came to Rolla in December of 1998 after serving as an assistant coach at Western Illinois University. He is 5-51 during his stint at Rolla.

ABOUT MISSOURI ROLLA
The Miners play in the powerful MIAA and were successful in their season opener with a 42-7 win against nonconference foe Upper Iowa. The Miners scored the first 21 points of the game and totaled 586 yards of total offense in claiming the win.

WHEN THE MINERS HAVE THE BALL
The Missouri Rolla offense was led by Brandon Landry in the opener as he completed 25-of-40 passes for four touchdowns and 374 yards. He threw seven passes to Brett Fischer who finished with 122 receiving yards and a touchdown. Keenan Miller rushed for 110 yards and a score on 17 carries

AND WHEN THEY DON’T
The Miner defense was fairly impressive in its season opening 42-7 win over Upper Iowa on Saturday. The defense allowed just 234 yards of total offense and forced two turnovers. Avian Jordan paced the defense with seven tackles, while Rodrick McDonald recorded six stops, an sack and forced a fumble.

COLORADO TIES
The Missouri Rolla roster does not feature one player from the State of Colorado, while the Oredigger roster does not feature a player from Missouri.

MINES LAST TIME OUT (8/28/04)
Colorado School of Mines senior quarterback Chad Friehauf threw for three touchdowns and ran for two more scores as he accounted for all five Oredigger touchdowns to lead his squad to a 34-27 victory at Washburn’s Moore Field at Yager Bowl on Saturday afternoon in the nonconference season opener for both squads. Friehauf finished the game 31-of-42 for 267 yards and three touchdowns and also ran eight times for 29 yards and a pair of scores. Washburn opened the scoring at the 10:42 mark of the first stanza on a 38 yard scoring strike from Tyler Schuerman to Sam Sissom. It was the first of three scores for the duo in the game. CSM responded on the ensuing drive as Friehauf found paydirt from two yards out. Following a 4 yard run from Trent Hearn to give the Ichabods a 13-6 advantage, the Orediggers used a Friehauf scoring run and two touchdown passes from the quarterback to gain a 27-13 lead with 8:55 left in the second quarter. A 13 yard scoring run from Ra’Shaw Moseley with 3:10 left in the first half cut the Oredigger lead to seven points (27-20) at the half. After neither team scored in the third, Washburn tied the game (27-27) on a 64 yard pass from Schuerman to Sissom. However, Friehauf found senior wide receiver Jonny Chan in the end zone from 10 yards out with 4:55 left in the game and that score proved to be the difference. Junior wide receiver Justin Gallas finished with 11 catches for 110 yards and a score, while sophomore free safety Tim Miller led the defense with 11 tackles, one forced fumble, a fumble recovery and two interceptions.

STITT IN OPENERS
CSM Head Coach Bob Stitt is now 4-1 in season openers at Mines. 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.

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.

RULE OF TWO
The number two has been pretty kind to the Orediggers. In nine of the 12 games last season, Mines had at least one player find the end zone two times. CSM has posted a 7-2 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 junior running back Craig Van Horn when a big play is needed. Last season, VanHorn ran for 913 yards and scored 10 times. He also caught 31 passes for 179 yards en route to Second Team All-RMAC honors for the second straight season. Van Horn opened the season with 70 yards on 14 carries Saturday at Washburn.

GO FLO GO
Van Horn’s backup, sophomore Bryan Florendo, responded in a big way Saturday with three rushes for 85 yards, including a long run of 69 yards. It was the longest rush by an Oredigger back in more than six years.

THE CHAN CHAN MAN
Senior wide receiver Jonny Chan returns at the No. 1 receiver for Mines after posting 1,021 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns a year ago. The speedster had his string of five straight games with at least 100 receiving yards end Saturday at Washburn. He caught five balls for 53 yards, but did haul in the game-winning 10 yard touchdown pass with just under five minutes to play.

CHAN PART II
Senoir wide receiver Jonny Chan is poised to shatter the Oredigger receiving records currently held by former All-American Brian Sump. Chan needs just 485 receiving yards (2,464), five touchdowns (24), and 31 catches (146) to break the CSM career records.

FREE TO THROW
Senior quarterback Chad Friehauf returns for his third year under center and poised to break several CSM career QB records. The 6-foot-7 slinger needs 82 yards (5,552) three touchdowns (49), 22 completions (441) and 96 pass attempts (803) to break Mines career records held by Nate Jackson.

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 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. In the opener at Washburn, Leger moved his streak of double digit tackles alive with a 13-tackle effort. He now has at least 10 tackles in three straight games.

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. In Saturday’s opener at Washburn, Gallas came away with a career-best 11 catches for 110 yards and a touchdown. He also had two punt returns for 50 yards, including a long of 40 yards.

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 was credited with 10 tackles in the opener.

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 week one, the same is true as three players are over 100 yards with one player close behind. Junior wide receiver Justin Gallas leads the way with 160 yards per game. Senior running back Criag Van Horn (132) and sophomore running back Bryan Florendo (105) also top the 100-yard mark, while senior wide receiver Jonny Chan just misses the cut with 95 yards.

NINE WOULD BE FINE
As the season approaches, 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 a win at Fort Lewis over Fort Lewis on Oct. 18, Chan recorded 103 receiving yards, while VanHorn posted 123 yards rushing. One week later, Chan had 123 receiving yards in a win at New Mexico Highlands, while VanHorn registered a season-high 150 rushing yards. In all, Chan had six 100-yard receiving games, while VanHorn had four 100-yard rushing games.

EXPERIENCE UP FRONT
The Oredigger offensive line will come 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 did not allow a sack in the opener at Washburn.

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. 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 Saturday 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 MILLER TIME
Sophomore free safety Tim Miller is well on his way to keeping that streak of interceptions alive after posting two in the win at Washburn. He also amassed 11 tackles, a fumble recovery and a forced fumble in his first career start.

READY, WILLING AND ABEL
True freshman kicker Aaron Abel had a fairly solid game in his collegiate debut. After missing his first extra point attempt, Abel rebounded to put his next four through the uprights.

FUNKY COLD MEDINA
After punting just one time in his career (2003), junior backup quarterback/punter Danny Medina came through in a huge way Saturday afternoon. He punted five times for a 37.4 average, including a long of 50 yards. He also helped Mines win the field position battle by putting two of his punts inside the 20-yard line.

STREAKS
Several Orediggers will be looking to keep streaks alive in this week. Senior quarterback Chad Friehauf has thrown a touchdown pass in seven straight games, senior strong safety Daniel Leger has three straight games with double digit tackles and senior wide receiver Jonny Chan has caught at least one pass in 12 straight games, dating back to the 2002 season finale.

STREAKS BROKEN
A few Orediggers had streaks broken last weekend at Washburn. Senior wide receiver Jonny Chan had his string of five straight 100-yard receiving games end, while senior running back Criag Van Horn had his streak of scoring a touchdown in six consecutive games snapped.

ONE ISN’T THE LONELIEST NUMBER
Some people think one could be the loneliest number, but maybe not in the Orediggers case last weekend as they were the only Rocky Mountain Athletic Confence team to post a win on Saturday. Eight of the nine teams in the RMAC opened on Saturday with the conference winning just one game.