2004 COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES
FOOTBALL WEEKLY RELEASE #3

Colorado School of Mines (2-0, 0-0 RMAC) at Western State (0-2, 0-0 RMAC)
Saturday, September 11, 2004 - 1:00 pm
Mountaineer Bowl - Gunnison, Colorado

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 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.

WESTERN STATE HEAD COACH
Jeff Zenisek is in his fourth year as head coach at Western State. He claims a record of 17-18 during his time at the helm.

ABOUT WESTERN STATE
The Mountaineers enter the week at 0-2, but have played a very tough early season nonconference schedule. In its season opener, WSC fell at 10th-ranked Pittsburgh State, 56-6, and the Mountaineers also lost at Division IAA Portland State last week, 38-0.

WHEN THE MOUNTAINEERS HAVE THE BALL
Western State is led by Preseason All-American Chaumont Bouknight who has run for 133 yards against two tough foes this season. A year ago, he finished second in the nation with 154.3 yards per game. Nate Baca has completed just 5-of-21 pass attempts for 31 yards, but was injured in the loss to Portland State. His backup, Joe Ginther, came in to complete 4-of-10 for 62 yards. Boyd Sorem has caught two passes for 54 yards to lead the receiving corps. The offense is averaging 3.0 points and 125 yards per game.

AND WHEN THEY DON’T
The Mountaineer defense is led by Mike Swaro who leads the club with 22 tackles, including two for losses, and a fumble recovery. Dominic Payne has recorded 16 tackles and recovered a fumble, while Chris Reese has been in on 12 stops. The WSC defense has allowed 47.0 points per game and 501 yards per game.

MINES LAST TIME OUT (9/4/04)
Colorado Mines senior quarterback Chad Friehauf completed 25-of-34 passes for 285 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Orediggers to a 48-12 win over Missouri-Rolla at Brooks Field. The Orediggers raced out to a 21-0 lead after the first quarter as Friehauf threw for three touchdowns in the opening 15 minutes. Two of his scores went to junior wide receiver Justin Gallas. Following a 4-yard scoring strike from Brandon Landry to Cole Drussa with 13:54 to play in the first half, the Orediggers went on to score the next 21 points, capped when senior running back Craig Van Horn found paydirt from 11 yards out. Brett Fischer caught a 73-yard touchdown pass from Landry with 9:13 to play in the game and CSM sophomore quarterback Garrett Mehl capped the scoring with a 27-yard scamper just 16 seconds later. Gallas finished with 10 catches for 142 yards and two scores and Chan caught seven balls for 84 yards and two touchdowns. Van Horn toted the ball 20 times for 185 yards and a touchdown, while senior strong safety Daniel Leger led the team with nine tackles, including a sack. The Oredigger defense came away with four sacks and picked off three passes, including two from sophomore free safety Tim Miller.

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. CSM needs to win four of its final nine 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 Saturday’s win over Missouri-Rolla. 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 addition, Friehauf needs just 20 more pass attempts to break the career record in that category (803).

“HAUF” THE HOOK
Senior quarterback Chad Friehauf has been on fire through the first two weeks of the season. He has completed 56-of-76 passes (73.7%) for 552 yards and seven touchdowns. Friehauf has thrown just one interception and has a quarterback efficiency of 162.46. Friehauf is averaging 293 yards of total offense this season.

RULE OF TWO
The number two has been pretty kind to the Orediggers recently. In 10 of the last 13 games, Mines had at least one player find the end zone two times and CSM has posted an 8-5 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 junior running back Craig Van Horn when a big play is needed or when the team needs to grind out yards. Case in point, Saturday afternoon when Van Horn ran 20 times for a career-high 185 yards and a touchdown in the win over Missouri-Rolla. Van Horn is averaging 127.5 yards per game and 7.5 yards per carry this year. His run of 71 yards in Saturday’s game was the longest by an Oredigger in more than 10 years.

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 eight times this year, but has gained 134 yards, an astounding 16.8 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 401 receiving yards (2,464), three touchdowns (24) and 24 catches (146) to break the CSM career records. He has 12 catches for 137 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 22 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 two games this season, Gallas has caught 21 passes for 252 yards and three scores. He is also one of the top punt returners in the country, taking five punts back for 139 yards (27.8 ypr).

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 has notched 16 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 two weeks, the Orediggers appear to be on their way to the same feat as junior wide receiver Justin Gallas leads the team and the RMAC with 195.5 all-purpose yards per game. Senior running back Criag Van Horn is ranked second in the conference (184.5), while senior wide receiver Jonny Chan is eighth (119.5).

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. On Saturday, 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 520.5 yards of offense per game, including 284.5 passing yards and 236 rushing yards.

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 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 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 has been reliable after the first two games as he has converted 10-of-12 extra point attempts.

FUNKY COLD MEDINA
After punting just one time in his career (2003), junior backup quarterback/punter Danny Medina has come through big in the first two games. He is averaging 39.1 yards per punt and has pinned three of his eight punts inside the 20-yard line. In Saturday’s game against Missouri-Rolla, Medina nailed a 48 yarder that hit at the one yard line and went out of bounds.

BEND, BUT DON’T BREAK
The Oredigger defense has adopted the “Bend, but Don’t Break” philosophy so far this season. The team is ranked sixth in the conference in yards surrendered per game (439), but is second in the conference in points per game (19.5), sacks (4) and turnover margin (+4). The defense seems to 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 for Mines.

STREAKS
Several Orediggers will be looking to keep streaks alive this week. Senior quarterback Chad Friehauf has thrown a touchdown pass in eight straight games and senior wide receiver Jonny Chan has caught at least one pass in 13 straight games, dating back to the 2002 season finale.