GOLDEN — Years of sustained success on the field has helped Colorado School of Mines recruit and develop a roster capable of competing for a Division II national championship.
This could be a year that tests how strong the football machine really is in the foothills of the Front Range. The Orediggers, fresh off back-to-back appearances in the national title game, must replace several vital players, including all-everything quarterback John Matocha.
Mines also returns enough star power that, along with a host of players who have been waiting their turn as backups, could still make second-year coach Pete Sterbick’s club a threat to return to McKinney, Texas, for a third straight title game and finally complete the program’s ultimate goal.
“I feel like we’ve recruited well. We’ve got to go prove that,” Sterbick said. “I think there’s a mix this year of veteran leadership and experience with some youth. But then some of the spots that we lost guys, we’ve got some guys that have just been waiting in the wings that are third- and fourth-year guys, fifth-year guys even, that are just ready to really get their shot.”
Matocha’s time in Golden may never be matched. He won 50 games and threw more touchdown passes (162) than anyone has at any level of college football. He won the Harlon Hill Trophy as the best player in the country in 2022 and was the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference’s player of the year three times.
Evan Foster is a redshirt senior who has appeared in 24 games and completed 63 of 83 passes in his career, all as Matocha’s backup. Two of the other three guys competing for the job, Valor Christian’s Sean McNair and Jake Sype, are both in their fourth year with the program. Redshirt freshman Joseph Capra from Denver South has also had a standout camp.
As they are at nearly every position, the Orediggers are flush with both experience and youth but also intriguing options.
“How do we replace John? Next man up,” senior wide receiver Max McLeod said. “It’s what we always do around here. John was a phenomenal player, obviously. But it’s the culture here. That’s how we win games. We have talent everywhere.”
Whoever takes the first snap Sept. 5 against West Texas A&M will have a wealth of skill-position talent to ease the transition. McLeod, one of three returning All-Americans, leads what could be the best receiving corps in the nation.
He had 115 catches for 1,656 yards and 16 touchdowns a year ago. Flynn Schiele and Mountain Vista’s Nick Stone are also back. The trio combined for more than 3,000 receiving yards.
Mines has to replace leading rusher Noah Roper, but Landon Walker had 760 yards and 12 touchdowns in what was essentially a first-team timeshare. Legacy’s Braelon Tate and Konnor Mickelsen showed flashes of potential stardom in small doses last year, but they’ll need to fend off redshirt freshman Max Barnes to be next in line for carries after Walker.
All-America lineman Levi Johnson is gone, but left tackle Nic Van de Graaf could be next up. He’s started 39 games for the Orediggers. There’s plenty of veteran experience in this group. Cole Johnson, who has played as a tight end and along the line, is expected to slot in full-time at guard.
“I think they’re pretty tough. They’re not going to be afraid to do the dirty work,” Sterbick said of his offensive line. “I think they’re as ready as any group to prove they can just keep up rolling. As far as we can go, they’re going to take us there, but we feel really good about them.”
From the days when Bob Stitt was calling the plays to the past few years with Matocha, Mines has had a well-earned reputation for offensive excellence. The defense has been pretty darn good, too.
The Orediggers allowed 13.0 points per game a year ago, but are also replacing the RMAC player of the year on this side of the ball, linebacker Nolan Reeve. Valor Christian’s Jackson Zimmermann is another returning All-American at cornerback, while Mines does bring back three of its top four tacklers in linebackers Jaden Healy, Adrian Moreno and Hayden Gregg.
Mines had five defensive linemen last season who were 23 or 24 years old, but the team will be much younger up front in 2024. There are three veterans back who were part of the rotation, but there are also five redshirt freshmen who saw a little action last year, including two in the championship game.
“One thing we like to take pride in is we have depth,” Zimmermann said. “We make a lot of subs on defense, so we make sure we’re 100%. We always talk about the first man’s 80% is not as good as the second man’s 100%.”
The Orediggers are 61-9 in the past five seasons, including a 14-0 start last year before a 38-7 loss to Harding in the title game. Mines has won plenty in the regular season, reaching double-digit victories in the past seven years.
Advancing to the championship game two years running is a new level of success. It’s still not enough, particularly for the veterans who have come so close. There is plenty to replace, but also plenty of belief in the sustainability of the machine.
“Going back-to-back and doing the exact same thing sucks,” McLeod said. “I hate hearing, ‘Congrats for second. It was a great season.’ That is something that really bugs me. One positive from it is just more experience in that final game, more experience playing into December. We can look back and see what needs to be done to take that next step.”
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