GOLDEN, Colo.  It is the 99th meeting — but just the second time both Western Colorado and Colorado School of Mines are both ranked in the top 10 — between the No. 8 Mountaineers and the No. 10 Orediggers, with Saturday's result certainly to have a big effect in the polls while providing the winner a leg up on determining the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference's football champion.

Western (7-0, 5-0 RMAC) has the series lead, 52-44-2, however Mines (6-1, 4-1 RMAC), then-No. 1, earned a home win last season over the then-No. 9 Mountaineers. The matchup is Colorado's longest unbroken football series.

WESTERN COLORADO HEADING INTO THE WEEKEND | 2024 Stats

• The Mountaineers are coming off a 35-24 win last Saturday over South Dakota Mines, scoring 28 unanswered points in the second half — all on touchdown throws from quarterback Drew Nash to wide receiver Josiah Ayon.
• The 28-point outburst took just 21 minutes and followed a pair of Hardrocker touchdowns in the first five minutes of the third quarter.
• Ayon would earn RMAC player of the week honors for the offense with his career-scoring day.
• Western added the RMAC defensive player of the week award, too, as Ricky Freymond filled the stat sheet with a total of 10 tackles, 5 tackles for loss, 3 sacks, and 1 blocked field goal attempt.
• The Mountaineers' unbeaten mark through seven games equals last season's start and is just the fourth time in program history they have played that deep into the season without a loss, the others coming in the 1963, 1964, 1978 and 1979 seasons.
• Western is second in the league in scoring offense at 38 points per game, while leading the RMAC in scoring defense, allowing 15 points per game. It will be challenged on both sides of the ball Saturday as Mines is third in scoring (36 PPG) and fourth in scoring defense (18 PPG).
• The Mountaineer offense is generating 453 yards per game, and average of 195 yards coming on the ground and 258 yads through the air.
• Braeden Hogan leads the rushing attack but is not alone in contributions on the ground. Hogan has rushed for 379 yards to lead the pack, while Royce Pao has 325 yards and Nash has chipped in with 284 yards, including a team-long 68-yard touchdown run.
• Nash is hitting on 64 percent of his throws (110-of-171), accumulating 1,269 yads and 12 touchdowns through the air this season.
• Both Ayon and tight end Daniel Parsek have accumulated more than 300 receiving yards, Ayon with 334 and Parsek with 323. Ayon's six touchdown catches leads the receiving corps and is tied for third most in the conference.
• Cy Shope and Freymond are leading the defense with 35 and 32 total tackles, respectively. Also worrisome for opposing offenses are linebackers Cameron Cooper (27 tackles) and Kendall Lightfoot (23) and safety Ethan Sanchez-Maxwell (22). Cooper and Sanchez-Maxwell lead the team in interceptions, each with two including Cooper's 96-yad pick-6 at West Texas A&M on September 14.

COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES HEADING INTO THE WEEKEND | 2024 Stats

• Mines has recovered strongly since a 14-13 loss to Colorado Mesa on Oct. 5, scoring 45 points in a 25-point win over S.D. Mines and ringing up 56 in a 56-14 win last week at Adams State.
• The Orediggers have won the last six meetings with the Mountaineers and are 8-2 in the past 10 games with Western.
• Since Marv Kay Stadium opened in 2015, the Orediggers have posted a 53-5 record (.913) on their home turf at 5,707 feet above sea level. They have won 19 straight at home dating back to the 2022 season.
• Receivers Max McLeod and Flynn Schiele both rank in the top 10 in NCAA Division II in receiving yards per game (Schiele 4th at 117.4, McLeod 7th at 109.6) and they are the only teammates in D-II averaging 100+ yards per game this season.
• Their 15 combined touchdowns are more than 120 entire teams (of 159) in D-II.
• Quarterback Evan Foster is the trigger-man for the air attack, last week throwing or 326 yards on a 25-of-31 afternoon at Adams State, also adding 57 yards rushing and catching his first career touchdown pass in the win.
• Foster has thrown for 1,997 yards with 17 touchdowns, averaging 285 YPG through the air, and is connecting on 70% of his attempts (153-219).

UP NEXT

• Western hosts No. 13 Colorado State University Pueblo on Nov. 2 at the Mountaineer Bowl at The Rady Family Sports Complex.
• The 1 p.m. game is the program's Military and First Responders Appreciation Day.