Greeley – It wasn’t about nostalgia, it was about necessity.
Thirty years after Northern Colorado thought it had ended its long-time rivalry with the Colorado School of Mines, the Bears open their 2005 football season Saturday against the Orediggers at Nottingham Field.
“We got them on our schedule because we couldn’t get any Division I-AA programs to come in here, so we went and got Mines and Fort Lewis to fill a couple of holes,” coach Kay Dalton said.
Mines plays at the Division II level.
“But they’re a good team, they went pretty deep into the playoffs last year,” Dalton said. “All we know about them is what we saw last year when they had that quarterback (Chad Friehauf) who was so good.”
With Friehauf gone and UNC’s Tony Christensen recently declared academically ineligible, Saturday’s game will match two new starting quarterbacks, Garrett Mehl for Mines and Nick Hager for UNC. Mehl came on in relief of Danny Medina last week in Mines’ season opening 28-17 loss to Washburn (Kan.).
While Mehl has Division II All-American Justin Gallas to throw to, former UNC All-American Vincent Jackson, now with the San Diego Chargers, won’t be there for Hager.
“But I don’t have any concerns,” Dalton said. “I’m very comfortable with this team. Overall, I think we’re a solid football team, a lot better than we were a year ago, even with our loss of Vincent Jackson and some of those other guys.
“With Nick, I like what I see. He’s a great competitor. He knows the offense, he knows what he’s doing, he doesn’t make a lot of mistakes, and he’s a heckuva scrambler, which is something we didn’t have last year.”
Hager, a senior, said he likes what he sees, too, and what he sees is a big season for the Bears.
“I’m very excited,” Hager said. “This is my last season, so I’m just going to go out there and have a lot of fun.
“I think this team has the best chemistry of any team since I’ve been here.”
The Bears beat the Orediggers 37-6 in 1975, extending their lead in the series to 29-21-2. Mines is trying to come back after the season-opening setback.
“I’m anxious to get out there and see us play,” Mines coach Bob Stitt said. “I don’t know who those guys were last week.”
