As an athletic left-handed quarterback out of Elizabeth High School, the lightly recruited Brody Oliver came to Colorado School of Mines thinking he would probably play defensive back, but as a redshirt freshman he spent most of the season at wideout on the scout team.
The position turned out to be an ideal fit, as in the final game of that season in Golden, Oliver’s first collegiate catches — two for 94 yards — were an omen of the gaudy stats to come from a guy who has since morphed into the school’s all-time greatest receiver.
“That game definitely helped build my confidence, especially because I hadn’t really ever played receiver before, but it was more about showing off something that I already had,” Oliver said. “I knew I could be a playmaker catching the football, and I knew I could help the team win.”
As a senior this season, Oliver — already the active NCAA all-divisions leader in career receiving touchdowns with 57 in addition to holding the Mines career receiving record with 3,561 yards — is doing just that. The two-year captain is a centerpiece one of of the best passing offenses in the nation, with quarterback Isaac Harker spearheading an aerial attack that’s second in Division II with 333.2 passing yards per game.
Harker transferred from Indiana State for his final season of eligibility, and he has wasted no time, although the Orediggers (9-1) lost 52-45 to Dixie State on Saturday in St. George, Utah, for their first loss of the season. Mines plays Chadron State in the regular-season finale next week at Marv Kay Stadium in Golden.
“I got into Golden on Jan. 4, and the wideouts and I got together at the field and started throwing the very next day,” Harker said. “I got to know Brody a little on the phone before that, and once we all got together, the relationships and the chemistry came easily and naturally.”
Harker leads all of college football (every division) with 34 passing touchdowns, 19 of which have ended up in the hands of Oliver. The electricity of that connection, along with additional weaponry in junior receiver Sean O’Dell, senior wideout Riley Hoff and junior running back Cam Mayberry, have stoked hopes around Golden that the Orediggers will still make the playoffs despite their first loss.
Mines’ passing domination this season (leading to the average of 50.6 points and 552.3 yards per game) is a flipped script from last year, when Mayberry scampered for more than 1,500 yards and the run-heavy Orediggers finished inside the top 10 in Division II rushing offense.
But even though Mines’ spread offense has taken to the air more in 2018, Mayberry remains a critical (albeit underrated) part of the attack with 1,175 yards rushing paired with 202 yards receiving.
“Sometimes, Cam gets forgotten a little bit this year, just because we’ve had so much success throwing the football,” Mines offensive coordinator Nick Fulton said. “He’s an All-American from a year ago, and our O-line has been outstanding as well. When people try to defend us, they can’t zero in on just one component. We like to think people have to defend the entire field against us.”
And while Harker emphasized that “Cam and the offensive lineman are definitely the foundation of the offense”, the foundation of the team’s overall success this year under fourth-year head coach Gregg Brandon is the selflessness embraced by every player on the roster.
“We have guys who know one week they may catch ten balls for 150 yards, and the next week we could hand the ball off 40, 50 times,” Fulton said. “There’s frequently discussions within groups of (role) players on the sidelines in practice, just talking about different, small ways they can help the team win that week.”
As Mines (ranked No. 4 in Super Region 4) finishes its season, Oliver, playing his final stretch of collegiate games, doesn’t believe his football career is sun-setting quite yet. He’s drawing interest from various NFL scouts, and the 6-foot-3, 210-pounder who can run the 40-yard dash in 4.47 seconds hopes winter combines and invitations to various senior bowls will further buoy his chances of becoming a professional.
“If you would’ve asked me about if I wanted to play in the NFL a couple months ago, I would’ve said ‘no,’ ” Oliver said. “But after seeing how the season has progressed, I’m pretty gung-ho about trying to make a run to play at the next level. I believe I can do it.”
The Orediggers’ air raid
A look at the offensive averages per game for Mines this season, and their rank in Division II.
Yards: 552.3 (1st)
Passing yards per game: 333.2 (2nd)
Points: 50.56 (2nd)
Turnovers: 8 (4th)
3rd-Down Conversions: 50.8% (5th)
Rushing: 219.1 (28th)
