Tommie Football Notes/Sept. 26

--GAME 3: St. Thomas (1-1 overall, 0-1 MIAC) is home Saturday to face Hamline (1-1, 0-1) in conference action. Kickoff is 1 p.m. at O'Shaughnessy Stadium.

--DID YOU KNOW? The Tommies have allowed just two defensive touchdowns in eight quarters of regulation this season -- none in the first half.

--LISTEN: Saturday's game will be webcast live by St.Thomas, and can be accessed here: 

www.mnsportsnetwork.com

--HOME GAMES: UST students, faculty and staff are admitted free to all home football games with their St. Thomas ID card. Remaining home games this fall are Sept. 27 vs. Hamline; Oct. 18 vs. St. John's; Oct. 25 vs. Carleton; and Nov. 7 against Bethel (Homecoming).

--THE COACHES: Glenn Caruso makes his St. Thomas and MIAC debut. He is 7-13 overall, including two seasons at Macalester as an independent...  Jim Good is 4-8 in his second season as a college head coach.

--NEXT WEEK: The Tommies travel to St. Peter for a 1:30 p.m. clash vs. Gustavus, then visit Moorhead to play the Cobbers on Oct. 11.

--GAME 2 HIGHLIGHTS: In the longest football game in NCAA Division III history, St. Olaf scored a 29-23 victory over the visiting Tommies in six overtimes last Saturday in Northfield. A crowd of 4,400 on a warm September afternoon watched a game with many prime scoring chances stopped by defense and special teams. In the sixth overtime, the Oles' Coty Watkins' 16-yard touchdown run finished off a game that lasted 3:40 and spoiled the conference coaching debut of UST's Glenn Caruso... It was one of the 10 longest games in NCAA football history. The only longer NCAA games on record are an eight-overtime game in Division I-AA, and three seven-OT games in Division I... UST led 14-0 early and still led 14-7 at halftime, but the game finished regulation at 14-14 after St. Olaf's 99-yard scoring drive in the fourth quarter. Both teams lost fumbles on the one-yard line in regulation that denied them prime scoring chances... Both teams went scoreless in the first, second and fourth overtimes while scoring field goals in the third OT. St. Thomas blocked a 22-yard field goal and saw a 27-yard try sail left to keep the game going. Both teams scored touchdowns in the fifth overtime then missed the mandatory two-point tries. The Oles took a 23-17 lead on John Haberman's 25-yard TD pass to Evan Endsley, but a two-point pass failed. St. Thomas tied the game 23-23 on QB David Sauer's two-yard run, and the Tommies had to go for two by NCAA rule. Sauer's sneak was stopped short to deny UST the victory, and extend the game to a sixth extra session. The Tommies stalled and missed a 43-yard field-goal try. The Oles (3-0, 1-0) needed just three plays to finally secure the win as Watkins rushed in from 16 yards... Brady Ervin finished with two interceptions. Tommy Becker had a sack, a forced fumble, a blocked field-goal try in overtime and 13 tackles. Zach Sturm had 12 tackles, a sack and a recovered fumble in the end zone. Fritz Waldvogel had six catches for 109 yards, and Sauer completed 17-of-34 passes for 207 yards.

PHOTO: Brady Ervin

--QUOTING UST'S HEAD COACH: On Sunday, Glenn Caruso told the Star Tribune's Kent Youngblood that the six-overtime battle was special. Caruso said the never-ending overtime sessions reminded him of the movie "Groundhog Day, as captains kept going out to midfield for coin flips, deciding who would take the ball first, over and over again. "But there was a smile on everybody's face," Caruso said. "This is what college football is about: a beautiful day, a great opponent, a tooth-and-nail game to the end. Win or lose, it was amazing."

--VIDEO CLIPS:  Here are some video highlights from Saturday, shot by St. Thomas videographer Brad Jacobsen:

Brady Ervin's first-quarter TD interception:

http://stream.stthomas.edu/view.htm?id=Football_at_StOlaf_21_int_TD

Fritz Waldvogel's first-quarter 65-yard TD catch and run:

http://stream.stthomas.edu/view.htm?id=Football_at_StOlaf_4_td_catch

David Sauer's rushing TD in the fifth overtime:

http://stream.stthomas.edu/view.htm?id=Football_at_StOlaf_3td_ot

Tommy Becker's blocked field goal to send the game to the fifth overtime:

http://stream.stthomas.edu/view.htm?id=Football_at_StOlaf_block_FG_ot

St. Olaf's game-winning 16-yard run:

http://stream.stthomas.edu/view.htm?id=Football_at_StOlaf_game_winner

--MORE LINKS: Coach Caruso's Monday audio blogs:

http://www.stthomas.edu/magazine/2008/fall/monday_morning_qb.html

Aquin video story on Sept. 6 over Macalester:

http://www.stthomas.edu/aquin/080912GlennCaruso/indexwindows.html

--PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: St. Thomas named six Players of the Week for Sept. 16-23: WR Fritz Waldvogel (offense), DB Brady Ervin (defense), LB Tony Danna (Hustler); punter A.C. Clothier (special teams); RB Dan Carr (Scout team, Offense); DB Ryan Petterson (Scout team, Defense).

--All-TIME SERIES: St. Thomas has won 11 of the last 12 and leads 53-23-1... Last November, QB James Leary had three TD runs and converted two fourth-down plays in overtime to lead the visiting Pipers to a 41-34 comeback win over St. Thomas at O¹Shaughnessy Stadium. The Pipers ended an 11-game losing streak to the Tommies and won their first conference game under first-year head coach Jim Good. They overcame another big day by UST senior wideout P.J. Theisen, who surpassed 200 career catches and caught 11 for 123 yards and two TDs... The hard-fought game between St. Paul neighbors included a combined nine turnovers; a blocked punt run in for a Pipers TD; 20 penalties assessed; and four key errors on extra-point or field-goal tries... Led by backup QB Kris Kopp, the Tommies scored 20 unanswered points to take a 27-21 lead early in the fourth quarter. Trailing by six, Hamline converted a 3rd-and-15 near midfield with 3:00 left, and scored two plays later on Leary¹s 16-yard run to tie the game. But Tommie Ross Petterson blocked the extra point to keep the score tied with 1:58 left. The Tommies drove from their own 29 to the Piper 16 as time was running down. The drive stalled, and a go-ahead 37-yard field goal with 13 seconds left had the distance but was wide left... Hamline fell behind 34-27 after the Tommies scored first in overtime. Facing 4th-and-10 and down to their final play, Leary threw a 20-yard pass to freshman Alex House for a first down. Leary ran into the end zone two plays later, and Derek Johnson kicked the tying extra point. The Pipers came back to convert a 3rd-and-3 for a first down and a 4th-and-1 for a TD to regain the lead at 41-34. The Tommies had a five-yard penalty and four incompletions in their second OT possession... The Tommies outgained Hamline 421-299 yards and had a 29-14 advantage in first downs. But they lost fumbles at their own 16- and six yard-lines that turned into HU touchdowns, and had a punt blocked returned for a third TD.

--SCOUTING THE PIPERS: Hamline won 19-13 at Martin Luther and lost 21-14 at Gustavus... The Pipers start four freshmen and five sophomores in their top 22... The Gusties scored a late touchdown last week and edged Hamline 21-14. Hamline intercepted four passes but was outgained 339-218 yards... QB James Leary threw two TD passes against Martin Luther and ran for two short TDs against Gustavus... Hamline went 3-7 last season, and its lone MIAC victory came at St. Thomas in two OT.

For more details on Hamline football, click below: http://www.hamline.edu/hamline_info/athletics/football/football.html

--UST OFFENSE: Senior QB David Sauer has played in 22 career games and has completed 60% of his passes for 4,825 yards and 43 touchdowns. He needs 1,615 passing yards to close his career second on the UST all-time list. Last season, he passed for 446 yards at Augsburg, 352 yards at St. Olaf, and 334 yards at St. John's. In the latter game in Collegeville, Sauer led an attack that put up 34 points on eye-opening scoring drives of 90, 58, 73, 69 and 55 yards. It was the most yards allowed by a St. John's defense since 2001... Senior WR Tony Margarit had a breakout season in 2007 as he went over 1,000 career yards with 51 receptions for 578 yards... Another receiving threat is speedy junior Sam Moen, who has eight career touchdowns along with 62 catches for 700 yards. Moen is an All-American relay runner and a multiple MIAC sprints placewinner in track and field and has helped St. Thomas win three conference titles thus far in that sport.

PHOTO: David Sauer

--THE COACHES: Glenn Caruso makes his St. Thomas and MIAC debut. He is 7-13 overall, including two seasons at Macalester as an independent...  Jim Good is 4-8 in his second season as a college head coach.

--ROCORI: Tommie starting QB David Sauer of Cold Spring was a high-school teammate of Gopher star WR Eric Decker and former Johnnie QB Alex Kofoed at Rocori High. Standout MIAC senior volleyball players Katie Kremer of UST and Bridget Burtzel of Gustavus are also Rocori grads... Five years ago this week, the halls of Rocori High were rocked by a senseless and tragic shooting that left two students dead. The 15-year-old shooter, a third Rocori student, was convicted and is now serving a life sentence in prison. That community continues to go through a healing process and attempts to move past that dark day in late September 2003.

--NEW LEADER: Caruso was hired last January as St. Thomas' 29th head coach in the 104-year history of its football program. He replaced Don Roney, who resigned last November after 10 seasons. In his 12-year coaching career, Caruso, 34, has been a part of three impressive rebuilding jobs. In 2006 he inherited just 24 players as head coach of a Macalester program that was coming off a 2-25 stretch from 2003-2005. Coach Caruso doubled the roster size and took the Scots to a 2-7 record in 2006 and a 4-5 mark in 2007. In his first season at Macalester, the Scots produced their two highest single-game total yardage outputs in their program's 119-year history. He has earned a reputation for installing dynamic, high-scoring attacks on offense, most recently in stints at Macalester and South Dakota's offensive coordinator (2004, 2005). His South Dakota teams averaged nearly 600 yards and 50 points per game to lead the nation in both catagories.

--MORE CARUSO: Caruso has achieved one distinction before he even worked a game with the Tommies. Caruso became the first Division III coach to twice grace the cover of American Football Monthly. Based in Palm Beach, Fla., American Football Monthly is the nation's foremost football publication for coaches, from high schools to NCAA Division I. Coach Caruso's story "10 Mistakes You¹re Bound to Make at Pre-Season Practices" was accompanied by some creative studio color photos taken by UST photographer Mike Ekern. The images were shot through plexiglass... In 2007 at Macalester, Caruso became the second D-III coach ever to appear on AFM's cover with his story on the "Pass, Action, Run" concept, which advocates an innovative offensive approach of selling the pass to open up the running game... St. John's legendary coach John Gagliardi was on an AFM cover in 2002 during his pursuit of the all-time coaching victory record.

--COACH TALK: Coach Caruso will have a QB Club meeting open to alumni, parents and fans on select Monday nights this fall at Plum's in St. Paul (Snelling and Randolph Avenues). The next session is next Monday Oct. 6... The coach also has an audio blog for the St. Thomas Magazine, on Mondays in the football season. It will be accompanied by a slide show of game action photos on Mondays after home games.

--OH, BROTHER: The 2008 season marks the first time since 1994 that there isn't a Kaiser or Sommerstad brother on the UST football roster. Greg, Andy and John starred from 1996-2002 and Paul and Pat Sommerstad were defensive standouts since 2002.

--TWO-SPORT TOMS: UST football's two-sport players include Moen, and DBs Matt Griswold (hurdles) and Chris Victor (conference runner-up in pole vault) in track and field; LB Tony Danna in hockey; DB Matt Olson in baseball; and three newcomers, QB Greg Morse, WR Fritz Waldvogel and DB Brady Ervin... Tommie freshman Zach Bork was the Minnesota Class AA state champ in the long jump at 22-8 1-4... In addition, sophomore Ben Wartman also plans to play baseball in 2009 and will compete for the open job at catcher.

--NEW FACES: The Tommies 2008 newcomers include five skilled transfers from Division I or II scholarship programs... The Tommies' recruiting class includes a dozen incoming freshmen who were invited to play in Minnesota's, Wisconsin's or Iowa's high school all-star games this summer... Linebacker help will come from former Minnesota Gopher Tommy Becker, who transferred to UST last spring. Becker helped lead Wayzata High to a 13-1 record and the large-class state championship in his senior season... Three other transfers are starting at safety or outside linebacker, including ex-Iowa Stater Brady Ervin of Eden Prairie and former St. Cloud State players Alex Hass of Wayzata and Zach Sturm of Spingfield. Sturm, who played in 10 games with the Huskies in 2007, led Springfield High to the 2005 Class A state championship as a senior as he threw or ran for 21 TDs and closed with 10 career pickoffs... At running back, sophomore transfer Michael Duncombe, a Mounds View graduate, transferred from Division II Truman (Mo.) State. At Mounds View, the 5-10, 170-pound Duncombe scored 43 touchdowns and rushed for 2,453 yards in his career... Freshman WR Alex Gauper of Spokane played on Washington's 2007 large-class state champion team.

PHOTO: Tommy Becker

--SENIOR STUFF: St. Thomas' 125-man roster includes only 17 seniors, and that group includes just 12 from the 2005 recruiting class who are playing their fourth consecutive season -- QB David Sauer; WRs Tony Margarit and Andrew Docter; RB Mikkel Haugen; LBs Alex Falenczykowski and Brian Plourde; DB Jeff Jarvis; DE Andrew Pafko; and offensive linemen Bill Lepsche, Zach Rishel, Paul Lyons and Phil Hollway. Other seniors are RB Adam Stein and DE Mark Peterson, who played their freshman seasons elsewehere, and TEs Tom Knowles and Jake Friederichs and Jamal Gipson each took at least one season off.

--NON-LEAGUE TESTS: For the first time since 2001, St. Thomas' schedule consists entirely of Minnesota opponents. St. Thomas has played challenging non-conference schedules over the years. Since 1998, the Toms have had 14 games vs. Division II Bemidji State or strong Division III programs Central, St. Norbert, UW-Stout, Coe and Loras. The Toms went 2-12 in those games, but seven of the 12 losses were by a combined 43 points... The next two years the Toms will face Macalester and Upper Midwest Conference champ Northwestern.

--NEXT SEASON: The Tommies will play the same schedule in the same order again in 2009, except at the opposite site. Thus it will open at Macalester Sept. 5 of 2009.

--TURNOVERS: To improve on last season's 2-8 finish, one of the tangibles that Caruso will emphasize is turnovers. The 2007 Tommies actually outgained seven of 10 opponents in total offense -- including nationally-ranked Bethel, Central and St. John's. But UST committed 31 turnovers in its eight losses. The Toms also had three punts blocked, with two returned for touchdowns. St. Thomas was plus 11 in turnovers in 2006 but slipped to minus 13 in last season's disappointing finish... One season before Caruso's hiring as Macalester's head coach, in 2005, the Scots had a minus-26 turnover ratio in an 0-9 finish. In 2007, Macalester had a plus-2 turnover ratio and finished 4-5.

--QUICK HITS: UST allowed only three gains of 40-plus yards in returns, rushes and receptions in 2007 -- all passes... St. Thomas has won six or more games in 19 of the last 27 seasons... The UST offense has had 100-yard rushing performances by a player 52 times in the 16 seasons since 1992... In MIAC games since 1996, St. John's is 93-10; Bethel is 79-4; Concordia is 8-35; UST is 66-37; Gustavus is 54-49; St. Olaf is 48-55; Augsburg is 40-62; Hamline is 21-82; Carleton is 16-87; (Macalester was 5-49 before leaving the MIAC for football)... UST has had just three losing football seasons in the last 13 years, and was a combined 13-6 in 2005 and 2006... St. Thomas has 23 upperclassmen with grade-point averages of 3.50 or higher, plus an overall team gpa near 3.30.

--GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN: St. Thomas' graduation losses include school-record setting receiver P.J. Theisen (41 games, 218 catches, 3,223 yards, 25 TDs); tailback Jake Casey (11 100-yard rushing outings in 24 career games); three offensive line starters in center Pat Cahalan (three-year starter), guard Graham Gmach (four-year starter), and tackle Mark O'Connell (NCAA champion in hammer throw in track and field); and three-year starting LB/DB Pat Sommerstad (193 tackles, eight interceptions).

--COMING AND GOING: Senior tight end Jake Friederichs is back out after sitting out in 2007. He's expected to see extensive action with returner Tom Knowles. Friederichs presence will mark the ninth year in a row with a Totino-Grace grad playing on UST's offensive line... At placekicker, 2005 and 2006 starter Eric Taylor is back after a season away from the team. In three seasons Taylor has converted 3-of8 field goals under 40 yards and has made 53 of 59 extra-poit kicks... Last year's placekicker, Sean Barrett, is now competing in golf for the Tommies... At least two UST recruits are not in football this season and will play other sports at St. Thomas -- Tait Sande (hockey) and Brad Weiers (baseball).

--GOOD WORKS: Last fall, Pat Sommerstad was among 22 college football players named to the 2007 Good Works Team by the American Football Coaches' Association (AFCA). Eleven Division I players, plus 11 players from Division I-AA, II and III are honored each year for exceptional campus and community service... St. Thomas has had a Good Works honoree all 10 years that the program has included non-Division I players. The 10 in a row is the longest streak in college football. The Toms' 2008 nominee is Mikkel Haugen.

 EMAIL ARTICLE

 PRINT ARTICLE