UST Football 9-Game Notes/Nov. 9

November 9, 2001
Wed. Nov. 7, 2001

St.Thomas Football 9-Game Notes

.THE GAME--St. Thomas (7-1 MIAC, 7-2 overall) plays host to Bethel (7-1 MIAC, 8-1 overall) Saturday. Kickoff is at 1 p.m. in O'Shaugnessy Stadium in St. Paul. Gates open at noon and while there's no reserved seating, the stadium seats 5,000 and has room for at least 3,000 more standing, so there's no danger of fans being turned away.

--GREAT RACE--St. John's 34-0 win over previously unbeaten Bethel and UST's 28-27 win over Gustavus on Oct. 27 created a three-way tie for the conference lead. All three teams won lat week, so the Bethel-St. Thomas winner likely will tie St. John's for the championship. The Johnnies have won seven in a row and will secure a title share if they beat winless Carleton Saturday in Collegeville. If the Tommies win, they'll share the MIAC title for the first time since 1990. The Tommies have won five in a row and six consecutive home games. They're trying to reach eight season victories for the fourth time in nine seasons.

--NCAA PLAYOFFS--St. John's has a virtual lock on the MIAC's automatic NCAA playoff berth, via its head-to-head wins over both Bethel and UST (27-21 on Sept. 29). That leaves the UST-Bethel winner resting its hopes on gaining one of the three at-large "Pool C" berths nationwide into the NCAA playoffs. The best case for the MIAC co-champ is that last year's conference runner-up, St. John's, came within one score of winning the NCAA championship. Also, 2001 NCAA playoff qualifier Trinity lost 37-26 to fourth-place Gustavus. The bad news is that there are several teams under consideration; Bethel's margin of defeat to SJU; and the Tommies' non-conference loss to Division II Bemidji State.

--LAST SIX SEASONS--Over the last six seasons, St. John's, Bethel and St. Thomas have been the consistent teams atop the MIAC. In conference play in that span, St. John's is 47-6, bethel is 43-10 and the Tommies are 41-12.

.COACH--UST's Don Roney is 27-12 in four seasons, including a 27-8 MIAC record. Under Roney, the Tommies are 0-4 vs. St. John's and Division II Bemidji State; and 1-2 vs. Bethel, but are 26-2 vs. the other seven MIAC schools.

.BARKLEY WATCH--St. Thomas running back Jake Barkley (JR-Plymouth/Robbinsdale Armstrong HS) gained 201 yards on 35 carries Oct. 27 in a 28-27 victory over Gustavus, then rushed 19 times for 155 yards in last Saturday's 35-6 win over Hamline. He became the ninth MIAC rusher to surpass 3,000 career yards and now has 3,066 yards. He's had back-to-back 1,000-yard rushing seasons. On Oct. 20, he ran for 96 yards on 20 carries in one half of a 54-0 win at Macalester. Barkley gained 79 yards on 13 carries on a muddy field Oct. 13 in the 28-16 win over St. Olaf. Barkley didn't play the Oct. 6 win over Augsburg due to a bruised knee. Prior to the 201-yard game vs. Gustavus, Barkley ranks third in NCAA Division III in rushing yards per game (153.1) and 17th in all-purpose yards (172.0). He now has 3,605 career all-purpose yards and averages 114 rushing ypg on career and 150 ypg in last two seasons. He has had 100-yard rushing games in 15 of 27 career games, including 14 of last 17. He's now second on St. Thomas' all-time rushing list behind All-American Gary Trettel (3,724 from 1988-90). He moved past former No. 2 Dave Gervais (2,665) Oct. 20. The Tommies are 13-4 in MIAC play when Barkley rushes for 79 or more yards.

MIAC 3,000-Yard Rushing List
Rank Player/School-------Years-------Total Rushing Yards
Ole Gunderson, St. Olaf (1969-71) 4,090****
1. Tim Schmitz, St. John's (1974-77) 3,933
2. Gary Trettel, St. Thomas (1988-90) 3,724
3. Adam Henry, Carleton (1990-93) 3,482
4. Jeremy Tvedt, Bethel (1993-96) 3,351
5. Tom Dahlberg, Gustavus (1969-72) 3,315
6. Mike Schumacher, Gustavus (1987-90) 3,236
7. Ron Straka, Gustavus (1977-80) 3,071
8. Jake Barkley, St. Thomas (1999-current) 3,066
9. Chris Moore, St. John's (1997-2000) 3,010

Others-Manuel Spriegl, St. Olaf (1999-current) 2,880

****-Yards gained while in Midwest Conference prior to joining MIAC

.HILLIARD HOT--St. Thomas junior WR Andrew Hilliard, who played WR-DB-Punter on the 1998 Woodbury Royals' Minnesota HS state championship team, ranks among the national leaders in receiving yards per game, scoring and receptions per game. He was named Co-Offensive Player of the Week for MIAC football Oct. 15 (shared the award with St. John's junior QB Ryan Keating). He had a career-high 194 receiving yards on 10 catches, including three for TDs, in the Tommies' 28-16 win over St. Olaf. The Oles had pulled within 21-16 with 7:00 remaining when Hilliard made a fingertip catch on a post pattern on a 3rd-and-5 play and finished off a 64-yard TD reception. He came back with five catches for 87 yards and a TD in one half vs. Macalester. Hilliard, an Academic All-America candidate with a 3.978 gpa, has missed one game with an injury but in eight games has 12 TD catches among his 49 receptions for 875 yards. He has 95 catches for 1,706 yards and 16 TDs on his career.

.LEARNING FAST--St. Thomas quarterback Nick Ambrasas (JR-St. Paul/Arlington) is 11-3 as a starter vs. MIAC teams since moving into the No. 1 role in week five of the 2000 season. In those 14 MIAC games, he's completed 59.9% of his passes (230-of-384) for 3,050 yards with 30 TDs and 11 interceptions. The Tommie offense has averaged 30 ppg in those 14 games. Ambrasas has thrown 110 passes without a pickoff since the fourth quarter of the Oct. 6 Augsburg game. He ranks 27th nationally in passing efficiency at 147.3.

.OTHER NCAA RANKINGS--Besides Barkley and Hilliard, the Tommies are ranked 26th in Division III total offense (425.1 ypg) and 30th in total defense (260.0); 12th in turnover margin (plus-1.67 tpg); and Justin Kostner (SO-Arcadia, Wis.) ranks ninth in kickoff returns (28.8 ypr).

.SWITCH--A season-ending injury to starting RG Joe Moline prompted the Tommies to bring two defensive players into that role. Johnny Allen (SR-St. Paul/Highland Park) switched from DE to RG and now wears #69. Andy Kaiser (SR-Mora) still starts at DT but also takes some snaps at RG. Kaiser had a QB hit that forced an interception last week vs. St. Olaf. He has 236 career tackles and has started all 39 games on his career. He needs 20 tackles to move into fifth on the Tommie career charts.

.HONORED--St. Thomas wide receiver Brian Brenberg (SR-Wyoming, Minn./Forest Lake HS) is one of 11 players nationally from Division I-AA, II, III and NAIA football teams named to the 2001 Good Works Team by the American Football Coaches' Association. It's the fourth consecutive year the Tommies have had a player honored on the elite national team, which honors exceptional community and campus volunteer efforts by college football players. Brenberg is the lone Minnesotan honored in 2001. Brenberg is a co-captain, starter and fourth-year letterman for the Tommies' football team, and has also lettered twice in track and field (triple jump). Brenberg carries a 3.98 grade-point average (4.00 scale) in Finance & Marketing. He has 47 catches for 548 yards and four TDs on his career, despite missing parts of three games this season with an injury.

--PICKOFF PARTY--In their current five-game winning streak, St. Thomas has intercepted 14 passes. The Tommies have 22 interceptions in nine games and are making a run at the school 10-game season record of 24 set in 1979. Freshman Matt Meunier has eight interceptions in nine games to rank sixth in Division III (0.9 ipg). The Tommie school record is 10 by former NFL player Neal Guggemos in 1983. The Tommies have a plus-16 in turnover margin in eight MIAC games.

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