UST Football Notes/Nov. 6

November 05, 2007

--GAME 10: St. Thomas (2-7 overall, 2-5 MIAC) plays its final home game of the season Saturday Nov. 10 against the Oles of St. Olaf College (7-2, 5-2). Kickoff is 1 p.m. on Manitou Field in Northfield... The Tommies have lost three in a row despite scoring 14 touchdowns in games vs. Concordia, St. John's and Hamline. The Toms scored 14 TDs in their first 22 quarters of the season and have 18 in the last 14 quarters of regulation... UST has lost five consecutive home games beginning with a 27-7 loss in October 2006 to St. John's...  St. Thomas has won 10 of its last 14 MIAC road games... UST starts 10 seniors and juniors while St. Olaf starts 14 juniors and seniors... Tommie senior receiver P.J. Theisen of New Prague High has caught 19 TD passes in his last 15 games dating back to 2005 and is approaching a fourth career milestone -- he needs 55 yards to become the seventh MIAC player to surpass 3,000 career receiving yards. In an 11-catch day last Saturday in a loss to Hamline, Theisen becme the fifth MIAC player to surpass 200 career catches... Theisen had 463 receiving yards and six touchdowns in four career games vs. Hamline... Theisen will also tie a school record as he will start his 41st career game on Saturday.

--LISTEN: The game will be webcast by St. Thomas through its new partnership with Minnesota Sports Broadcasting Network (MSBN) and can be heard via your computer through the following link on Saturday: 

www.mnsportsnetwork.com

--DID YOU KNOW?: In its 2-7 start, St. Thomas has outgained seven of the nine teams it has played in total offense, including all three nationally-ranked teams it has faced. In a 51-34 loss Oct. 27 at 9-0 St. John's (now 9-0), the Toms totaled 453 yards of offense to SJU's 419. In a 19-18 loss to Bethel (now 7-1), the Toms had a 348-299 advantage. In a 35-10 loss at Central (Iowa) (now 9-0) on Sept. 1, UST outgained the Dutchmen 350-157... In its seven losses, St. Thomas is minus-19 in takeaways (27 turnovers lost, eight gained), while in its two wins it's plus-5 (seven gained, two lost).

--MIAC LOG: St. John's and Bethel are the last MIAC unbeatens into the final week. This weekend, besides the UST-Olaf clash; Bethel at St. John's; Gustavus hosts Carleton, and Hamline is home to Augsburg. Concordia has completed its season.. In MIAC football games since 1996, St. John's is 93-8; Bethel is 77-23; UST is 66-35; Concordia is 67-35; Gustavus is 52-49; St. Olaf is 46-55; Augsburg is 39-62; Hamline is 21-80; Carleton is 15-86; (Macalester was 5-49 before leaving the MIAC for football).

--QUICK HITS: UST is averaging 23 first downs and 295 passing yards a game...  UST has had at least one TD pass in 18 of its last 19 games... The Tommie defense intercepted 47 passes in 28 games from 2004-2006. In their seven losses in 2007, UST has had only five pickoffs but have added six in their two victories... Tommie senior offensive guard Graham Gmach has started all 37 games of his career... Senior Pat Sommerstad had a pickoff, three pass breakups and 12 tackles in the Oct. 6 win at Carleton. Three of his eight career picks have come vs. Carleton... In its seven losses, St. Thomas has been outscored 84-21 in the first quarter. Last season, UST allowed just 15 first-quarter points in 10 games... Two freshmen starting CBs have been sidelined for the year with injuires --  Matt McQuillan, ranked first in MIAC punt returns, was lost for the season with a broken ankle in game three; Kirk Baglien was knocked out in game four... The Tommies' 63-man travel squad thus far has included 22 players from its 2007 recruiting class and 19 players from its 2006 class... The UST offense has had 100-yard rushing performances by a player 53 times in the last 16 seasons, including three in a row in a recent stretch by senior Jake Casey (100 yards at Augsburg; 112 yards vs. Concordia; 133 yards vs. St. John's)... UST moved two senior RBs to other spots -- Don Jaeger is now a tight end and Scott Mattke is a cornerback... Before its win at Carleton, UST had its first 0-4 start since 1969. That team finished 1-9, but four years later the 1973 Tommies finished 9-1.

--P.J. WATCH: Senior receiver P.J. Theisen of New Prague High has caught 19 TD passes in his last 15 games dating back to 2005. He has 70 catches for 914 yards this season. In 40 career games he has 202 catches for 2,945 yards and 23 TDs. Theisen broke a 25-year school record for career receptions in the Oct. 13 victory at Augsburg. Theisen had a go-ahead 39-yard TD catch in the third period to break a record held by ex-Minnesota Viking Jim Gustafson (174 receptions from 1979-82). Theisen finished the day with 11 catches for 171 yards. On Oct. 20, Theisen broke the Tommies' career receiving yardage mark of 2,652 held by All-American Ryan Davis; On. Oct. 27, Theisen caught two TD passes amoing his nine receptions for 124 yards at St. John's... Theisen also ranks third on UST's career all-purpose yards list with 3,747 behind Gary Trettel (6,044 yards) and Jake Barkley (4,662)... The Theisen name looms large in St. Thomas athletics -- junior Katie Theisen is an All-MIAC distance runner, hurdler, jumper and relay runner in UST track and field and cross country. In five races this fall, Katie has finished first three times, took fourth out of 571 runners at the U of M Griak race, and was second in the MIAC championships to lead UST to first place. She will race Saturday on the St. Olaf campus in the NCAA regional race. There's also a third Theisen -- freshman sister Becky will play basketball and compete in track and field this school year for the Tommies...  P.J., who has a 3.93 gpa, has accepted a full-time job in accounting with a local Deloitte office. He won an $18,000 postgrad scholarship last year and plans to eventually pursue an MBA or a CPA degree. Katie has a 4.0 gpa and plans to attend medical school after graduation in 2009... Both P.J. and Katie are 400-meter hurdlers who have qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in that event.

--CASEY: Jake Casey finished October with a bang. He rushed for 100 yards on 15 carries, caught four passes for 61 yards, and scored two TDs in the Oct. 13 comeback win at Augsburg. He came back Oct. 20 to rush 10 rimes for 112 yards and catch three passes for 15 yards in the 51-28 loss to Concordia. Last week at St. John's he scored two TDs and had 206 yards of offense (133 rushing, 73 receiving). Casey, a former option QB in high school, sat out of football for two seasons before joining the Tommies in 2005. The honorable-mention all-state QB at White Bear Lake hadn't played running back since junior high, but his athleticism and toughness has helped him post eight 100-yard rushing games and five more 80-yard outings in his 23 college games. He has 21 TDs, 1,734 rushing yards and 407 receiving yards. His 68-yard scamper vs. St. John’s in 2005 was the longest TD run allowed by the Johnnies’ vaunted defense since 2000. Casey lost his first fumble last week in 351 rushes from scrimmage in 24 games in college.

--SAUER HONORED: In 19 career games, junior QB David Sauer is 8-10 as a starter and has completed 60% of his aerials for 4,109 yards with 38 TD passes and 23 interceptions...Sauer was among three who shared MIAC Offensive Player of the Week honors Oct. 15. It marked the first time since 2004 Tommie football had a conference Offensive honoree. Sauer threw for three TDs, had a career-best 441 passing yards, had no interceptions and ran for a TD in a 50-33 comeback win over Augsburg on Oct. 13. Sauer completed 35-of-46 passes and rallied UST from a 33-23 third-quarter deficit as he led four scoring drives of 64, 39, 70 and 60 yards. He completed 17-of-20 passes in the second half; rushed for 30 yards to finish with 471 yards of total offense; guided a UST offense that rolled up 33 first downs and 610 yards of offense... Oct. 27 at St. John's, Sauer played one of his better college games as he threw for 334 yards and four TDs -- a rare feat for an opponent in Collegeville. In two previous starts combined vs. St. John's, Sauer was sacked 12 times, threw four pickoffs, had one TD pass and completed 50% for 297 yards.

 --GOOD WORKS: For the 10th year in a row, the St. Thomas football team had a player honored on the 22-man Good Works Team selected by the American Football Coaches' Association (AFCA). Senior Pat Sommerstad (Apple Valley/Eastview HS) was among 11 players honored from Division II and III and NAIA teams 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... Sommerstad is starting for the third season in a row. A Finance/Economics major with a 3.82 gpa, Sommerstad is also a team co-captain and two-time Academic All-MIAC honoree. He has eight career interceptions (one for a touchdown) and two fumble recoveries to go with 154 tackles.

Click here for full story:

http://www.tommiesports.com/ftbl/news/20070912Good_Works.html

--THE COACHES: Don Roney is in his 10th season as Tommie head coach and his 22nd season on the UST staff. His 54-43 record includes a 52-31 mark in conference play. Roney also was head coach from 1985-88 at North Hennepin CC... St. Olaf's Chris Meidt is 39-20 in six seasons.

--LAST MEETING: Last

--LAST WEEK: St. Olaf recevered from an early deficit to win 85-28 at rival Carleton... The Tommies fell in two overtimes to Hamline in a see-saw game they led 7-0, 27-21 and in the first OT 34-27. The Toms had 29 first downs to Hamline's 14 and outgained the Pipers 401-299 yards. Five turnovers, 10 penalties and a blocked punt ran in for a touchdown contributed to UST's loss. Besides the special teams score, the longest of Hamline's five TD drives was 47 yards as they had scoring drives after fumbles of 16 and six yards. Pat Sommerstad and Jeffrey Hilliard had pickoffs; Scott Saehr had two forced fumbles; Ross Pettersen blocked a PAT with 1:58 left to keep the game tied 27-27; and sophomore QB Kris Kopp (28-of-41, 288 yards) came off the bench to lead three scoring drives in the last 32:13 of regulation. Two other drives reached field-goal range but a bad snap and a miss kept points off the board. 

--SCOUTING ST. OLAF: The Oles boast perhaps the best kicker in conference history in senior Paul Fortman. He is 54-of-54 on PAT, 8-of-10 on field goals and averages 42.1 yards on 24 punts this season. His 2006 numbers were nearly as impressive (42-of-46 PAT, 7-of-9 FG, 41.8 ypp). Senior WRs Horace Gant and Andrew Schmeising each have 26 career TD catches. Gant has 2,923 career yards and is looking to join Theisen as the potentially the seventh and eighth players on the MIAC career list for 3,000 yards. With a win, the Oles can post their third consecutive 8-2 finish, all under the leadership of senior QB Matt Penz. The explosive Oles are averaging 48 points and 512 yards of offense per game. They lost 30-29 at St. John's; held off Concordia 52-51; and were outscored 21-0 in the second half in a loss to Bethel.

For more on St. Olaf football, click here:

http://www.stolaf.edu/athletics/football/

--YOUNG UST TEAM: The Tommies have 26 freshmen and sophomores in their 47-man two-deeps, including 13 players from their 2007 recruiting class. As many as seven true freshmen or transfers have been starting... Despite losing a few injured players, UST has a school-record 135-man roster. The Toms have only four home games but also played 4-5 junior-varsity games, all at home.

--TOTINO CONNECTION: For the eighth season in a row, UST has a Totino-Grace High graduate starting on its offensive line. Senior Graham Gmach and freshman Matt Manion have started all three 2007 games. Gmach has started 37 games in a row. Other Totino grads who started up front were Sam Friederichs (2004-06) and brothers Brock and Blake Norman (2000-2004).

--INJURY FRONT: The Toms have a few players sidelined with injuries. Besides the season-ending injuries to McQuillan and Baglien, soph DB Ross Alberts and DL Nick Pooler have sat out all season. 

--TOUGH SCHEDULE: In Coach Don Roney's era, St. Thomas has played one of Division III more challenging non-conference schedules. 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 are 2-12 in those games, but eight of the 12 losses are by a combined 51 points... In 2008 and 2009, the Tommies will play local teams Macalester (first game) and Northwestern (last game) to replace Central and Loras.

--WHAT'S NEW: St. Thomas returned to a 10-game schedule in 2006 after playing just nine games in 2004 and 2005... Joining the UST coaching staff as a full-time coach working with defensive backs and special teams is Brent Pradia. Former Macalester head coach Dennis Czech also joined the staff as running backs coach... For the first time since 1965, the Tommies have only four home games.

Preseason Quick Facts
2007 Tommies Football
Letterwinners returning: 68
Letterwinners lost: 38
Offensive Starters Returning/Lost: 8/3
Defensive Starters Returning/Lost: 6/5

Last Year
2006 Overall record: 6-4
2006 MIAC record: 5-3
2006 MIAC finish: 4th
School Information
Location: St. Paul, Minn.
Founded: 1885
Enrollment: 5,500 (undergraduate)
Nickname: Tommies
School Colors: Purple and Gray
Stadium: O'Shaughnessy Stadium
Playing Surface: FieldTurf (artificial)
Capacity: 5,000
Affiliation: NCAA Div III
President: Rev. Dennis Dease
Athletic Director: Steve Fritz
Athletic Phone: (651) 962-5900

Football History
First year of football: 1904
All-time bowl / play-off record: 1-2-1
Years in post-season play: 3
Last postseason appearance / result:
'90 NCAA 2nd rnd / 33-32 loss to Central
All-time record: 504-323-34

Sports Information
Sports Info Director: Gene McGivern
SID office phone: (651) 962-5903
Home phone: (651) 686-6399
SID Fax: (651) 962-5910
Press Box phone: (651) 962-5939
E-Mail: ejmcgivern@stthomas.edu
Athletics website:
www.tommiesports.com

The 2007 Coaching Staff
Head Coach Don Roney
Alma Mater / Year: St. Thomas '84
Record at school (years): 52-36 (9)
Career record: 52-36 (9)
E-mail:djroney@stthomas.edu
Office phone: (651) 962-5908
Best time / day to reach coach: 11 am - 1 pm

Assistant Coaches
Bill Burke (Offensive Line)
Dennis Czech (Running Backs)
Tim Fischer (Offensive Line)
Dan Fogelson (Wide Receivers)
Dan Green (Linebackers)
Lindsey Hoyer (Defensive Line)
Justin Lockrem (Quarterbacks)
Mark Noel (Tight Ends)
Brent Pradia (Defensive Backs/Special Teams)
Dick Rinehart (Recruiting)
Jeff Schuh (Defensive Line)
Blane Tetreault (Defensive Coordinator)

The Tommies' Top Losses from 2006

--Sam Friederichs (Grad/OT) All-MIAC, 3-year starter

--Ben Hanson (Grad/OL) 2nd-team All-MIAC, 3-year starter

--Mike Hara (Grad/DL) Academic All-District; Career: 3-year starter; 8.5 sacks, 11 TFL, 95 tackles

--Ryan Jansen (Grad/QB-TE) Career: 3-year starter on offense; 16 TD passes, 2,714 yards

--Justin Nwadiashi (Grad/CB) All-Region, 2X All-MIAC, Career: 9 INTs, 3 fum. rec., forced fumble, 102 tackles

--Mike Rouse (Grad/DT) All-Region, All-MIAC; Career: 25.5 TFL, 10 sacks, 2 fum. rec., 142 tackles

--Eric Taylor (Did Not Return/PK) 2-year Career: 2-of-8 FG, 46-of-52 PAT

The Tommies' Top Returning Players

--Matt Anderson (SR/DB/6-2/195) 2006: 5 INTs, 30 tackles

--Scott Brink (SO/RB/5-9/180) 2006: Last 6 games had 5 TDs, 420 rushing yards, 173 receiving yards

--Pat Cahalan (SR/C/6-0, 240) Captain, Career: 3rd year as starter

--Jake Casey (SR/RB/5-10/215) Career: 16 games, 1,215 rushing yards, 5.0 ypc, 13 TDs, 5 100-yard rushing games

--Graham Gmach (SR/OG/6-2, 275) 4th year as starter (has started all 29 games)

--David Sauer (JR/QB/6-4, 195) Career: 10 games, 6-3 as starter, 23 TD passes, 9 INTs, 2,131 yards

--Pat Sommerstad (SR/LB/6-6/195) Captain, Career: 6 INTs, 81 tackles, 7 pass break-ups, 5 TFL

--P.J. Theisen (SR/WR/6-2/190) Captain, 2X Acad. All-American; 5X T&F All-American; Career: 31 games, 132 catches, 2,031 yards, 10 TDs

The Tommies' Top Newcomers

--Kirk Baglien, FR, CB, Mpls./Washburn

--Sean Barrett, FR, PK-P, 6-2, 180, Mahtomedi HS (12 FGs for Minn. 4A state champion Zephyrs in 2005

--Tony Danna, FR, LB, 6-1, 200, Hill-Murray HS (all-stater)

--Wyatt Delgado, FR, LB, 6-1, 235, Maple Grove

--Matt Manion, FR, OL, 6-3, 290, Totino-Grace HS (all-stater, played on Minn. 4A state champion team)

--Matt McQuillan, FR, CB-KR, St. Paul/Cretin-Derham Hall (started on CDH state champ baseball team)

--Josh Ostrue, SO, OT, 6-4, 285, South St. Paul HS (transfer from St. Cloud State)

--David Roe, FR, DL, 6-2, 240, Eden Prairie (starter on 2006 Minn. 5A state champion team)

--Scott Saehr, SO, DL, 5-11, 235, Pierz (transfer from Central Lakes CC)

--Bryan Villar, SO, DB, 6-2, 200, Tartan HS (transfer from Augustana (S.D.)

--Marcel Walker, SO, DL, 6-2, 285, St. Paul Harding (transfer from N.D. State School of Science)

2007 Schedule
Date Opponent Time
9/1 @ Central 1:00pm
9/8 @ Loras 1:00pm
9/15 Gustavus 1:00pm
9/22 Bye
9/29 Bethel 1:00pm
10/6 @ Carleton 1:00pm
10/13 @ Augsburg 1:00pm
10/20 Concordia 1:00pm
10/27 @ St. John's 1:00pm
11/3 Hamline 1:00pm
11/10 @ St. Olaf 1:00pm

2006 Results
Date Opponent Result
9/2 Central L, 7-17
9/9 Loras W 19-7
9/16@ Gustavus W, 21-7
9/30@ Bethel L, 7-17
10/7 Carleton W 14-10
10/14 Augsburg W, 47-21
10/21 @ Concordia W, 21-15
10/28 St. John's L, 7-27
11/4 @ Hamline W 35-7
11/11 St. Olaf L 31-35

St. Thomas vs. the MIAC
All-time Record vs. MIAC Opponents
Series vs. Augsburg 52-9-2
Series vs. Bethel 16-12-1
Series vs. Carleton 23-11-2
Series vs. Concordia 28-36-0
Series vs. Gustavus 38-35-2
Series vs. Hamline 53-22-1
Series vs. St. John's 28-46-1
Series vs. St. Olaf 35-15-1