Tommies Blog: St. Thomas Hosts Talented Augsburg Squad For Homecoming
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Sometimes all it takes to recover from a frustrating loss to your rival is to blow out your next opponent with a dominating performance in all phases.
That's exactly what happened for the No. 24-ranked St. Thomas football team on Saturday. After a disappointing 24-14 loss to St. John's last week, the Tommies put away St. Olaf early in a 69-7 win over the Oles in Northfield. St. Thomas scored on each of its nine possessions in the red zone and built a 48-0 lead by halftime.
It was important for the Tommies to get their confidence back before they get a test for homecoming. St. Thomas will host Augsburg, a team capable of beating anyone in the MIAC with quarterback Ayrton Scott, at 1 p.m. Saturday in St. Paul. After Saturday's games, Bethel and Gustavus are each atop the MIAC 3-0. The Gusties, at 5-0 overall, are the only unbeaten left in the league.
St. Thomas scored 34 points in the second quarter on the way to the blowout victory. The Tommies put up nearly 700 yards in total offense against the Oles. After struggling against St. John's, Matt O'Connell was an impressive 21-of-25 passing for 266 yards and three touchdowns. Two of those went to tight end Charlie Dowdle, who finished the day with six catches for 109 yards. Brenton Braddock also had a big day running the ball with 16 carries for 119 yards and two touchdowns. Nick Waldvogel added a pair of touchdown runs, including a 22-yard score that was one of five in the second quarter.
St. Thomas had 39 first downs in the win, which is a MIAC record and is one of the national mark of 40 set by Mount Union. The 62-point margin of victory was also the widest in the last 100 seasons of St. Thomas football.
Augsburg (2-2, 1-1) is coming into St. Paul this week off its first MIAC loss of the season. The Auggies fell victim to the Gustavus passing attack in a 55-31 loss to the Gusties. St. John's transfer Mitch Hendricks had 33 completions for 504 yards and seven touchdowns to lead Gustavus to the win.
For St. Thomas this week, its biggest concern is containing Scott, a dual threat quarterback for Augsburg. He's got a great arm with two main targets to throw to, but isn't afraid to take off with the football if he's pressured. Scott threw for 346 yards and three touchdowns in Saturday's loss. Scott also ran 20 times for 117 yards and a touchdown. Augsburg has a talented running back in Jerise Washington, who runs for just less than 100 yards per game. Scott's favorite targets at wide receiver are Hunter Friesen and Joey Sonnenfeld, who have a combined seven touchdowns on the season. Friesen leads in yardage with about 92 yards per game.
Last year, St. Thomas rallied with 10 fourth quarter points for a 17-14 win over the Auggies. Scott passed for 234 yards and two scores in that game.
While the Tommies will focus on containing Scott, the St. Thomas offense has an opportunity to put up big numbers against the Augsburg defense. They may need to if Scott has a big game. The Auggies defense allows about 38 points per game and more than 400 total yards on average. About 318 of those yards come through the air.
That should bode well for O'Connell, who had a big game against St. Olaf after being benched in a loss to the Johnnies. St. Thomas is scoring about 38 points per game on average and is piling up more than 500 yards of offense per game. The Tommies are passing for 322 yards per game in MIAC play.
It's an especially big game for St. Thomas to keep the momentum going before it enters its toughest stretch. Three of the Tommies last four games are at Bethel, hosting Concordia (Moorhead) and finishing regular season hosting Gustavus, right now the lone overall undefeated team in the league.
Tune into WCCO Radio 830 AM at about 1 p.m. Saturday as Dave Lee will have the play-by-play and Eric Nelson will provide color commentary along with Fritz Waldvogel.