Tommies Blog: St. Thomas Looking To Start Strong At UW-Eau Claire
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The St. Thomas football team is looking to build off an 8-3 season in 2014 that included a trip to the NCAA Division III Playoffs.
The journey for the Tommies, ranked No. 14 nationally in Division III, starts Saturday night across the border in Wisconsin as they face a team that won just one game last year. St. Thomas travels to UW-Eau Claire and knows it can't look past the Blugolds despite their 1-9 record last season.
The two squads met in the season opener last year in St. Paul, where St. Thomas carried a 22-3 lead late into the third quarter. UW-Eau Claire scored a late fourth quarter touchdown to make it close, but the Tommies got the 22-17 victory. It was the first of seven straight losses for the Blugolds to start the year, including getting shut out in consecutive weeks and a 31-7 loss to St. John's.
In the Tommies' win last year, Jack Kaiser ran for 63 yards and two touchdowns as St. Thomas collected 376 yards in total offense.
The Tommies will have a bit of a new look behind center this year with John Gould taking over for the graduated Matt O'Connell. Gould played in 10 games last year and threw for more than 1,400 yards with 16 touchdowns and just six interceptions.
Many of his favorite targets are back, including wide receivers Charlie Dowdle, Nick Waldvogel, Jack Gilliland and Pete Fitzsimmons. Kaiser and Waldvogel should also be the popular combination in the St. Thomas rushing attack. The two combined for more than 1,100 yards and 17 touchdowns last season.
St. Thomas will have some holes to fill on defense with five of its top six tacklers from 2014 graduating. Senior Tim McClanahan is back after finishing second on the defense last year with 62 tackles, including three sacks. Bennet Celichowski (44 tackles) and Mozus Ikuenobe (36 tackles and two forced fumbles), are also back.
The Tommies allowed about 333 yards per game and around 22 points per game last season. They'll be looking to improve on both figures this season.
The Blugolds will return senior quarterback Joel Newman, who played in seven games last year and threw for more than 1,000 yards with five touchdowns and four interceptions. Three of their top four running backs are returning. Their top returning rusher, sophomore Jake Neis, ran four about 53 yards per game last season.
Matthew Knapp and Lucas Emmerich are also back to lead the receiving group. Emmerich, a tight end, had 305 receiving yards in nine games with one touchdown. Knapp caught 32 passes in 10 games for 301 yards and two scores.
On defense, UW-Eau Claire has its top three tacklers back from last year, and they're all seniors. Erik Hulman led the squad with 75 tackles, two sacks and three forced fumbles. Cody Taubman had 57 tackles and Jayden Dobbs had 51 tackles and three sacks.
As a defense last season, the Blugolds allowed about 377 yards in total offense per game. That number includes more than 190 yards rushing per contest.
That presents an opportunity for the Tommies to run the ball and set up other facets of their offense if they can move the ball successfully. The match-up, on paper anyway, seems to favor St. Thomas. With expectations higher this season, Glenn Caruso will have the squad ready coming off his fifth NCAA Playoff appearance in six years. He has a 73-13 record in seven seasons with the Tommies, including an 11-5 mark in the postseason.
St. Thomas will be looking for its eight straight season-opening win. The Tommies are also looking for their fourth straight win over Blugolds. In addition to last year's win, St. Thomas beat UW-Eau Claire 52-7 in 2013 and 27-24 in 2012.
Saturday's game kicks off at 6:10 p.m. in Eau Claire. Tune into WCCO Radio 830 AM as Dave Lee will have the play-by-play and Eric Nelson will provide color commentary.