Tommies Blog: St. Thomas Focused On 2-Game Season
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – It's now a two-game season for the St. Thomas football team, and assuming the Tommies win both of their remaining games, they'll be in virtually the same spot they were in at this time last year.
The Tommies, ranked No. 24 in the latest Division III poll, went back and forth with Concordia (Moorhead) last Saturday in the fourth quarter and came away with a 35-32 victory over the Cobbers. They improved to 6-2 overall and 4-2 in MIAC play with two games left. The two teams combined for 36 fourth quarter points in a roller coaster finish.
John Gould got his first start of the season at quarterback and threw for 298 yards and four touchdowns in the win. Three of those went to Charlie Dowdle. Gould also ran for a touchdown.
The Tommies kept their playoff hopes alive with the win. If they beat Carleton and Gustavus in their final two games, they'll finish in second alone in the MIAC and could be a realistic option for an at-large bid to the NCAA Playoffs. Bethel travels to St. John's Saturday and can clinch the MIAC title with a victory. If St. John's pulls the upset, the Johnnies would clinch at least a share of the title and St. Thomas would likely be eliminated from any playoff contention.
Bethel hosts Augsburg in its regular season finale on Nov. 15, and will be favored to beat the Auggies. St. Thomas will be a Bethel fan on Saturday as a Royals victory gives St. John's its second loss of the season.
Meanwhile, the Tommies travel to Northfield Saturday to take on a Carleton team that is winless in the MIAC and has just one win on the season. It's a game on paper that heavily favors St. Thomas. The Knights are coming off a 52-3 loss to St. John's. Their three previous losses before last week were 17-13 to St. Olaf, 34-7 against Concordia and getting shut out by Gustavus, 50-0.
Carleton is getting outscored on average 33-12 on the season. The Knights are allowing about 200 yards rushing per game for about five yards per carry, and more than 200 passing yards.
On offense, Carleton averages about 224 yards per game, including about 130 yards on the ground. That should give the St. Thomas run defense a good test. Chris Madden and Zach Creighton combine to average 118 yards per game and six touchdowns on the season.
St. Thomas will look for Jack Kaiser to have a big game against the Carleton defense after running for 157 yards on 23 carries last week against the Cobbers. Gould will also look to build off passing for nearly 300 yards last week against a tough Concordia defense.
It's important for St. Thomas to get out to a fast start, get a lead early and not let Carleton stay in the game. The longer the Knights stay close, the tougher they are to pull away from.
The bottom line for St. Thomas: Beat Carleton and Gustavus to end the regular season 8-2, and hope a few other games bounce your way for an at-large playoff selection. A similar scenario played out last year, and the Tommies were not called for the NCAA Division III Playoffs. That was a year removed from playing for a national title, so it might be even tougher to get in this year without the guarantee of a MIAC title.
Tune into WCCO Radio 830 AM at about 1 p.m. as Dave Lee will have the play-by-play. Eric Nelson will have the color commentary as well as Fritz Waldvogel from the sidelines.
