Tommies Blog: St. Thomas Faces Mount Union For National Title
When Glenn Caruso arrived to take over the St. Thomas football program eight seasons ago, the Tommies were coming off a 2-8 season. Out of 240 teams in Division III, they were ranked No. 205.
Sure, Caruso's goal was to develop a program that would be respected not only in the MIAC but also across the country. St. Thomas earned league respect with three straight league championships. But few could've predicted a run to the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl in 2012, the national championship game for Division III football.
Now three years later, Caruso and the Tommies got on a plane Tuesday morning bound for Salem, Va. St. Thomas is back in the title game against Mount Union after beating Linfield 38-17 in the national semifinals on Saturday. The Wildcats, from Oregon, came to St. Paul ranked No. 2 in the country. The Tommies had a 23-3 lead at the half, and Jordan Roberts' third touchdown of the day in the fourth quarter sealed the victory. Linfield got as close as 30-17 in the fourth quarter, but never seriously made a comeback threat in the win for St. Thomas.
A Linfield defense that came in allowing less than 80 rushing yards per game gave up 389 yards, led by 256 from Roberts. Linfield coach Joseph Smith said after the game, "It's the first time in the playoffs we've been beat. We've lost games before, but this is the first time we've been beat."
"It's just very tough to put into words all of the work and time and effort that these guys have put in. It's not just the practices and the weightlifting. It's the routine and the everyday commitment to this university," Caruso said. "It's not only humbling but it brings me to tears at times. That's why I love these kids."
The Tommies have used a stingy defense and dominant run game to steamroll opponents this year. Their closest game was against rival St. John's, a 38-19 victory, in the second round of the playoffs. They feature one of the top offenses in the country, scoring more than 52 points per game. The St. Thomas defense is allowing less than 10.
St. Thomas has been a top-five program all year, and now has the task of beating the No. 1 team in the country, Mount Union, to win the national championship. St. Thomas has 26 seniors on this year's team, 13 of which traveled and/or played in the 28-10 loss to the Purple Raiders in 2012.
Caruso said Friday's game, set for 6 p.m. in Salem, Va., is not about revenge for the 2012 loss to Mount Union. It's about another opportunity for his program to play another high-quality opponent and spend another week together as a family. He said it will take everything St. Thomas has to win a national championship.
The Tommies are playing in their second national title game in four years. Mount Union has been there 19 of the last 23 years. That includes 10 straight appearances and four national championships.
"The jump to go from No. 206 to No. 5, believe it or not, is still not as steep as it is to go from No. 5 to No. 1 and in this case No. 2 to No. 1," Caruso said. "That's a high level of football that's being played in that national championship game. We have a lot of work to do."
Roberts scored on the Tommies' opening drive of the game against Linfield, and it set the tone for the rest of the day. His third quarter score from 13 yards out gave St. Thomas a 30-3 lead, and after a pair of Linfield scores, he darted for a 22-yard run with 4:55 left to give the Tommies a 38-17 lead for the final dagger.
Roberts had 33 carries on the day and wore down Linfield's defense in the second half. It's something he's done to opponents all season. He's got a huge offensive line in front of him, but he's also not shy about running defenders over at the second and third level to gain yards.
"My favorite player growing up was Walter Payton. I loved the way he runs and he had this motto 'Never die easy.' From a very young age I tried to emulate that and I still run like that today," Roberts said. "I never want to go down easy, never want to die easy so when I get it I run as hard as I can as fast as I can."
The Tommies have had several tests this season, but none will be bigger than the Mount Union team they'll face on Friday. The Purple Raiders have won four of the last 10 national championships and advanced to this year's Stagg Bowl after beating UW-Whitewater 36-6. Their approach, at least from a numbers standpoint, is similar to St. Thomas. Mount Union loves to run the football, and it simply doesn't give up much of anything on defense.
The Purple Raiders feature one of the top offenses in the country, scoring 53.6 points per game and collecting 555 yards of total offense. They run for about 317 yards per game, led by Logan Nemeth's 124 yards per contest and 27 touchdowns on the season. Quarterback Taurice Scott is also the team's third-leading rusher at 57 yards per game and 12 scores on the ground.
In the passing game, Scott averages 224 yards per game, completes 65 percent of his passes and has 41 passing touchdowns on the year with just five interceptions. Roman Namdar is the top passing target with an average of 69 yards per game and 19 touchdowns on the year. Tim Kennedy leads Mount Union with 80 catches on the season.
The St. Thomas defense, meanwhile, is allowing 226 total yards per game on the season and just 9.9 points. They're allowing just 81 yards rushing per game. Last week, the Tommies also forced Linfield into five turnovers.
Mount Union couples its dynamic offense with a dominant defense. The Purple Raiders have six shutouts on the season, are allowing only 7.5 points per game on the season and just 44 rushing yards. They average allowing just 188 yards per game. The attack is led by Alex Kocheff's 81 tackles. Tom Lally has 74 tackles, including 18 sacks, on the season. Mike Furda also has 11.5 sacks on the season. The Purple Raiders have 123 tackles for a loss this season.
I'll be a great test for the Tommies, an offense that is averaging 52.5 points and 529 yards of total offense per game on the season. St. Thomas rushes for 258 yards per game. It's truly a contest that sets up to be determined at the line of scrimmage.
Tune into 104.1 JACK-FM Friday night as Dave Lee will have the play-by-play and Eric Nelson will provide color commentary along with Fritz Waldvogel from the sidelines.
