Tommies Blog: St. Thomas Cruises Past La Crosse, 46-0
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – The St. Thomas football team had every reason to overlook UW-La Crosse last Saturday with rival St. John's on the schedule in two weeks.
But the No. 11-ranked Tommies went into the game, as they do every week, knowing that any slip-up can jeopardize their chances of getting back to the NCAA Playoffs. St. Thomas scored 14 points in the first four minutes and cruised to a 46-0 win over the Eagles to improve to 2-0 on the season. It was exactly the type of performance Glenn Caruso was looking for out of his squad after a sluggish 22-17 win over UW-Eau Claire in the season-opener.
The numbers weren't gaudy offensively for the Tommies, but they were balanced. St. Thomas didn't have a 100-yard passer in the game, didn't have a receiver with more than 50 yards and no running back went for more than 70 yards, but the Tommies collected 519 yards in total offense. That includes more than 300 rushing yards.
St. Thomas was also 9-of-16 on third-down conversions and had 12 different players catch a pass. Matt O'Connell finished 9-of-15 passing for 99 yards with one touchdown and also ran for 64 yards. Jack Kaiser and Gilliland ran for a combined 100 yards and two touchdowns.
Nick Waldvogel caught a 32-yard touchdown pass and Jack Gilliland scored from 40 yards out as St. Thomas up two scores before many fans got comfortable in their seats. Waldvogel's second touchdown of the day, a 10-yard pass from John Gould, gave the Tommies a 21-0 lead at the half.
The St. Thomas defense was equally as dominant in the win, allowing just 133 total yards, including 67 rushing yards. The Tommies had 9.5 tackles for a loss, including two sacks.
Linebacker Cavan Metzler returned a fumble 33 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter to give St. Thomas a 43-0 lead. He also had nine tackles in the game and was named a MIAC Defensive Player of the Week for his efforts.
With the win, Caruso is 14-0 at St. Thomas in non-conference regular season games. It was a dominating effort in every phase and just the improvement Caruso was looking for after their Week 1 win.
The Tommies have a bye this week before hosting rival St. John's. They're looking to avenge a 20-18 loss to the Johnnies last year in St. Paul on a missed field goal as time expired. The Johnnies, meanwhile, have a tough opening MIAC game this weekend hosting Concordia (Moorehead). The Cobbers were one of three losses for the Johnnies last season, Gary Fasching's first as head coach.
Next Saturday's game should have significant implications to determine the MIAC champion at the end of the season. Kickoff as set for 1:10 p.m. on Sept. 27 at O'Shaughnessy Stadium in St. Paul.
