Football starts spring drills, prepares for Canada

April 11, 2012

The nationally-ranked Tommie football team will open spring drills this week. Coach Glenn Caruso's team will culminate its practices with a spring intersquad scrimmage on Sat. May 12 at 1 p.m. at O’Shaughnessy Stadium. 

The Tommies will later travel north of the border to Winnipeg, Manitoba in late May for an exhibition game against a Canadian team.   

Spring football updates will be provided here at www.tommiesports.com/ftbl  

Caruso will have 105 players report this week, including 58 lettermen and 18 players with starting experience. The Tommies will graduate four All-America players but return All-America center Curtis James and most of a defense that ranked among Division III's best after allowing just 10.1 points and 216.5 yards per game.  

Last season, St. Thomas recorded a school-record 13 wins, reached the Division III national semifinals, and earned a season-ending D3football.com ranking of No. 4 in the nation. UST had a record five All-America honorees and also had two players named to the Capital One Academic All-America team. The No. 3 national ranking throughout much of the season was St. Thomas football's best ever.

St. Thomas now has claimed back-to-back conference championships, the school’s first since 1948 and 1949. It became the first team in MIAC history to post back-to-back 10-0 records in the regular season. The Toms will come into 2012 with a 24-game regular-season win streak and a 19-game MIAC victory streak.

The Tommies have added UW-Eau Claire (in place of St. Norbert) as their season opener for the next two seasons. The Toms will play the Blugolds on the road next Sept. 1; open their home season Sept. 8 against UW-River Falls; and start the conference season Sept. 15 at St. John's.