University of St. Thomas Athletics
Gustavus Adolphus
Football falls 30-14 to Gusties in MIAC opener
9/15/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
Gustavus 30, St. Thomas 14
Gustavus rolled up 544 yards of offense and capitalized on seven Tommie turnovers in Saturday's 30-14 win over host St. Thomas in MIAC football at O¹Shaughnessy Stadium in St. Paul. The game featured two spread offenses, 51 first downs and 108 pass attempts.
Gustie senior QB Jordan Stolp threw two TD passes and ran for another as he helped the Gusties (2-0 overall, 1-0 MIAC) win their sixth in a row dating back to October 2006. Stolp, a four-year starter, completed 33-of-49 passes for 378 yards and went over 500 career completions and 6,300 passing yards.
Senior P.J. Theisen caught eight passes for 125 yards and Sam Moen had 10 catches for 90 yards for the Tommies (0-3, 0-1), who had 388 yards of offense and 25 first downs. Senior Jake Casey and Don Jaeger had short TD runs in the second half.
The Tommies led the MIAC in turnover margin last season at plus 11. In its 0-3 start this fall, St. Thomas is minus-12 in turnover margin (14 lost, two gained). The Toms had nine drives inside the Gustie 45 yet scored just twice. UST also failed to throw a TD pass for the first time in 13 games. Starting QB David Sauer completed 27-of-45 for 273 yards, and Kris Kopp came on in the fourth quarter and completed 6-of-13 for 70 yards.
Gustavus, which ended a three-game losing streak to UST, used scoring drives of 91 and 87 yards to build a 14-0 halftime lead. The Gusties made it 21-0 on a Stolp run midway through the third period and later built the lead to 30-7. Gustavus had the ball for nearly 38:00 on the day, including 21 of the 30 in the first half.
Gustavus' Chad Arlt (nine catches, 142 yards) and John Retka (nine catches, 109 yards) each had one TD catch. Senior RB Mitch Anderson rushed 24 times for 117 yards and caught three passes for 48 yards.
The Gustie defense and special teams had interceptions from Ethan Armstrong, Hamada Omar and Isaac Perry and fumble recoveries from Jared Sieling, Ted Aleckson and Tyler Geyen. Gustavus also fell on an odd kickoff into the wind for an on-side recovery.
Gustavus missed two field goals and had a late fumble that preceded a five-yard Tommie TD drive but otherwise played a near flawless game. After an 0-5 road record in 2005, the Gusties have won six of their last seven away games.
The Tommies caught few breaks. Top kick returner and starting CB Matt McQuillan left with a first-quarter injury. Safety Matt Anderson deflected a pass that Arlt caught and turned into a second-quarter TD of 49 yards. One UST interception was in the end zone to kill a drive, a second pickoff was on a ball that skipped off a Tommie receiver. UST also lost two fumbles on offense that were unforced. On special teams, St. Thomas lost one possession when a Gustie punt hit a Tommie blocker in the leg and GAC recovered, and another that turned into a wind-aided on-side recovery. UST also had an apparent touchback on a kickoff return ruled down on its own two-yard-line.
Ross Pettersen had 13 tackles, a sack and a forced fumble and Joe Pyka had 13 tackles for the Tommie defense.
St. Thomas has a bye next week and plays at home Sept. 29 vs. Bethel. Gustavus is home next Saturday to face Hamline.
Click here to see box score:
http://www.tommiesports.com/ftbl/stats/9-15-FB.HTM
