University of St. Thomas Athletics
12-0
Linfield
9-2
Click here to access Linfield-UST video stream
11/27/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
St. Thomas cruised to a 57-10 win over Benedictine in last Saturday's opening round of the NCAA Division III football playoffs. Next up is this Saturday's second-round game against Linfield (Ore.) College.
Fans will see a rematch of last year's quarterfinal playoff game against Linfield, which defeated the Tommies 31-20 in Oregon last December.
No. 8-ranked Linfield (10-1), which topped California Lutheran 42-26 last Saturday, travels to St. Paul for the noon game against the No. 4-ranked and 11-0 Tommies in O'Shaughnessy Stadium.
There will be a live video webcast of Saturday's game -- click here, scroll down and look for Channel 3: www.mnsportsnetwork.com
Linfield is also planning a radio broadcast to its home area of McMinnville.
Tickets/Parking
Tickets will be $8 for adults and $4 for students and go on sale on campus starting Saturday at 10:30 a.m. Parking will be available in the Anderson Ramp at Grand and Cretin Avenues, 200 yards south, as well as on the street in some places and in some campus lots. Please watch carefully for signs on adjacent streets and be courteous to our neighbors. ---
More Links
Linfield football: http://www.linfield.edu/sports/teampage.php?sport=fb MIAC statistics by team: http://www.miac-online.org/custompages/football/football2010/confstat.htm D3Football.com West Bracket preview: http://www.d3football.com/playoffs/2010/bracket-ust --The countdown...
Here are 10 things to watch for on Saturday:10
LInfield is averaging 43.7 points and 471 yards a game. The Cats have a standout QB in senior Aaron Boehme, who threw for 256 yards in last season's win over the Tommies and last week surpassed 6,000 career passing yards. The Cats have won nine in a row and 21 of their last 23, and have a national-record 55 consecutive winning seasons in football. Linfield won the 2004 Division III national title and is making its 22nd postseason playoff appearance.9
Can UST continue its business-like trek through its schedule? The Toms are one of 16 teams in all of NCAA football still unbeaten and have wins over two NCAA playoff teams (St. Norbert, 40-7; Bethel, 10-6, and Benedictine, 57-10). They have already tied their school record for season wins with 11. The Tommies have just one loss in their last 18 games -- a 31-20 defeat last December at Linfield in the third round of the NCAA playoffs. UST will look to extend its season win streak to 12 and its home-field streak to 15. The Toms also have won their last eight November games over the last three seasons.8
The Toms have been a big second-half team throughout the three-year Glenn Caruso era. This season, UST has outscored opponents 127-20 in the third quarter. In UST's 11-game conference win streak dating back to last season, they hold a second-half margin of 234-65.7
Can senior Ben Wartman and junior Colin Tobin, who have a combined 73 touchdowns and 5,968 rushing yards in the last three seasons, continue their productive rushing ways? Wartman has 709 rushing yards and seven touchdowns in four career postseason games. In his 33 career games at running back he has 4,035 yards and a school-record 50 touchdowns. UST will look to continue its offensive balance which has produced 206.5 rushing yards and 205.5 passing yards a game and 29 TD runs and 23 touchdown passes. The Tommies are averaging 42.1 points and 435 yards a game and have allowed just 12 sacks in the last two seasons (24 games).6
Linfield kicker Josh Kay is 5-for-7 on the season with just one miss under 40 yards. The Cats have three different players who have combined to convert 54-of-60 PATs. Tim Albright has converted 53-of-59 PATs for St. Thomas, as well as 3-of-6 field goals.5
Look for defense and special teams to again be a barometer. In its last 25 games since November 2008, the Tommie defense has allowed just 12 points and 265 yards a game, and in the process has averaged nearly three sacks and more than two takeaways per contest. UST has also blocked 18 punts/placement kicks in the last three seasons and has a dangerous return game led by All-American Fritz Waldvogel.4
Turnovers are always an "X" factor -- last year's Linfield win was aided by five St. Thomas turnovers and just one interception thrown by the Wildcats. Tommie senior defenders Brady Ervin, Bryan Villar, Kirk Baglien, Tommy Becker and Zach Sturm have a combined 35 career interceptions, led by Ervin's 16. The Toms have seven interception returns for TDs in three seasons under Caruso. Since 2008, St. Thomas is 26-1 when it scores 21 or more points, and 22-0 in games when its starting backfield doesn't lose a fumble. UST has 27 takeaways and two blocked punts this season and is plus-12 in turnover ratio. Linfield is plus-8 in turnover ratio.3
In four postseason games in 2009 and 2010, UST's defense has allowed just 161 net rushing yards on 119 carries, an average of 1.3 yards a rush and 40 yards a game. In the last nine quarters of 2010 dating back to the Gustavus win, the Tommies have not had a turnover, have punted just once, and have allowed just 17 points.2
Linfield is the lone team that St. Thomas has never held a second half or overtime lead against in 34 games of the Glenn Caruso era, thus the Toms would like to get a better start in this meeting and play with a lead.1
Weather shouldn't play a big factor. A kickoff temperature in the upper 20s (wind chill in teens) and a WSW wind of 7 miles an hour will bring out the toughness (especially for fans), but the turf is soft and steady. Last year's game in Oregon was played in 35-degree temperatures.
Team Stats
LIN 0, UST-FB 7
UST-FB - Colin Tobin 1 yd run (Tim Albright kick), 11 plays, 56 yards, TOP 5:29
LIN 0, UST-FB 10
UST-FB - Tim Albright 32 yd field goal 6 plays, 24 yards, TOP 3:20
LIN 7, UST-FB 10
LIN - Slezak, Chris 2 yd pass from Boehme, Aaron (Walker, Jordan kick) 3 plays, 22 yards, TOP 1:40
LIN 10, UST-FB 10
LIN - Walker, Jordan 27 yd field goal 5 plays, 24 yards, TOP 0:42
LIN 10, UST-FB 17
UST-FB - Colin Tobin 12 yd run (Tim Albright kick), 11 plays, 80 yards, TOP 5:24
LIN 17, UST-FB 17
LIN - Saxon, Buddy 7 yd pass from Boehme, Aaron (Walker, Jordan kick) 12 plays, 64 yards, TOP 1:50
LIN 17, UST-FB 24
UST-FB - Fritz Waldvogel 10 yd pass from Dakota Tracy (Tim Albright kick) 5 plays, 25 yards, TOP 0:00
