University of St. Thomas Athletics
3-0 , 1-0
St. Olaf
2-1 , 0-1
| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Olaf College | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 14 |
| St. Thomas | 21 | 14 | 14 | 0 | 49 |
Fast start fuels 49-14 home win for Football
9/17/2011 12:00:00 AM | Football
By DOUG HENNES
St. Thomas exploded for seven touchdowns in cruising to a 49-7 MIAC home football win over St. Olaf on Saturday, but afterwards the only thing the offensive stars could talk about was the play of the defense and special teams.
Every time quarterback Dakota Tracy trotted onto Palmer Field, he found himself with enviable field position, and he took advantage of it. He led scoring drives ranging from 16 to 67 yards and averaging 49 yards and 5.6 plays, and there was a good reason for that.
"We'll take short fields any game," said Tracy, who completed 11 of 15 passes for 186 yards and two touchdowns and scored a third on a 16-yard run. "It all fell into place today. The defense and special teams gave the offense special opportunities."
Senior running back Colin Tobin, who scored four touchdowns for the second straight game, said field position was the critical factor in the Tommies building a 35-0 halftime lead.
"Starting so much in their territory gave us an edge," said Tobin, who had another 100-yard day with 80 yards rushing and 34 yards on two pass receptions. "The red zone is our area. We can smell the end zone the closer we get."
Fritz Shines Again
Senior wide receiver Fritz Waldvogel, who set another school record, also preferred to talk about the defense than his own exploits.
"Give credit to the defense," said Waldvogel, who became the Tommies' leader in career receiving yards with 3,314, surpassing P.J. Theisen's 3,223 from 2003 to 2007. "They did a great job for us and put us in good situations. It was hard not to score with the field position we had."
Coach Glenn Caruso was surprised that No. 4 St. Thomas (3-0 overall, 1-0 MIAC) dominated both the first and second quarters in terms of field position because of the way the wind was blowing -- and he praised the offense, as well as defense and special teams.
"That's the most efficient we have been in a long time," Caruso said of the way the Tommies scored on seven of their first nine drives, with the other two stopped by turnovers. "We are starting to hit on more cylinders -- not all cylinders, but most of them."
St. Thomas was behind in its wins over St. Norbert and UW-River Falls but didn't give St. Olaf a shot at an early lead. The Tommies took the opening kickoff 67 yards in seven plays, with Tobin scoring from the 3 for a 7-0 lead.
The Oles picked up one first down on the ensuing drive but had to punt, and Waldvogel returned it 29 yards to the St. Thomas 49. Six plays later, Tobin took a screen pass from Tracy and ran 31 yards to make the score 14-0.
St. Olaf had to punt after three plays, and Waldvogel sparkled again on the return, running 40 yards before being caught at the Oles' 2. Freshman running back Ryan Toney lost a fumble on the next play, but St. Olaf coughed the ball up three plays later on an interception by Chinni Oji, and Tracy ran it in from the 16 on next play for the 21-0 lead.
Big Second Quarter
The Tommies tacked on 14 points in the second quarter. The defense, which held St. Olaf to 29 first-half net yards on 22 plays, forced another short three-and-out punt and St. Thomas took over at the Oles' 36. Tobin scored from one yard out and picked up his fourth touchdown, from 10 yards out, after a Sean Hamlin interception.
"I just try to make the most of those situations," Tobin said of his nose for the end zone. He has 35 career touchdowns -- and 2,349 rushing yards, including 21 games of more than 70 yards -- despite being only a starter this year and a part-time starter last year.
The defense stopped the Oles on another three-and-out drive to open the second half and Waldvogel took over. He scored on a nine-yard run and, after St. Olaf marched 80 yards for a touchdown, closed the St. Thomas scoring on a 65-yard pass from Tracy.
"It was the first deep shot we hit all day," said Tracy, who also hit Waldvogel with a 62-yard touchdown pass in the St. Norbert win. "The offensive line gave me good protection, and I had time to throw. I got him right in stride again."
Waldvogel credited Caruso for calling the play, having noticed that St. Olaf was moving defensive backs closer to the line in an effort to stop the run.
"They were loading the box," Caruso said, "so we decided to take a long shot. It was a good pass, and Fritz just outran them."
The two touchdowns gave Waldvogel 32 for his career, including five TD receptions against St. Olaf. In addition to receiving yardage, his school records include career receptions (234) and punt-return yards, and with 5,892 all-purpose yards he is only 152 yards shy of Gary Trettel's 21-year-old record of 6,044 from 1988-90. Waldvogel now has 36 career gains of 38 or more yards.
Kicker Tim Albright also had an outstanding game. He made six PAT kicks to run his 10-game streak to 39 in a row, and boomed three kickoffs out of the end zone. Defensively, in addition to his interception, Oji led with eight tackles (six solo) as the Tommies held two-time all-MIAC running back Leon Clark to 13 net yards.
St. Thomas will travel to Concordia-Moorhead (2-1) on Saturday to play the Cobbers, who lost 28-21 in overtime at home to St. John's.
Click here for box score:
http://www.tommiesports.com/ftbl/stats/9-17-fb.HTM
Colin Tobin (right) had some tough inside running to gain 80 yards. (Thomas Whisenand photo)
Dakota Tracy (17) threw TD passes of 31 and 65 yards and now has 31 touchdown passes in 28 games since 2009. (Thomas Whisenand photo)
Team Stats
STO 0, UST2011 7
UST2011 - Colin Tobin 3 yd run (Tim Albright kick), 7 plays, 67 yards, TOP 2:53
STO 0, UST2011 14
UST2011 - Colin Tobin 31 yd pass from Dakota Tracy (Tim Albright kick) 8 plays, 51 yards, TOP 3:11
STO 0, UST2011 21
UST2011 - Dakota Tracy 16 yd run (Tim Albright kick), 1 plays, 16 yards, TOP 0:06
STO 0, UST2011 28
UST2011 - Colin Tobin 1 yd run (Tim Albright kick), 9 plays, 36 yards, TOP 3:52
STO 0, UST2011 35
UST2011 - Colin Tobin 10 yd run (Tim Albright kick), 9 plays, 40 yards, TOP 4:07
STO 0, UST2011 42
UST2011 - Fritz Waldvogel 9 yd run (Tim Albright kick), 4 plays, 29 yards, TOP 1:06
STO 7, UST2011 42
STO - Michael Thai 14 yd run (Jake Schmiesing kick), 9 plays, 80 yards, TOP 4:47
STO 7, UST2011 49
UST2011 - Fritz Waldvogel 65 yd pass from Dakota Tracy (Griffin Snyder kick) 1 plays, 65 yards, TOP 0:10
STO 14, UST2011 49
STO - Stephen Asp 23 yd pass from Dan Dobson (Jake Schmiesing kick) 8 plays, 46 yards, TOP 4:15
