University of St. Thomas Athletics
8-0
Augsburg
5-3
Deep Tommies roll past Auggies, 30-14
10/27/2012 12:00:00 AM | Football
By DOUG HENNES
Glenn Caruso admires a lot about his football team -- a stingy defense, a prolific offense and talented special teams have joined forces week after week to keep St. Thomas undefeated and among the elite in NCAA Division III.
But one element stood out more than others Saturday in the Tommies' 30-14 win over Augsburg in O'Shaughnessy Stadium:
Depth.
Caruso was especially grateful for depth against the Auggies -- for second- and even third-string players jumping in to fill big holes created by injuries, and to fill them well.
"By far this has been our most-tumultuous season in term of injuries," said Caruso, noting that 18 different players have started on offense and that he hasn't fielded the same starting 11 on offense or defense in back-to-back games. "But when one guy goes down, another guy always steps in. That's been one of the most impressive things about this year."
And so it was again on Saturday, when No. 3 St. Thomas (8-0, 6-0 MIAC) took Palmer Field against high-flying Augsburg (5-3, 3-3). Starting quarterback Matt O'Connell and wide receivers Dan Noehring and Dan Ferrazzo were out with injuries, but that didn't phase Caruso. He just plugged in different players and they came through -- as he expected.
The win extended the Tommies' regular-season winning streaks to 32 overall and 25 in the MIAC and maintained their one-game lead over Concordia heading into a Nov. 3 showdown in Moorhead. The Cobbers (7-1, 5-1) defeated Carleton 51-27 at home Saturday.
Against Augsburg, Caruso deployed two quarterbacks and two freshman running backs on offense and saw his defense bottle up quarterback Ayrton Scott -- one of Division III's most-explosive players -- for most of the game. The Tommies also had their first no-turnover game of the season.
Duncan leads another quick start
Junior Ben Duncan started in place of O'Connell at quarterback and led the Tommies to a 20-0 halftime lead. They took advantage of excellent field position on their three scoring drives, twice starting at the Augsburg 47 and once at the St. Thomas 49, and relied on a ground game that piled up 175 yards on 28 rushes in the first half.
After its defense held the Auggies on their opening series - one of four three-and-out possessions in the first half - St. Thomas needed only four plays to score. Duncan ran in untouched from the 12 after a 31-yard run by freshman Brenton Braddock.
"Our plan was to run the ball as much as possible," Duncan said of an attack that finished with 309 yards on 52 rushes. "We saw some weaknesses in their defense that we thought we could exploit by running the ball."
Jack Kaiser, another freshman running back, ran 21 yards for a touchdown and a 14-0 lead late in the first quarter. Kaiser rushed for 38 yards on the 51-yard, five-play drive, and finished the half with 77 yards and the game with 110, while Braddock had 78.
"We were confident that we could run against Augsburg," said Kaiser, who had 103 rushing yards in the second half against Hamline a week ago. "We have one of the best offensive lines in the country, and it sure opened up some nice holes for me."
Caruso praised Kaiser and Braddock for their physical play.
"They are tough runners who got really tough yards today," he said. "I'm real happy when we can move the chains with runs like they had. They help give our offense some real rhythm."
Duncan picked up his second rushing touchdown, a sneak from one yard out, to give St. Thomas a 20-0 lead with five minutes remaining in the first half.
Defense thwarts Augsburg star
The St. Thomas defense bottled up Scott in the first half, limiting him to 4 of 17 completions for 51 yards and stuffing him on runs up the middle. The freshman came in No. 3 in Division III with 371 yards of offense per game, including 148 yards (No. 7) on the ground, but needed late runs of 16 and 13 yards to finish with 32 yards on 10 rushes in the half.
"Our plan was to treat him like a running back," said defensive lineman Ayo Idowu, who had five tackles. "We had to keep him between the hash marks and not let him out of the pocket. When he did get outside, we tried to push him to the sidelines."
"He can do everything," safety Chinni Oji, who also had five tackles, said of Scott. "He's a stud and a heckuva player for a freshman. We just had to stop his explosive play."
Scott drove the Auggies from their 28 to the St. Thomas 36 in the last two minutes of the second quarter, but cornerback Sean Hamlin intercepted a fourth-and-12 Scott pass inside the Tommies' 5 with 3.8 seconds to go.
"I shouldn't have picked it off because it was fourth down," Hamlin said with a grin, "but a pick is a pick."
Third-string quarterback shines
Three plays into the second half, Duncan left the game with an injury and sophomore Kyler Anderson took over. He had rushes of nine and eight yards in his first series.
"The offensive line took me in and said, 'Just be a leader like everyone else,' " Anderson said, but he didn't think he had any serious jitters. "I was excited to go out and see what I could do. They were more excitement nerves than nervous nerves."
Scott got on track on Augsburg's second drive in the third quarter. Starting at his 8, he ran for 38 yards and passed for 46, the last seven on a touchdown pass to Tyler Swanson to cut the St. Thomas lead to 20-7.
Two series later, an Anderson 25-yard run on third down from the St. Thomas 45 led to a 27-yard Paul Gaupner field goal and a 23-7 lead. Augsburg turned the ball over on downs and Anderson led an eight-play, 70-yard drive that ended with a one-yard touchdown plunge by Dominic Truoccolo, another freshman running back. Anderson had 151 yards -- 69 rushing and 82 on four of nine passing -- in the second half.
Scott scored on a seven-yard touchdown run with 9.6 seconds left in the game. He finished with 259 yards, including 90 on the ground, but had a fumble and an interception and completed only 12 of 32 passes.
Team Stats
AUG 0, UST-2012 7
UST-2012 - Ben Duncan 12 yd run (Paul Graupner kick), 4 plays, 47 yards, TOP 1:37
AUG 0, UST-2012 14
UST-2012 - Jack Kaiser 21 yd run (Paul Graupner kick), 6 plays, 51 yards, TOP 2:29
AUG 0, UST-2012 20
UST-2012 - Ben Duncan 1 yd run (Jack Gavin kickfailed), 6 plays, 47 yards, TOP 3:00
AUG 7, UST-2012 20
AUG - Tyler Swanson 8 yd pass from Ayrton Scott (W.Waytashek kick) 10 plays, 92 yards, TOP 4:57
AUG 7, UST-2012 23
UST-2012 - Paul Graupner 27 yd field goal 8 plays, 52 yards, TOP 3:27
AUG 7, UST-2012 30
UST-2012 - Dom Truoccolo 1 yd run (Paul Graupner kick), 8 plays, 70 yards, TOP 3:54
AUG 14, UST-2012 30
AUG - Ayrton Scott 7 yd run (W.Waytashek kick), 12 plays, 76 yards, TOP 3:26
