University of St. Thomas Athletics
2-1 , 0-1
Saint John's
3-0 , 1-0
Costly errors haunt Football in 20-18 defeat
9/21/2013 12:00:00 AM | Football
By DOUG HENNES
Fifty-nine minutes and 55 seconds had elapsed in the game, and it all boiled down to this: a 32-yard St. Thomas field-goal attempt to defeat St. John's before a record crowd of 10,800 fans in O'Shaughnessy Stadium.
The kick by Paul Graupner from the right hash mark sailed high but just left of the uprights as the clock ran out, and Palmer Field turned into a sea of red as visiting fans swarmed their Johnnies to celebrate their 20-18 upset over the second-ranked Tommies.
"I thought it was good from where I stood," St. Thomas coach Glenn Caruso said of the field goal. "I felt pretty confident that it went through and was starting to get excited, and then they (the officials) waved it off."
The miss by Graupner, who earlier tied a 27-year school record with a 53-yard field goal on the last play of the first half, allowed St. John's (3-0, 1-0 MIAC) to break a three-game losing streak to the Tommies (2-1, 1-1).
The loss also halted three other St. Thomas winning streaks -- 36 during the regular season, 27 in MIAC play, and 18 at home.
The game ended after a heroic 15-play drive by the Tommies, who took over the ball at their own 12-yard-line with 2:38 to go. Quarterback Matt O'Connell completed seven passes on the 75-yard drive, including a 20-yarder on fourth and 7 from his own 15.
As much as Caruso appreciated his team's efficiency on the final drive, he lamented "a myriad of problems" throughout the game on offense, defense and special teams. The Tommies had five turnovers, repeatedly allowed St. John's to complete short passes for first downs, and had several miscues on special teams, including a lost fumble after a punt.
"Today's loss, as difficult as it was, was a matter of all three phases not doing their job," Caruso said. "To be frank with you, it's amazing we had a shot at the end considering how poorly we played."
Quick Start Thwarted
St. Thomas looked like it would start the game as it did earlier this month against UW-Eau Claire and UW-River Falls -- with quick touchdowns on drives.
Nick Waldvogel returned the opening kickoff to the St. John's 45 and running back Brenton Braddock ripped off two first downs with runs of 10 and 20 yards. But the drive stalled and Graupner came in for a 32-yard field goal attempt -- from the same right hashmark as at the end of the game -- and missed to the left.
St. John's fumbled on its next possession -- its only turnover of the game -- and the Tommies took advantage. They moved 60 yards in nine plays, finishing the drive with an 11-yard O'Connell touchdown run, and holder Dan Ferrazzo ran the PAT snap and into the end zone untouched for a 8-0 St. Thomas lead with five minutes remaining in the quarter.
The Tommies survived a Braddock fumble at their 33 by holding the Johnnies on downs at the 19, and embarked on their longest drive -- 15 plays -- of the season. But they stalled on downs at the St. John's 23 and the Johnnies marched 77 yards to cut the deficit to 8-7. The drive almost ended after three plays, but St. Thomas was called for roughing the punter, and the penalty was declined after Dan Noehring fumbled the punt and St. John's recovered at the Tommies' 40.
The Johnnies' forced a third turnover on the next St. Thomas drive when wide receiver Matt Misiewicz fumbled after a 20-yard pass from O'Connell. St. John's halfback Sam Sura carried the ball six consecutive times for all 53 yards, including a 34-yard burst through the middle, and scored on a two-yard touchdown run to give the Johnnies a 14-8 lead with 24 seconds left in the half.
O'Connell had only 18 seconds on the clock after the kickoff return but completed three quick passes to get the ball to the St. John's 36 with two seconds left. Graupner's 53-yard field goal tied Tony Zajac's school-record boot against St. Olaf in 1986.
Back-and-Forth Second Half
St. John's took the second-half kickoff and moved 65 yards to the St. Thomas 10 but had to settle for a 27-yard Alexi Johnson field goal and a 17-11 lead.
The Tommies put together their best drive of the day on the next series, with a 22-yard swing pass from O'Connell to Dominic Truoccolo capping the 72-yard drive. Graupner's extra-point kick gave St. Thomas an 18-17 lead.
O'Connell's first interception of ther season, which St. John's ran back to the St. Thomas 21, led to the Johnnies scoring the game's final points on a 34-yard Johnson field goal two plays into the fourth quarter.
Neither team could move the ball on its next two possessions, and the Tommies survived a near scare on a St. John's punt to pull off the game's most-exciting play. Noehring muffed the punt at his 25, chased the ball down at his 6 and dashed 61 yards down the left sideline to the St. John's 33. But the Johnnies' snuffed the rally three plays later by again intercepting O'Connell at the 19.
The St. Thomas defense forced a 3-and-out punt and took over the ball at its 12 with 2:38 to go. O'Connell quickly found himself in a fourth-and-7 predicament.
"We were backed up nearly in our own end zone and it was noisy," O'Connell said of the St. John's fans in the temporary stands. Matt (Misiewicz) ran a great in-break route over the middle and his catch (20 yards) kept us alive."
With the ball at midfield and 30 seconds remaining, O'Connell connected with Noehring on passes of 11 and 17 yards to the St. John's 22. After he spiked the ball to stop the clock, he hit Ferrazzo on the left sideline with an 11-yard pass to the 11 with 10 seconds to go. O'Connell came to the line with the hope he might be able to create a play for the winning score.
"We had time," he said. "If something came up, we might get a shot at a touchdown; if not, we wanted the ball more in the middle to give Paul (Graupner) a better shot."
O'Connell moved to the right on a keeper but slipped as he cut back at the right hash mark and went down for a four-yard loss. Graupner came on with 5 seconds to go but missed the field goal.
Caruso said the loss "is going to sting for awhile," and called it a "tough lesson . . . but a good lesson of what happens when you let a good team stay close." He plans to use the next two weeks -- the Tommies have a bye Sept. 28 before returning to action Oct. 4 against Carleton at home =- to focus on playing solid, fundamental football.
"We have a lot of work to do," he said. "There are so many things we need to clean up."
Stats' review
St. Thomas held an edge statistically, outgaining the Johnnies 380-278 in yards and 23-13 in first downs and giving up only 96 yards on the ground (88 by Sura).
But the Tommies had no answer for St. John's wide receiver Josh Bungum, whose 104 receiving yards on 12 receptions came mostly on bubble screens or slant-in passes from senior Connor Bruns. The Johnnie QB finished 21 of 30 for 182 yards compared with O'Connell's 245 yards on 20 of 37 passing.
St. Thomas converted four of five fourth-down chances but scored only once in four trips inside the St. John's red zone. The Johnnies were four of five in the red zone.
Click here for box score:
http://www.d3football.com/seasons/2013/boxscores/20130921_wf8k.xml
Team Stats
SJU 0, UST 8
UST - Matt O'Connell 11 yd run (Dan Ferrazzo rush), 9 plays, 60 yards, TOP 4:09
SJU 7, UST 8
SJU - Connor Bruns 1 yd run (Alexi Johnson kick), 7 plays, 40 yards, TOP 2:26
SJU 14, UST 8
SJU - Sam Sura 2 yd run (Alexi Johnson kick), 6 plays, 53 yards, TOP 2:18
SJU 14, UST 11
UST - Paul Graupner 53 yd field goal 4 plays, 25 yards, TOP 0:18
SJU 17, UST 11
SJU - Alexi Johnson 27 yd field goal 11 plays, 65 yards, TOP 5:17
SJU 17, UST 18
UST - Dom Truoccolo 22 yd pass from Matt O'Connell (Paul Graupner kick) 11 plays, 72 yards, TOP 5:58
SJU 20, UST 18
SJU - Alexi Johnson 34 yd field goal 4 plays, 4 yards, TOP 1:12
