University of St. Thomas Athletics
Football Game 5 Notes vs. Valparaiso -- Oct. 7
10/7/2021 10:46:00 AM | Football
The Tommies bring a 28-game home-field regular-season win streak into this weekend's homecoming game against Valparaiso.
Coming Up
The Tommies continue Pioneer League play this weekend as they host Valparaiso at O'Shaughnessy Stadium. Both teams are 1-1 in league play entering the weekend, with Valpo being 1-4 overall on the season.
The contest can be heard live on AM-1500 Radio Skor North, with Corbu Stathes on the play-by-play call. The game will be live-streamed for free at https://tommiesports.com/watch
This marks only the second home game of the 2021 campaign, with the Purple opening their home slate with an impressive 36-0 win over Butler in the team's first Pioneer Football League game.
Beacon Babbles
Last weekend, Valpo rallied from 14 points down to force overtime, but Marist prevailed 27-24 on a game-winning 25-yard touchdown pass in OT after Valpo had made a field goal on its OT possession. Running back Robert Washington rushed for 149 yards and two touchdowns, while quarterback Ben Nimz went 15-of-25 through the air for 193 yards.
The Valpo defense had 12 tackles for loss and six sacks, while the special teams unit blocked a pair of kicks. Brian Bartholomew missed a 58-yard field goal try on the final play of regulation, but converted a 25-yard attempt on Valpo's OT possession. Nick Orekoya had his first rushing TD in a Valpo uniform in Saturday's setback. Valpo outgained Marist 351-349 in the contest.
Dating back to last season, Valpo has played six straight PFL games decided by four points or fewer. Dating back to 2019, Valpo's last 13 league games have been decided by 12 points or fewer and 11 of those 13 have been dictated by 10 points or fewer.
Tommie D
The St. Thomas defensive unit has been amongst the best in the Pioneer Football League through the first week of October.
The Tommies lead the league is rushing defense, holding opposing offenses to just 117.5 yards per game on the ground. Additionally, the Purple's defense leads the league in opponent third down conversions, allowing teams to convert only 28.0 percent of their third down attempts. St. Thomas is second in the PFL in opponent first downs, giving up on average only 15.5 fist downs per contest.
A sign of a well coached team, St. Thomas averages the fewest penalty yards per contest, being flagged for only 35.0 penalty yards per game through its first four contests.
Proud Program Builder
Last Saturday was game No. 151 at St. Thomas for 14-year head coach Glenn Caruso. He has a 2-2 record so far in FCS after building a 126-21 record in the Toms' D-III era.
Adding in his 6-12 record in two seasons of a rebuilding project as Macalester College head coach (2006, 2007), Caruso came into 2021 with a 132-33 career record (.800). That all-game win percentage ranks in the top 10 among current NCAA football coaches at all levels who have worked 10 or more seasons.
Home Sweet Home
St. Thomas went 35-1 in its last 36 games played on campus to close out its D-III chapter, losing only in that span to eventual NCAA runner-up UW-Oshkosh 34-31 in the 2016 NCAA playoffs.
The Toms will bring a 28-game home-field regular-season win streak into this weekend's Homecoming game against Valparaiso.
Last Week
St. Thomas had perennial Pioneer Football League power San Diego on the ropes just after halftime Saturday on the Toreros' field. Coach Glenn Caruso's team had a double-digit lead and a chance to extend the margin further.
But San Diego scored the game's final 13 points to escape with a 27-24 victory and gain its first victory, the latest in a series of lively games across the 11-team conference. All five Pioneer games on Saturday were decided by seven or less points, and two went to overtime.
USD (1-4 overall, 1-1 Pioneer) won or shared six consective Pioneer championships from 2014-2019 and built a 39-game league winning streak that ended last spring. The Toreros came into Saturday with three season defeats to scholarship teams and a close road loss at Davidson.
The Tommies (2-2, 1-1) got another strong defensive effort -- that unit has allowed just six touchdowns in 16 quarters.
Defensive players scored as many touchdowns here Saturday for bth teams as offensive players -- three total, two by St. Thomas defenders. One other potential Tommie TD on a pick six was negated by a penalty, and the Purple had another interception return to the USD 5-yard-line that they were unable to convert into points.
Senior Joe Hird (11 yards) and Jonathan Bunce (22 yards) had pick-six interception return scores for the Tommies, and Louis Hyde had a career-long field goal of 44 yards. Nick Rice caught a short pass and turned that into a 31-yard TD reception from Cade Sexauer.
But the Tommie offense stalled when it needed a second-half march and didn't score points over its last eight possessions. One error in that span turned into a 38-yard scoop-and-score fumble recovery touchdown for the Toreros.
Besides the interceptions by Hird, Bunce and Johnson Fallah, the Toms limited San Diego to 1-of-14 on third- and fourth-down conversions. But San Diego scored on all three red-zone tries while the Toms went 0-for-2 with similar chances.
Did You Know?
• The Toms just missed their magic scoring number in the 27-24 loss at San Diego. They are 90-0 in regular-season games in the Glenn Caruso era when they score 25 or more points.
• Saturday's 24 points were the most ever scored by St. Thomas under Caruso in a regular-season defeat. Three times in the postseason they lost high-scoring games, including a 49-35 loss to Mount Union in the 2015 NCAA championship game.
• Balance: Eight different Toms have scored their nine touchdowns. Kicker Louis Hyde leads in scoring with 19 points over four games.
• St. Thomas had two pick-six interception returns to the end zone at San Diego -- by senior Joe Hird and sophomore Jonathan Bunce -- and nearly had two others. Johnson Fallah took an interception back to the USD 5-yard line.
• In 124 games last decade (2010-2019), St. Thomas defenders recorded 21 interception return touchdowns.
• Hard place to play: San Diego has now won 41 of its last 42 home Pioneer Football League games.
• Hird now has three interceptions in his three seasons as a defensive player. He had one TD catch as a freshman wide receiver before moving to defense in 2018.
• Bunce's first interception since his youth football days took him to the end zone with a 22-yard return. But he scored several TDs as a high school running back at Edina High.
• Hyde, a sophomore and first-year starter, is 4-for-4 in field goals. That's a change from the 2019 season when the Toms made only 2-of-7 field goals.
• St. Thomas opponents have converted a combined 6-of-6 in field goals this season.
• St. Thomas has held a second-half lead in its last 10 conference games (MIAC, Pioneer).
• The Toms have allowed just nine touchdowns in four games. Three of those TDs have come on returns by opposing special teams or defenses. The Tommie D has allowed the six TDs (four by FCS power Northern Iowa) and has built a stingy 15-of-56 conversion rate on third- and fourth downs.
• All five Pioneer Football League games last Saturday were decided by seven or less points, and two went to overtime. Last spring, 13 of the 22 PFL games were decided by 11 or less points.
• Tommie backup linebacker Kellan McKeag previously played football at Valparaiso before transferring last year.
Starting Magic
St. Thomas' win over Butler marked Cade Sexauer's first college start at quarterback. The senior from South St. Paul rushed for 31 yards and passed for two TDs and 194 yards as he connected with nine different receivers.
Sexauer's last previous win as a starter came during his senior season of high school playing for a Packer team coached by his dad, Chad Sexauer. That wasn't just any victory when the Packers topped Marshall in the third game of the 4A state playoff quarterfinal round in November 2017 on a neutral field in Shakopee. The Marshall High QB that night playing his final prep game was Trey Lance, now a rookie with the San Francisco 49ers. Lance won all 17 starts he made at North Dakota State, where he led his 2019 team to another FCS national title and a 16-0 finish. He threw 30 touchdown passes with just one interception in his brief era at NDSU.
On an extremely cold, windy night in the 2017 playoffs, South St. Paul's run-oriented offense took Marshall out of its game. Cade rushed 16 times for 156 yards and two touchdowns, sparking a South St. Paul rushing attack that rolled up 359 yards.
Chad Sexauer, a former Drake QB (990-93), retired from coaching last year after 20 years as South St. Paul's head football coach.
Streaking
St. Thomas sophomore PK Louis Hyde is 4-for-4 this season on field goals (33, 32, 36 and 44 yards). Hyde hit a season-long 44 yarder at San Diego. After having his first PAT blocked in the season opener, Hyde has since gone 7-for-7 in extra point attempts.
Best Opponent
Northern Iowa was the best team St. Thomas has played during the Caruso era, and thus the 44-3 final score was the Toms' widest margin of defeat over those 13 seasons. The Toms' previous biggest losses on the scoreboard were a pair of 20-point decisions.
The 44 points were the second most Caruso's teams have allowed -- they lost to Mount Union 49-35 in the 2015 NCAA championship game.
On Sept. 18 at UNI, it was the first time the Tommies didn't score a touchdown in a game since the 2011 national playoff semifinals, a 20-0 road loss to eventual NCAA champion UW-Whitewater.
Of the 21 losses by Caruso's D-III Tommie teams (2008-2019), 12 came by margins of seven or less points.
Quoting the Coach
"San Diego, phenomenal job by them and their team. We've been on that side of things a whole lot of times the last 10 or 15 years - they stay focused, they were able to maintain and we were in a position to close the door and we didn't. It is a disappointment to say the least. I feel like we let down the University of St. Thomas today." – Glenn Caruso, postgame comments after 27-24 loss at San Diego.
St. Thomas Returning Academic All-Conference honorees
Defense
• #91 – DL Seth Bickett, Actuarial Science major 3.98
• #90 -- DL Noah Borgeson, Political Science major 3.93
• #49 – DL Brent Robley, Biology major 3.87
• #2 – DB Tommy Fuller, Business Management major 3.58
• #21 – DB Rian O'Connor, Financial Management major, 3.71
• #22 – DB Max Meves, Mechanical Engineering major 3.75
• #12 – LB Trent Meyer, Financial Management major, 3.65
• #3—DB Grif Wurtz, Accounting major, 3.80
Offense
• #6 – WR Jacob Miller WR, Business major, 3.51
• #25 – RB Nick Rice, Mathematics major, 3.70
• #14 – QB Cade Sexauer, Mechanical Engineering major, 3.63
Pioneer Football League by the Numbers
11: Members for 2021 season with addition in 2021 of Presbyterian and St. Thomas
8: Conference games each team plays each season
8: Teams with Red or Blue as primary color
3: Teams with primary colors of Green (Stetson), Brown/Yellow (Valparaiso) or Purple (St. Thomas)
3: Teams that play games on natural grass (San Diego, Stetson, Presbyterian)
2: Teams with new head coaches in 2021 (Stetson, Presbyterian)
2: Teams with Bulldogs as nickname (Drake, Butler)
1: Teams that changed nicknames in 2021 (Valparaiso, was Crusaders now Beacons)
2: Teams whose nickname includes a color (Presbyterian Blue Hose, Marist Red Foxes)
4: Teams that don't share a nickname with any other college (Presbyterian Blue Hose, Stetson Hatters, San Diego Toreros, St. Thomas Tommies)
1: Team located in Pacific time zone
2: Teams located in Central time zone
8: Teams located in Eastern time zone
6: Teams that at one time were Division III programs (Dayton, San Diego, Marist, Valparaiso, Davidson, St. Thomas)
3: Teams located in a city that's the state capital (Butler/Indy; Drake/Des Moines; St. Thomas/St. Paul)
4: Remaining charter members since league's 1993 creation (Dayton, Drake, Butler, Valparaiso)
6: Different programs to win or share a PFL championship since 2012 (San Diego, Davidson, Dayton, Drake, Marist, Butler)
15-1: Coaching record in PFL games for Jim Harbaugh at San Diego, 2004-06
9: Pioneer alums playing on an NFL roster or practice squad in 2020 season
57: Years, from 1956-2013, when Stetson didn't play football before restarting its program
5: Current Pioneer schools that once played in a January 1 bowl game (Dayton, Drake, Presbyterian, Valparaiso, St. Thomas)
About Valparaiso University
Location: Valparaiso, Ind. (pop. 34,253)
Distance to St. Paul: 454 miles
Founded: 1859
Athletics Website: http://www.valpoathletics.com/
Undergrad Enrollment: 3,300
Nickname: Beacons (Formerly was Crusaders)
Colors: Brown and Gold
FB Stadium: Brown Field (5,000)
Surface: Artificial Turf
2020-21 FB Record: 4-2
FB Head Coach: Landon Fox (Third season)
Click HERE for the full release.
