University of St. Thomas Athletics
Football Sets First D-I Non-Conference Opponents
2/15/2021 2:00:00 PM | Football
University of St. Thomas Football has announced its first three future non-conference opponents as a member of the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS).
Among the scheduling highlights for the Tommies will be a Saturday Sept. 18, 2021 road contest against perennial top-25 FCS program Northern Iowa. That game will be played in Cedar Falls, Iowa, in the UNI-Dome. The Tommies and Panthers are also slated to play a return game at St. Thomas during the 2024 season (Saturday Sept. 7, 2024).
St. Thomas has also agreed to play early-season road games in 2023 at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion (Saturday, Sept. 9, 2023), and in 2026 at the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks (Saturday, Sept. 5, 2026).
All three schools are members of the Missouri Valley Football Conference, widely accepted as one of the top conferences in the FCS.
"The scheduling of these future games is the result of the combined efforts of many, and the culmination of those efforts should make our Tommie community even more excited to begin our Division I transition this July," said Phil Esten, Vice President and Director of Athletics. "These teams represent some of the best at the FCS level, both in competition and game-day experience, providing an opportunity to continue the great Tommie Football legacy. We're thankful for these opportunities, and we look forward to establishing new traditions."
Tommie Football coach Glenn Caruso said that he's always been a believer in playing a challenging schedule to measure where you stand as a program.
"I've been able to witness the character and growth of teams exemplified in how they decide to propel themselves forward, and who they choose to play," said Coach Caruso. "We're not a team that shies away from elite competition. We have much work to do, and we also have a proud family of players, staff and administration who are equipped with the focus, mental toughness and passion to tackle that work."
Conference Slate
St. Thomas' eight-game schedule in the Pioneer Football League is expected to be announced at a later date. With 11 universities from 10 states, it's the lone coast-to-coast conference in college football. The Pioneer joins the Ivy League as FCS' only non-scholarship conferences.
St. Thomas faces four home and four away games as assigned among 10 Pioneer foes: Butler, Davidson, Dayton, Drake, Marist, Morehead State, Presbyterian, San Diego, Stetson and Valparaiso.
Opponent Talk
St. Thomas and Northern Iowa have played in football just twice: a 22-0 Panthers win in 1926 in Cedar Falls, and a 6-6 tie in 1927 in St. Paul. Under 20th-year head coach Mark Farley, Northern Iowa has averaged eight wins a season and has one FCS national runner-up finish. They have advanced to the FCS playoffs in five of the last six seasons with a 32-16 record in that span in the rugged Missouri Valley Conference. They regularly attract crowds of 10,000-plus in their 16,200-seat facility.
The Tommies have played three previous games against South Dakota, all road losses in 1922, 1970 and 1979. The 1979 contest was the opening game of USD's newly-constructed DakotaDome and produced a 22-6 win by the Coyotes. South Dakota's remodeled DakotaDome venue seats 9,100.
St. Thomas and North Dakota have played 18 times from 1905-1965, with the Fighting Hawks leading the series 11-6-1. The last Tommie win in the series was in 1941. They lost 13-7 at home to North Dakota in the last meeting, in 1965. North Dakota plays in the domed Alerus Center near its campus in Grand Forks, which seats more than 12,000 spectators.
Historic 2021 Season
The Tommies received NCAA approval last July to make an unprecedented direct move of all of its varsity sports from non-scholarship NCAA Division III into Division I.
Starting in fall 2021, besides its Pioneer League affiliation for football, St. Thomas will have 19 sports competing in the Summit League; its women's hockey team in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) Women's League; and its men's hockey team in the inaugural season of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA).
Tommie fans can learn more about becoming a season ticket holder for next year's inaugural season of Division I football by filling out the Season Ticket Holder Inquiry and can become inaugural members of the newly formed Tommie Athletic Fund by joining the 1904 Club.
