University of St. Thomas Athletics
Saturday, November 12
St. Paul, Minn.
12:00 P.M. Central
9-1 , 7-0
23
vs
0
Stetson
3-6 , 1-5
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
Stetson
0
0
0
0
0
St. Thomas (MN)
7
10
6
0
23
Team Stats
SSU
UST
Total Yards
113
397
Pass Yards
75
123
Rushing Yards
38
274
Penalty Yards
35
50
1st Downs
11
20
3rd Downs
3
7
4th Downs
1
1
TOP
23:55
36:05
1st Quarter
SSU 0, UST 7
UST - Shipman,Shawn 3 yd run (Shagen,Stephen kick), 5 plays, 50 yards, TOP 02:07
2nd Quarter
SSU 0, UST 10
UST - Shagen,Stephen 34 yd field goal 7 plays, 17 yards, TOP 03:20
SSU 0, UST 17
UST - Sexauer,Cade 1 yd run (Shagen,Stephen kick), 4 plays, 72 yards, TOP 01:54
3rd Quarter
SSU 0, UST 23
UST - Rink,Matthew 10 yd pass from Sexauer,Cade () 5 plays, 56 yards, TOP 02:24
Game Leaders
Passing Leaders
CMP
8
TD
1
YDS
123
INT
2
CMP
0
TD
0
YDS
0
INT
0
Players Mentioned
RB
/ Football
DB
/ Football
DB
/ Football
WR
/ Football
LB
/ Football
QB
/ Football
LB
/ Football
RB
/ Football
OL
/ Football
DB
/ Football
TE
/ Football
Pioneer turns Purple: Football secures conference title share
11/12/2022 5:22:00 PM | Football
St. Paul, Minn. -- In just year two of Division I play, No. 23-ranked St. Thomas has secured at least a share of the Pioneer Football Conference championship with Saturday's 23-0 home defeat of Stetson University.
Sophomore running back Shawn Shipman rushed for a career-best 168 yards, his third 100-yard game of the season, as the Purple (9-1 overall, 7-0 Pioneer) extended several long winning streaks.
The Tommie defense allowed just 113 total yards en route to the St. Thomas' second shutout win of the FCS era.
Coach Glenn Caruso's Tommies can claim a solo league championship and a 10-win season by earning a road victory next Saturday at Butler.
This Senior Day victory on a 28-degree November day at O'Shaughnessy Stadium let the Purple extend multiple win streaks: season wins (now nine); conference wins (now nine); home-field wins (now 26); and regular-season home-field wins (now 37). St. Thomas is 45-1 at O'Shaughnessy Stadium since October 2014 (lost 34-31 to UW-Oshkosh in 2016 NCAA playoffs).
The Tommies started the day atop the conference standings by one game ahead of three other Pioneer teams, but now just Dayton remains as a challenger. Butler lost 27-24 at Drake to fall out of the title race. Dayton topped Morehead State to remain one back in second place. Davidson lost 31-14 at San Diego to drop from title contention. If Davidson beats visiting Dayton next Saturday, the Tommies are solo champions regardless of their outcome at Butler.
Defense shines
Seven days earlier on a 70-degree day in North Carolina, Stetson passed for 426 yards in a 56-48 loss to Davidson in two overtimes. But on Saturday, with wind-chill readings in the high teens, the Hatters struggled to sustain drives, and managed just one trip inside the red zone.
St. Thomas' aggressive defense set the tone on the first play from scrimmage with a nine-yard sack. The Purple defense finished with three takeaways, three sacks among eight tackles for loss, and 13 QB hurries; held Stetson to 3-of-15 on third downs and 11 total first downs; and allowed just 38 net rushing yards and 75 net passing yards.
Shipman's 31 carries were the most for a St. Thomas player so far in the 20-game FCS era. The Toms already led 10-0 midway through the second quarter when Shipman's 57-yard run preceded a short TD run by Cade Sexauer for a 17-0 lead.
Fifth-year senior Luke Glenna recorded his 13th career interception in the fourth quarter -- his fourth pickoff in the last five games. Glenna returned the turnover 53 yards to halt Stetson's last good scoring march. Yusef Leak added a second-quarter interception; Grif Wurtz recovered a second-quarter fumble; and Tommy Shelstad had a shared sack to go with four QB hurries.
The Tommies finished with 407 yards of offense. Sexauer rushed 13 times for 60 yards. He also passed for 123 yards and one TD, a third-quarter 10-yarder to freshman tight end Matthew Rink.
Next Up
St. Thomas plays at Butler on Saturday Nov. 19 with a noon Eastern time start. That's the final game of the season for the Tommies, who are ineligible for the FCS playoffs this season as a transitioning school into Division I. Either a Pioneer co-champ or runner-up will get the Pioneer league's automatic berth.
Did You Know?
There are nearly two dozen seniors and fifth-year or grad players that played on both the Tommies' 2019 co-champion MIAC team and on this year conference title squad. Glenna, LB Trent Meyer, center Matt Weimann and TE Max Zimmerman started games during each of those championship seasons.
Sexauer surpassed 3,000 career yards of total offense in Saturday's victory. He has 21 TD passes and eight TD runs, with 2,602 passing yards and 468 rushing yards on his 25-game career.
Shipman's big day topped his entire 2021 rushing output -- he rushed 30 times for 155 yards in 10 games as a freshman backup and went for 168 yards on 31 carries Saturday.
The Toms pulled away to win despite having standout rusher Hope Adebayo (1,183 rushing yards 13 TDs on two-year career) sidelined with an injury, and with leading receiver Andrew McElroy held without a catch.
Glenna has 15 career takeaways, including two fumble recoveries. His first career interception came 1,533 days ago in his first college game, a pick six Sept. 1, 2018 vs. Trinity International.
St. Thomas is 27-0 in home November games and has a 14-0 record on Senior Day in the Caruso era. The Purple have won 42 of their last 45 November games overall.
Sophomore running back Shawn Shipman rushed for a career-best 168 yards, his third 100-yard game of the season, as the Purple (9-1 overall, 7-0 Pioneer) extended several long winning streaks.
The Tommie defense allowed just 113 total yards en route to the St. Thomas' second shutout win of the FCS era.
Coach Glenn Caruso's Tommies can claim a solo league championship and a 10-win season by earning a road victory next Saturday at Butler.
This Senior Day victory on a 28-degree November day at O'Shaughnessy Stadium let the Purple extend multiple win streaks: season wins (now nine); conference wins (now nine); home-field wins (now 26); and regular-season home-field wins (now 37). St. Thomas is 45-1 at O'Shaughnessy Stadium since October 2014 (lost 34-31 to UW-Oshkosh in 2016 NCAA playoffs).
The Tommies started the day atop the conference standings by one game ahead of three other Pioneer teams, but now just Dayton remains as a challenger. Butler lost 27-24 at Drake to fall out of the title race. Dayton topped Morehead State to remain one back in second place. Davidson lost 31-14 at San Diego to drop from title contention. If Davidson beats visiting Dayton next Saturday, the Tommies are solo champions regardless of their outcome at Butler.
Defense shines
Seven days earlier on a 70-degree day in North Carolina, Stetson passed for 426 yards in a 56-48 loss to Davidson in two overtimes. But on Saturday, with wind-chill readings in the high teens, the Hatters struggled to sustain drives, and managed just one trip inside the red zone.
St. Thomas' aggressive defense set the tone on the first play from scrimmage with a nine-yard sack. The Purple defense finished with three takeaways, three sacks among eight tackles for loss, and 13 QB hurries; held Stetson to 3-of-15 on third downs and 11 total first downs; and allowed just 38 net rushing yards and 75 net passing yards.
Shipman's 31 carries were the most for a St. Thomas player so far in the 20-game FCS era. The Toms already led 10-0 midway through the second quarter when Shipman's 57-yard run preceded a short TD run by Cade Sexauer for a 17-0 lead.
Fifth-year senior Luke Glenna recorded his 13th career interception in the fourth quarter -- his fourth pickoff in the last five games. Glenna returned the turnover 53 yards to halt Stetson's last good scoring march. Yusef Leak added a second-quarter interception; Grif Wurtz recovered a second-quarter fumble; and Tommy Shelstad had a shared sack to go with four QB hurries.
The Tommies finished with 407 yards of offense. Sexauer rushed 13 times for 60 yards. He also passed for 123 yards and one TD, a third-quarter 10-yarder to freshman tight end Matthew Rink.
Next Up
St. Thomas plays at Butler on Saturday Nov. 19 with a noon Eastern time start. That's the final game of the season for the Tommies, who are ineligible for the FCS playoffs this season as a transitioning school into Division I. Either a Pioneer co-champ or runner-up will get the Pioneer league's automatic berth.
Did You Know?
There are nearly two dozen seniors and fifth-year or grad players that played on both the Tommies' 2019 co-champion MIAC team and on this year conference title squad. Glenna, LB Trent Meyer, center Matt Weimann and TE Max Zimmerman started games during each of those championship seasons.
Sexauer surpassed 3,000 career yards of total offense in Saturday's victory. He has 21 TD passes and eight TD runs, with 2,602 passing yards and 468 rushing yards on his 25-game career.
Shipman's big day topped his entire 2021 rushing output -- he rushed 30 times for 155 yards in 10 games as a freshman backup and went for 168 yards on 31 carries Saturday.
The Toms pulled away to win despite having standout rusher Hope Adebayo (1,183 rushing yards 13 TDs on two-year career) sidelined with an injury, and with leading receiver Andrew McElroy held without a catch.
Glenna has 15 career takeaways, including two fumble recoveries. His first career interception came 1,533 days ago in his first college game, a pick six Sept. 1, 2018 vs. Trinity International.
St. Thomas is 27-0 in home November games and has a 14-0 record on Senior Day in the Caruso era. The Purple have won 42 of their last 45 November games overall.
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