University of St. Thomas Athletics
Valparaiso
Game Notes -- First-place Football set for road test at Valpo
11/4/2022 4:27:00 PM | Football
St. Paul, Minn. -- No. 25-ranked St. Thomas Football (7-1 overall, 5-0 Pioneer) has won seven games in a row this season since a 44-13 opening loss at FCS scholarship team Southern Utah (Southern Utah scored game's final 16 points). The Toms are away Saturday at Valparaiso in a 1 p.m. kickoff in Valparaiso, Ind.
The contest can be heard live on AM-1500 Radio Skor North, with Corbu Stathes on the play-by-play call with Christopher Ohm as the color analyst. The game will air on ESPN-Plus and can be accessed HERE
The 5-0 Tommies lead the Pioneer Football League with three games to go, one game up on Davidson, Dayton and Butler (all 4-1 in the PFL). This week, Davidson is home to face Stetson; Butler plays at San Diego; and Dayton plays at Presbyterian.
The Tommies cracked the national AFCA Coaches poll rankings this week at No. 25 – the first such national team ranking in any sport thus far in its D-I era. The lone non-scholarship teams ranked in the top 25 are UST and Ivy League leader Princeton. The Tommies' have won 25 in a row on their home field, third most consecutive current wins across all of NCAA Football (top six are Clemson 38, Cincinnati 30, St. Thomas 25, Oregon 23, Linfield (Ore.) 22, Alabama 18). In fact, it's been 2,164 days since the Toms lost at O'Shaughnessy Stadium, a Dec. 3, 2016 NCAA playoff defeat to UW-Oshkosh, 34-3.
Coach Glenn Caruso's team is coming off a 49-42 home victory over San Diego -- a frenetic game that included tie scores at 7-7, 14-14, 21-21, 28-28 and 35-35. The Toms had seven offensive or special team plays gain 40 or more yards on the game. That victory avenged a 27-24 loss to San Diego in 2021 and handed the Toreros just their fifth loss in their last 55 conference games. St. Thomas set several personal bests and D-I era team records. QB Cade Sexauer threw for 286 yards and surpassed 300 yards in total offense.
WR-KR Andrew McElroy was named Pioneer Football League Offensive Player of the Week after he set D-I era bests with 200 receiving yards, a 95-yard kickoff return, a 75-yard TD catch and run, and 314 all-purpose yards while scoring three touchdowns.
The Purple head into November with three remaining games -- Nov. 5 at Valparaiso; Nov. 12 at home vs. Stetson; and Nov. 19 at Butler -- looking to become the first St. Thomas team in the D-I era to win or share a conference championship. At 5-0, the Toms hold a one-game lead on 4-1 teams Davidson, Dayton and Butler, with Valparaiso at 3-2.
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Click HERE to access complete weekly notes for Tommie Football
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