University of St. Thomas Athletics
Harvard
(RV) St. Thomas ships out to Boston to face Harvard
9/12/2023 10:13:00 AM | Football
Tommies are 13-1 in the DI era against east coast teams
ST. PAUL, MINN. – The University of St. Thomas football team is shipping off to Boston. The (RV) Tommies will make their first east coast trip of the 2023 season, as they head to Massachusetts to face Harvard University in a historic first meeting between the two programs. Kickoff is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. CT at Harvard Stadium in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
This game is historic on many fronts, as two of the most storied programs in college football square off in Sunday's match up. Combined, Harvard and St. Thomas have won 1543 football games in 150 years of existence, and both programs rank in the top-100 all-time in career wins. Entering Saturday's contest, Harvard ranks tenth in the nation in total wins as a program, while St. Thomas ranks 84th.
Additionally, in 150 years of existence, Harvard football has never faced a team from Minnesota, though the Crimson are 7-2 all-time against teams west of the Mississippi. In fact, Harvard has only played six "western" schools, including Stanford, Louisiana, Oregon, Texas, WashU (St. Louis), and San Diego, St. Thomas' Pioneer Football League (PFL) rival. The Crimson have a winning record against four of those teams, with their only losses coming at the hands of Stanford and the Toreros.
Tickets for Saturday's game are still available and can be purchased online at gocrimson.com. Fans who are unable to make the trek to Cambridge can watch the Tommies on ESPN+ and listen to the call on 1500 ESPN Radio. Additionally, live stats will be available on the Harvard athletics website.
Breaking down the Tommies:
LAST TIME OUT
(RV) St. Thomas put up a valiant effort against South Dakota but ultimately came up short, falling 24-0 at the DakotaDome in Vermillion, South Dakota. The Tommie defense was outstanding, holding the Coyotes to seven points and under 100 rushing yards through the first 38 minutes of play. South Dakota, though, proved too much in the final 22 minutes, scoring 17 points to clinch the game 24-0.
THE OPPOSITION
Harvard will be playing in its season opener on Saturday, having enjoyed the last two weekends off. The Crimson put together a strong season in 2022, posting an overall record of 6-4 with a 4-3 mark in Ivy League play. Senior defensive lineman Thor Griffen is Harvard's top returning player, having earned All-America honors from multiple organizations at the conclusion of 2022. He additionally was named to the 2024 Senior Bowl and Buck Buchanan Award Preseason Watch Lists earlier this fall.
PIONEER DOMINANCE
Harvard has found a fair amount of success against teams currently playing in the Pioneer Football League. In addition to their 3-1 record against San Diego, the Crimson are 1-0 all-time against Valparaiso, defeating the team 21-0 in 1920. Harvard's success against the Toreros is more recent, as the two teams have met four times between 2012-19. San Diego did win the last game in 2019, defeating the Crimson 31-23 in California.
25,000 EYES
Harvard Stadium will be the largest venue, capacity wise, the Tommies will play in during the 2023 season. When full, the historic stadium can seat 25,884 strong, which is nearly quintuple O'Shaughnessy Stadium's seating capacity of 5,025. By comparison, the DakotaDome in Vermillion, South Dakota can seat 9,100, while US Bank Stadium can seat 73,000.
WINNING WAYS
While St. Thomas is one of the winningest programs in college football history, the program has been even better under head coach Glenn Caruso. In his 16 seasons at the helm, the coach has led the Tommies to an .847 winning percentage thanks to his record or 144-26 with the program. Entering the 2023 season, Caruso ranked in the top-5 amongst all active NCAA college football coaches in winning percentage.
.500+ CLUB
Since making the transition to Division I, St. Thomas has never suffered back-to-back losses in the opening three weeks of the regular season. The Tommies will look to avoid that on Saturday with a road win at Harvard. However, St. Thomas is 1-4 in nonconference road games since 2021, but all four of those losses have come against FCS scholarship programs. Saturday's meeting with the Crimson will be the first nonconference game the Tommies will play against an FCS nonscholarship team in the DI era.
EAST COAST STATE OF MIND
This won't be St. Thomas first trip across the Mississippi River since making the leap to Division I. The Tommies are 13-1 in 14 games against east coast opponents and 7-0 in road games. According to available records, this will be St. Thomas' first ever trip to Massachusetts, with records dating back to the 1983 season.
RAREST OF ZEROS
St. Thomas was shutout for the first time since the 2021 season on Saturday, going 4291 days without scoring at least one touchdown or field goal in a game. The last time it happened was in the NCAA Division III playoffs on December 10, 2011. The Tommies were blanked 21-0 by UW-Whitewater, which eventually went on to win the national championship.
YOUNG GUNS
Despite the loss on Saturday, the Tommies showed plenty of promise, especially freshman quarterback Tak Tateoka. In his first collegiate start, Tateoka threw for 133 yards, completing 15-22 passes with a slightly depleted receiving core. St. Thomas was without top wide receivers Andrew McElroy and Jacob Wildermuth against South Dakota due to injury.
IT'S A BOOMER
Under Caruso, St. Thomas isn't known as a punting team. However, freshman punter Elliot Heuther made a name for himself against South Dakota, becoming just the second Tommie punter in the DI era to punt for over 200 yards in a game. After Saturday's 235 punt yard performance, Heuther ranks second in the Division I era in single-game punting yards and joins Kolby Gartner as the one two punters in the Division I era with over six punts in a game.
NATIONAL RANKINGS
The St. Thomas defense continued to rank among the top-10 in the FCS in terms of rush defense. After holding South Dakota to 106 rushing yards on Saturday, the Tommies rank sixth in rush defense and is the only nonscholarship team to rank in the top-10 in the category.
IN THE POLLS
Despite the loss to South Dakota, St. Thomas continued to receive votes in both the AFCA Coaches and Stats Perform FCS Top-25 polls.
