University of St. Thomas Athletics
Morehead State
Football hosts Morehead State to open PFL play
9/19/2023 12:02:00 PM | Football
Tommies look to extend home win streak to 28 consecutive games
ST. PAUL, MINN. – After a long two weeks on the road, the University of St. Thomas football team is headed back to O'Shaughnessy Stadium. After a two tough nonconference road games, the Tommies will open Pioneer Football League (PFL) on their home turf, as they are set to host the Morehead State Eagles in their first conference game of 2023. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:04 p.m. at O'Shaughnessy Field in St. Paul, Minnesota.
St. Thomas is looking to rebound after two tough road losses to South Dakota and Harvard. After being blanked by the Coyotes two weeks ago, the Tommies offense put an end to their shutout streak against the Crimson, but it wasn't enough to beat the now #25 ranked team in the nation. After scoring 21 unanswered points in the first quarter, Harvard went on to beat St. Thomas 45-13, though the Tommies won the time of possession battle by the end of the game.
St. Thomas may have its hands full Saturday afternoon, as Morehead State is one of the highest scoring teams in the FCS this season. Entering Saturday's contest, the Eagles are averaging just under 30 points a game, thanks in large part to starting QB Carter Cravens. Cravens is averaging 266.0 passing yards per game and ranks No. 21 in the nation in total offense. He also is Morehead State's biggest run threat after the first two games of 2023, averaging 54.5 rushing yards per game.
Tickets are still available for Saturday's game and can be purchased at www.tommiesports.com/tickets. Fans who cannot attend Parent's Weekend in person can watch the game in a variety of ways, including broadcast TV. The Tommies will make their Fox 9+ debut this weekend in the Twin Cities and surrounding areas, and the game will also be streamed on Midco Sports Plus. Fans can tune into the live radio call on 1500 ESPN and follow live stats as well.
Pregame Festivities:
Purple in the Plaza is back and will open two hours before kickoff for all home Tommie football games. In 2023, Purple in the Plaza will feature a beer garden, popcorn bar and yard games, including an inflatable field goal challenge. Saturday's game is also sponsored by Wings Credit Union.
Breaking down the Tommies:
LAST TIME OUT: (RV) St. Thomas played on the biggest stage Saturday afternoon, suiting up against Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Tommies got off to a slow start, giving up 21 points in the first quarter for the first time since 2016. However, St. Thomas settled in during the final three quarters of play, winning the time of possession battle 40-20 by the end of regulation. Additionally, first year quarterback Tak Tateoka led two scoring drives in the second half, both rushing touchdowns by Hope Adebayo and Shawn Shipman. Andrew McElroy also eclipsed 1000 career receiving yards, becoming the first wide receiver to do so in the Division I era.
THE OPPOSITION: The Tommies will face a new opponent for the second consecutive week, as this will be the first meeting between Morehead State and St. Thomas in program history. The Eagles are 1-1 to open the season and enjoyed a bye week after a 48-22 loss to #20 Mercer on September 9, 2023. Known for its offensive prowess, Morehead State is averaging just below 30 points a game in 2023 and holds a .548 third down conversion rate entering Saturday's contest.
PERFECT PIONEERS: St. Thomas enters Saturday's contest with a 2-0 record in conference openers since making the jump to DI in 2021. The Tommies won their first ever PFL game over Butler on September 25, 2021, defeating the Bulldogs by a final score of 36-0. In 2022, St. Thomas opened conference play with a 38-24 victory over Marist on October 1, 2023.
KING OF CONFERENCE PLAY: Head coach Glenn Caruso has been virtually unbeatable in conference openers since becoming a head coach in 2006. He is 11-3 all-time in the first conference game of the season and has won seven straight MIAC/PFL openers, a streak that started in 2015. The Tommies have outscored their opponets 370-52 in that span and recorded four shutouts, including the 36-0 win over Butler in their first ever PFL contest. Of note: All of Caruso's conference wins came at St. Thomas. Macalester College did not compete in a conference when Caruso was the head coach in 2006 and 2007. The Scots decided to leave the MIAC in football in 2001 and competed as an independent program before joining the Midwest Conference in 2014. Macalester returned to the MIAC in 2021.
HOME SWEET HOME: Thanks to home losses by Clemson and Cincinnati, the Tommies entered the 2023 season with the longest home win streak at any level of college football. St. Thomas kept it going thanks to a 36-26 win over Black Hills State on September 3, extending its win streak at O'Shaughnessy Field to 27 consecutive games. The Tommies will put that win streak on the line Saturday, as they have not lost at home since December 3, 2016.
ALL-AMERICAN DEBUT: Junior wide receiver Andrew McElroy made his much anticipated 2023 debut at Harvard on Saturday and did not disappoint. The junior led all receivers with 114 yards on six receptions and became the first wide receiver in the Division I era to eclipse the 1000 career receiving yard milestone. More impressive, McElroy made national headlines when his third quarter catch against the Crimson was selected as the No. 8 play on SportsCenter's Top-10 Saturday evening.
1000 YARD CLUB: McElroy is not the first Tommie specialist in the DI era to eclipse the 1000 career yard threshold. Junior running back Hope Adebayo became the first player in the DI era to eclipse the milestone, recording his 1000 rushing yard at the end of his sophomore season in 2022. Shawn Shipman, also a junior running back, eclipsed the mark earlier this season as well and currently has 1212 career rushing yards to his name.
RUSHDOWN: St. Thomas has scored seven touchdowns so far this season, six on offense and one on defense. All six of the Tommies offensive touchdowns have been on the ground to start the 2023 season, with Adebayo, Shipman and Amari Powell accounting for two each. Since Caruso took over in 2008, St. Thomas has never gone three consecutive games without a receiving touchdown. In fact, the Tommies longest such streak was a game, and it happened three times, according to available records. First in 2010, when St. Thomas defeated St. Norbert 40-7 using only rushing touhdowns and field goals. Again in a 22-17 win over UW-Eau Claire in 2014, and most recently in a 12-9 win over Michigan Tech in 2021. In all three instances, the Tommies tallied their first receiving touchdown a week later.
SHUTOUT NO MORE: St. Thomas ended what was the longest offensive shutout streak in the Glenn Caruso era on Saturday. Prior to Adebayo's touchdown against the Crimson, the Tommies went nearly three full quarters without scoring. The last extended shutout streak for St. Thomas came between the 2011 and 2012 seasons. After being shutout by UW-Whitewater in the final game of 2011, the Tommies waited two and a half minutes before scoring their first touchdown of 2012 in a 27-24 win over UW-Eau Claire, ending the streak at approximately 63 minutes.
-21: St. Thomas surrendered 21 first quarter points to Harvard Saturday afternoon. It was the first time the Tommies defense surrendered 20+ points in the first quarter since December 3, 2016 when they gave up the same number of points to UW-Oshkosh in an NCAA Tournament game at O'Shaughnessy Stadium.
NEVER HAVE WE EVER: Lost three consecutive games in the Caruso era. In fact, St. Thomas has lost three games in a season twice since the head coach took over in 2008. The Tommies posted an 8-3 record in 2014 and were 7-3 in 2021. Other than those two seasons, St. Thomas has never lost more than two games in a season under Caruso and have never lost three straight games under the head coach.
MAKING NEW FRIENDS: For the second consecutive week, the Tommies will face a team for the first time in program history. In fact, three of St. Thomas' four opponents were "firsts" in program history, with the only prior meeting coming in 1979, when the Tommies faced South Dakota in the first collegiate football game ever played in the DakotaDome. This is a far cry from the DIII days when St. Thomas very rarely faced a new opponent during the regular season. In their final 12 seasons at the DIII level, the Tommies faced just 19 new opponents and have already squared off with 14 new teams in three seasons at the Division I level.
