Football returns to O'Shaughnessy to host San Diego

ST. PAUL, MINN. – Things are going well for the University of St. Thomas football team. The Tommies are off to a 3-0 start in Pioneer Football League (PFL) play thanks to a resounding 42-14 win over Valparaiso on Saturday, October 19. After two weeks on the road, St. Thomas returns to O'Shaughnessy Stadium this weekend to host San Diego in a key PGL match up.

Kickoff for Saturday's contest is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. at O'Shaughnessy Stadium in St. Paul, Minnesota. It promises to potentially be one of the most exciting games of the season for the Tommies, who are 3-0 in PFL play for the third consecutive season. San Diego enters the game with a 2-1 record, and the Toreros lone loss was at the hands of 2023 conference champion Drake, who was picked to win the PFL in the summer.

Tickets are still available for Saturday's contest and can be purchased online at www.tommiesports.com/tickets. Fans who are unable to attend in person can now watch St. Thomas football through Midco Sports Plus and the Midco Sports Plus App. The subscription-based service will provide a digital streaming platform for regular season home St. Thomas football games along with exclusive Tommie and Pioneer Football League (PFL) content, including replays, highlights, interviews, and special feature stories. Subscriptions cost $9.99 per month or $79.99 for an annual plan. Fans can also listen to the call on 1500 ESPN and the Varsity Network App and follow Live Stats on TommieSports.com.

PREGAME FESTIVITES: St. Thomas will once again host Purple in the Plaza before all home games in 2024 and will kickoff at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday. This week's Purple in the Plaza will feature several activities including the inflatable field goal challenge, and other opportunities to win prizes.

LAST TIME OUT: St. Thomas improved to 3-0 in PFL play for the third consecutive season thanks to a resounding 42-14 win over Valparaiso on Saturday. The Tommies offense and defense was firing on all cylinders in Indiana, as they recorded 424 yards of total offense and forced four turnovers on defensive, including a season-high three fumbles. St. Thomas also scored 30+ points for the third consecutive week, as the offense continued to stay hot in the early stretch of PFL play.

THE OPPOSITION: The Tommies may face their toughest conference opponent yet in the form of San Diego. The Toreros are 2-1 in PFL play with their lone loss coming at the hands of Drake, the clear favorite to win the league for the second consecutive season. Since losing to Drake, San Diego has rattled off two consecutive wins, defeating Presbyterian 27-21 and Marist 34-6 from the comforts of Torero Stadium.

CLOSE QUARTERS: All three meetings between the Tommies and Toreros have been determined by a touchdown or less, and the winner was never unveiled until the fourth quarter at the earliest. In fact, it's the closest PFL series for St. Thomas in terms of scoring and margin of victory, with the Tommies outscoring San Diego 93-83 in the first three meetings between the two programs. A fourth quarter field goal gave the Toreros the victory in 2021, while late touchdowns in 2022 and 2023 secured back-to-back victories for St. Thomas.

OT THRILLER: Despite the small margin of victory, last year was the first time the Tommies and San Diego squared off in OT. It was the first overtime game for St. Thomas since 2010 and the first of the DI era for the Tommies.

MORE ON THAT OVERTIME THING... : St. Thomas avoided overtime for 149 consecutive games before last year's thriller at San Diego, dating back to the 2010 season. The last time the Tommies played in OT was on October 2, 2010, when they defeated Saint John's 27-26. Since beating the Toreros 20-14 last year, St. Thomas has successfully avoided overtime, playing eight consecutive games without needing the extra period.

HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL: With his walk off touchdown against San Diego last season, current senior Hope Adebayo became the first running back in the DI era to record multiple rushing touchdowns in three consecutive games. The junior running back found the back of the end zone twice against Stetson (October 21), twice again Marist (October 28) and then twice in the November 11 win over the Toreros, breaking his own DI record for consecutive games with multiple touchdowns. In last weekend's win over Valparaiso was Adebayo's first multi-touchdown performance of the season, bringing his career total to nine.

BACK TO THIS SEASON: It's no secret the PFL schedule has sparked something in the Tommies offense. Since opening conference play on October 5, St. Thomas has outscored its conference opponents 115-70 and doubled the team's touchdown total in just three games. More importantly, offensive production has steadily improved over the last three games. Since opening PFL play, the Tommies have recorded 961 yards of total offense, including 424 against Valparaiso this past weekend.

CHASING GREATNESS : Colin Chase entered rarefied air on Saturday, becoming just the third receiver in the DI era to record over 100+ receiving yards in a single game. The junior wide receiver joining Patrick Wagner and Andrew McElroy as the only receivers to ever eclipse the 100+ yard threshold and did it with just three receptions in the win over Valparaiso. Chase's 74-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter was one yard shy of breaking McElroy's record, which was set in the 2022 win over San Diego.

MULTI-THREAT OFFENSE: Colin Chase isn't the only receiver to find success during the 2024 season. Earlier this year, Patrick Wagner became the first receiver since 2022 to record 100+ receiving yards in a game. The junior tight end tallied a career-high 104 in a loss to UNI, becoming the first tight end to record over 100+ receiving yards in the DI era. They are the only receiving duo in the DI era to record 100+ yard receiving games in the same season, and account for two of the four 100+ receiving yard games in the DI era.

SEEING RED: The Tommies were once again perfect in the red zone on Saturday, going 4-4 on red zone chances for the second consecutive week. In the last two road games, St. Thomas is 8-8 on red zone chances, 10-10 on PATs, 1-1 on two-point conversions and 1-1 on field goal attempts.

ROCKIN' 30s: The Tommies scored 30+ points in their third consecutive game for the first time since 2022 on Saturday. St. Thomas scored 30+ points in three consecutive games twice that season, first from September 10 to October 1 (vs. Michigan Tech, Lincoln and Marist) and then again from October 22 to November 5 (vs. Presbyterian, San Diego and Valparaiso). The Tommies have never scored 30+ points in four consecutive games during the DI era.

HOLY 200!: Tak Tateoka became the first St. Thomas quarterback to throw for over 200 yards in a game since Cade Saxauer in 2022. The opponent? None other than the San Diego Toreros. Saxauer threw for a DI era record 286 yards against San Diego, leading the Tommies to the 49-42 victory.

160 AND IT FEELS SO GOOD: Head Coach Glenn Caruso won his 160th game against Marist earlier this month, cementing his legacy as one of the winningest coaches in college football. Caruso needed just 203 games to reach 160 wins and owns a career winning percentage of .788. By comparison, the current coach with the most wins at the FCS level, Monmouth's Kevin Callahan, owns a career winning percentage of .561 and UNI's Mark Farley is currently 182-107 all-time with a career winning percentage of .630.

Football returns to O'Shaughnessy to host San Diego

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Players Mentioned

Hope Adebayo

Colin Chase

Andrew McElroy

Tak Tateoka

Patrick Wagner

University of St. Thomas Athletics