University of St. Thomas Athletics
Saturday, November 16
Indianapolis, Ind.
12:00 p.m. CT
at
Butler
Photo by: Dave Wildermuth
Football treks to #25 Butler for final road game 2024
11/14/2024 11:49:00 AM | Football
ST. PAUL, MINN. – It seems like only yesterday the University of St. Thomas football season opened on a rainy August night. Nearly three months later, the Tommies will embark on their final road trip of 2024, as they trek to Indianapolis, Indiana for a key game against #25 Butler University.
This weekend could be historic on many levels for St. Thomas, as the team looks to snap its two-game conference losing streak. The Tommies are still looking for their first win over a nationally ranked opponent in the DI era, and they could feasibly do it against Butler on Saturday. The Bulldogs earned the No. 25 ranking in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) Top-25 rankings and are the lone team from the Pioneer Football League (PFL) ranked in the top-25 this season. This is just the second time in the DI era the Tommies will square off with a national ranked opponent, though they have faced several teams receiving votes in the FCS poll. St. Thomas fell to #15 UNI 44-3 in Cedar Rapids back in 2021, the only other time the Tommies have faced a ranked opponent in the DI era.
Tickets are still available for Saturday's contest and can be purchased online at www.butlersports.com. Fans can also watch the game online through FloFootball and find updates on the team's official Twitter account (@UST_Football).
LAST TIME OUT: St. Thomas suffered back-to-back losses in PFL play for the first time since joining the conference, as the team's comeback effort came up just short in a 22-19 loss to Drake. The Tommies and Bulldogs were deadlocked 10-10 at halftime, thanks to a late surge by the St. Thomas offense. A touchdown by Hope Adebayo and field goal from Ben Hoiland kept the Tommies in the game through the first half and much of the second. However, miscues on all sides of the ball resulted in a 22-13 second half lead for Drake with 7:00 remaining in regulation. A late touchdown by Colin Chase cut the lead to 22-19, but St. Thomas was unable to recover its own onside kick in the closing minute.
THE OPPOSITION: Butler is off to its best start under head coach Mike Uremovich, as the Bulldogs are 8-2 with a 4-2 mark in PFL play. Butler rattled off five wins to open the 2024 season before dropping back-to-back games to Drake and Dayton. Since then, the Bulldogs are riding a three-game win streak with wins over Davidson, Stetson and Valparaiso, outscoring their opponents 118-68 in that span.
GOTTA HAVE HOPE: All good things must come to an end, and that was true for Hope Adebayo on Saturday. The senior running back saw his streak of consecutive 100+ rush yard performances snapped at four, as he closed Saturday's contest with 99 net rush yards, his lowest total since October 5. In a four game span, Adebayo rushed for 632 total yards, averaging 158.0 yards per game, and scored six touchdowns. Entering Saturday's contest at Butler, Adeyabo already owns the DI era record for single-season rush yards at 953, and he could become the first running back in the DI era to rush for over 1000 yards in a single season. He would also be the first running back to rush for 1000+ yards since Josh Parks in 2019.
WHERE DREAMS COME TRUE: St. Thomas fans should remember Bud and Jackie Sellick Stadium fondly, as it was the place where the Tommies won their first PFL title back in 2022. In the final game of the season, St. Thomas defeated Butler 27-13, claiming its first Division I conference tile with a pristine 8-0 record in conference play.
BACK IN 2022...: The Tommies basically controlled the game from start to finish in that 2022 victory over the Bulldogs, scoring 14 quick points in the first quarter for an early 14-0 lead. In fact, the St. Thomas defense shutout Butler in the first half, not allowing the Bulldogs to score until late in the third quarter. It was part of a 118 minute shutout streak for the Tommie defense, which did not surrender a single point for nearly two full games of play. The streak starting in the fourth quarter against Valpo on November 5, continued through a 23-0 victory over Stetson on November 12 and concluded in the final two minutes of the third quarter in that November 19 victory over Butler.
HISTORIC FIRSTS: St. Thomas has achieved a lot of firsts in its first three meetings with the Bulldogs. The Tommies claimed their first shutout and conference win in the DI era against Butler back in 2021, defeating the Bulldogs 36-0 at O'Shaughnessy Stadium. In 2022, the Tommies won their first ever Division I conference title in a 27-13 win over Butler, and the Tommies improved to 3-0 against the Bulldogs in 2023 (the first PFL team to fall to 0-3 against St. Thomas in the DI era). On Saturday, the Tommies are looking to avoid a historic first: in the Glenn Caruso era, St. Thomas has never lost three consecutive games to a conference opponent, not even in Division III.
NEVER HAVE WE EVER...: Lost to the same PFL team in back-to-back seasons. That's right. Since joining the conference in 2021, the Tommies had never lost to the same PFL team twice until Saturday's loss to the Drake Bulldogs. In four seasons of PFL play, St. Thomas compiled an impressive 25-5 record against conference play and somehow had never lost to the same team twice. In 2021, St. Thomas lost to both San Diego and Davidson, closing the year with a 6-2 PFL record. The following season, the Tommies upended both the Toreros and Wildcats and currently own a three-game win streak against San Diego specifically. St. Thomas has additionally never lost more than two PFL games in the same season under Caruso.
HOME SWEET HOME : Perhaps more impressive? The Tommies had never lost a PFL contest within the confines of O'Shaughnessy Stadium. Yes, Drake managed to snap St. Thomas' 14-game home field win streak against PFL opponents, which included wins over every team in the conference except Dayton, whom the Tommies will host for the first time in program history on November 23, the final game of the regular season.
MORE OFFENSE PLEASE: There is one common denominator in St. Thomas' five losses this season, the most ever for the Tommies in the Caruso era: a wayward offense. St. Thomas is 0-5 when scoring less than 20 points in games this season, and 5-0 when scoring at least 24. Additionally, the Tommies fell to 0-2 when rushing for less than 100 yards in a game. Despite Adebayo's 99 rush yard performance, St. Thomas only rushed for 69 yards as a team due to a botched snap in the fourth quarter of Saturday's game. It marks just the second time this season the Tommies rushed for under 100 yards as a team, the first being in the season opener against Sioux Falls on August 29.
ROCKIN' 30s: St. Thomas scored an average of 37.3 points during the month of October, the team's highest scoring month in the Division I era. The Tommies scored 30+ points in four consecutive games, rattling off wins against Stetson (34-24), Marist (39-32), Valpo (42-14) and San Diego (34-14). St. Thomas did score more points during the month of October during the 2022 season, though the Tommies were aided by an extra game. As a team, St. Thomas scored 186 points through five games in October 2022, including 95 over a two game span against San Diego and Presbyterian.
HAPPY 120th!: Thursday, August 29 kicked off the 120th season of Tommie football, according to available records. St. Thomas played its first intercollegiate football game in 1904 and won its first Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) title in 1922. Since then, the Tommies have won 22 total conference titles, including their first Pioneer Football League (PFL) title in 2022.
This weekend could be historic on many levels for St. Thomas, as the team looks to snap its two-game conference losing streak. The Tommies are still looking for their first win over a nationally ranked opponent in the DI era, and they could feasibly do it against Butler on Saturday. The Bulldogs earned the No. 25 ranking in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) Top-25 rankings and are the lone team from the Pioneer Football League (PFL) ranked in the top-25 this season. This is just the second time in the DI era the Tommies will square off with a national ranked opponent, though they have faced several teams receiving votes in the FCS poll. St. Thomas fell to #15 UNI 44-3 in Cedar Rapids back in 2021, the only other time the Tommies have faced a ranked opponent in the DI era.
Tickets are still available for Saturday's contest and can be purchased online at www.butlersports.com. Fans can also watch the game online through FloFootball and find updates on the team's official Twitter account (@UST_Football).
LAST TIME OUT: St. Thomas suffered back-to-back losses in PFL play for the first time since joining the conference, as the team's comeback effort came up just short in a 22-19 loss to Drake. The Tommies and Bulldogs were deadlocked 10-10 at halftime, thanks to a late surge by the St. Thomas offense. A touchdown by Hope Adebayo and field goal from Ben Hoiland kept the Tommies in the game through the first half and much of the second. However, miscues on all sides of the ball resulted in a 22-13 second half lead for Drake with 7:00 remaining in regulation. A late touchdown by Colin Chase cut the lead to 22-19, but St. Thomas was unable to recover its own onside kick in the closing minute.
THE OPPOSITION: Butler is off to its best start under head coach Mike Uremovich, as the Bulldogs are 8-2 with a 4-2 mark in PFL play. Butler rattled off five wins to open the 2024 season before dropping back-to-back games to Drake and Dayton. Since then, the Bulldogs are riding a three-game win streak with wins over Davidson, Stetson and Valparaiso, outscoring their opponents 118-68 in that span.
GOTTA HAVE HOPE: All good things must come to an end, and that was true for Hope Adebayo on Saturday. The senior running back saw his streak of consecutive 100+ rush yard performances snapped at four, as he closed Saturday's contest with 99 net rush yards, his lowest total since October 5. In a four game span, Adebayo rushed for 632 total yards, averaging 158.0 yards per game, and scored six touchdowns. Entering Saturday's contest at Butler, Adeyabo already owns the DI era record for single-season rush yards at 953, and he could become the first running back in the DI era to rush for over 1000 yards in a single season. He would also be the first running back to rush for 1000+ yards since Josh Parks in 2019.
WHERE DREAMS COME TRUE: St. Thomas fans should remember Bud and Jackie Sellick Stadium fondly, as it was the place where the Tommies won their first PFL title back in 2022. In the final game of the season, St. Thomas defeated Butler 27-13, claiming its first Division I conference tile with a pristine 8-0 record in conference play.
BACK IN 2022...: The Tommies basically controlled the game from start to finish in that 2022 victory over the Bulldogs, scoring 14 quick points in the first quarter for an early 14-0 lead. In fact, the St. Thomas defense shutout Butler in the first half, not allowing the Bulldogs to score until late in the third quarter. It was part of a 118 minute shutout streak for the Tommie defense, which did not surrender a single point for nearly two full games of play. The streak starting in the fourth quarter against Valpo on November 5, continued through a 23-0 victory over Stetson on November 12 and concluded in the final two minutes of the third quarter in that November 19 victory over Butler.
HISTORIC FIRSTS: St. Thomas has achieved a lot of firsts in its first three meetings with the Bulldogs. The Tommies claimed their first shutout and conference win in the DI era against Butler back in 2021, defeating the Bulldogs 36-0 at O'Shaughnessy Stadium. In 2022, the Tommies won their first ever Division I conference title in a 27-13 win over Butler, and the Tommies improved to 3-0 against the Bulldogs in 2023 (the first PFL team to fall to 0-3 against St. Thomas in the DI era). On Saturday, the Tommies are looking to avoid a historic first: in the Glenn Caruso era, St. Thomas has never lost three consecutive games to a conference opponent, not even in Division III.
NEVER HAVE WE EVER...: Lost to the same PFL team in back-to-back seasons. That's right. Since joining the conference in 2021, the Tommies had never lost to the same PFL team twice until Saturday's loss to the Drake Bulldogs. In four seasons of PFL play, St. Thomas compiled an impressive 25-5 record against conference play and somehow had never lost to the same team twice. In 2021, St. Thomas lost to both San Diego and Davidson, closing the year with a 6-2 PFL record. The following season, the Tommies upended both the Toreros and Wildcats and currently own a three-game win streak against San Diego specifically. St. Thomas has additionally never lost more than two PFL games in the same season under Caruso.
HOME SWEET HOME : Perhaps more impressive? The Tommies had never lost a PFL contest within the confines of O'Shaughnessy Stadium. Yes, Drake managed to snap St. Thomas' 14-game home field win streak against PFL opponents, which included wins over every team in the conference except Dayton, whom the Tommies will host for the first time in program history on November 23, the final game of the regular season.
MORE OFFENSE PLEASE: There is one common denominator in St. Thomas' five losses this season, the most ever for the Tommies in the Caruso era: a wayward offense. St. Thomas is 0-5 when scoring less than 20 points in games this season, and 5-0 when scoring at least 24. Additionally, the Tommies fell to 0-2 when rushing for less than 100 yards in a game. Despite Adebayo's 99 rush yard performance, St. Thomas only rushed for 69 yards as a team due to a botched snap in the fourth quarter of Saturday's game. It marks just the second time this season the Tommies rushed for under 100 yards as a team, the first being in the season opener against Sioux Falls on August 29.
ROCKIN' 30s: St. Thomas scored an average of 37.3 points during the month of October, the team's highest scoring month in the Division I era. The Tommies scored 30+ points in four consecutive games, rattling off wins against Stetson (34-24), Marist (39-32), Valpo (42-14) and San Diego (34-14). St. Thomas did score more points during the month of October during the 2022 season, though the Tommies were aided by an extra game. As a team, St. Thomas scored 186 points through five games in October 2022, including 95 over a two game span against San Diego and Presbyterian.
HAPPY 120th!: Thursday, August 29 kicked off the 120th season of Tommie football, according to available records. St. Thomas played its first intercollegiate football game in 1904 and won its first Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) title in 1922. Since then, the Tommies have won 22 total conference titles, including their first Pioneer Football League (PFL) title in 2022.
Players Mentioned
Press Conference: Tommie Football Postgame v Lindenwood 08/28/25
Friday, August 29
Tommie Football Intro Video 2025
Thursday, August 28
Press Conference: Tommie Football Postgame vs Dayton
Saturday, November 23
Press Conference: Tommie Football Postgame vs Drake 11.09.24
Tuesday, November 12
