Even with an on-field temperature over 100 degrees at kickoff, the hottest thing in O’Shaughnessy Stadium Saturday evening was the No. 3-ranked Tommie football team.
On a day when they played their 1,000th game as an organization, coach Glenn Caruso took time to appreciate the history of Saturday’s match up.
“We played Hamline in our second game ever on this field 100 years ago,” he said. “(Tonight) brought back so many people … who played in the ‘50s, ‘60s, ‘70s. It’s neat to be apart of the larger machine that is St. Thomas football.”
Despite the grandeur of the game and an adjusted kickoff time due to excessive heat, the Tommies (1-0 MIAC, 2-0 overall) were business as usual, downing conference opponent Hamline 62-0. Coach Glenn Caruso’s squad is now 11-0 against the Pipers (0-1 MIAC, 0-3 overall) in his tenure.
“(It) felt good,” Caruso said. “I think we corrected a lot of mistakes that we made in week one.”
Wide receiver Will Toonen played a starring role in the Tommies’ big night, scoring two touchdowns on a blocked punt in the first quarter and a 41-yard punt return in the second.
“It was pretty exciting,” he said. “But a lot of that stuff wouldn’t have happened without my teammates.”
The Tommie defense, which was No. 1 in all of Division III last season in total yards allowed, picked up where it left off. The unit allowed -15 total yards, only one of 18 third-down conversions, forced four turnovers and recorded two touchdowns.
“Probably the best thing overall that we did is keep our energy up on the sidelines,” Caruso said.
Running back Josh Parks led the Tommies’ ground attack with an even 100 yards on 10 attempts and added to the large win with an 8-yard touchdown before being pulled out for the rest of the game. The rest of the nine running backs combined for a total of 155 yards and notched four touchdowns.
“It was good, overall. I felt we had a good team win” Parks said. “The scoreboard says it all.”
Tommie quarterback Jacques Perra only threw four passes against Hamline but completed all four for 33 yards. His second pass of the game found tight end Jackson Finn in the end zone for a 6-yard touchdown.
Perra also scored his first rushing touchdown of the season on a 10-yard scramble to end the first.
While he was pleased with his team’s performance, Caruso acknowledged that he can’t keep turning his backups loose in the second half of games.
“I’m happy that we were able to pull our starters in the second quarter,” he said, “But … eventually our starters are going to have to play four quarters if we want to go where we want to go.”
Saturday’s game was the first time in nearly 30 years that St. Thomas played a home game in the evening.
The Tommies are at home for the third game in a row Saturday, Sept. 22 against non-conference opponent Wisconsin-Eau Claire.
Matthew Curry can be reached at curr1523@stthomas.edu
Glenn Caruso’s description of UST football as a “machine,” in this article is unfortunately all too accurate.
With the exception of the game against SJU and, occasionally, Bethel or Concordia, the “machine” destroys conference opponents in utterly lopsided fashion.
I would be surprised if other MIAC schools are not quietly fuming and perhaps, even thinking of ways too boot UST out of the conference for football. Who would blame them?
Athletic success is certainly a plus for a university. But at what cost? Is it a success to systematically and regularly defeat conference gridiron opponents by 50 or more points?
What to do? Moving to division II would be a cure worse than the disease. WIAC schools, I believe, are also like UST division III and usually give the “machine” a decent battle. If UST and SJU were to join the WIAC for football, it might give “border battle” another dimension and make autumn Saturday afternoons more competitive and, hence, more interesting.
Glenn Caruso’s description of UST football as a “machine” is, unfortunately, an all too accurate metaphor.
With the exception of SJU and, occasionally, Bethel or Concordia, most conference games are terrible mismatches.
Athletic success is wonderful but at what cost?
Not many solutions are present. Moving up to division 2 would be a cure worse than the disease. Perhaps UST and SJU should move to the WIAC conference in football. Their teams seem to present more serious challenges to the “machine.”