St. Thomas football coach Glenn Caruso has always felt most comfortable having a three-deep running-back corps. During the Tommies’ homecoming game Saturday at O’Shaughnessy Stadium, he had to count on one back: first-year player Gabe Abel.
Abel delivered, rushing for 100 yards and scoring the first three touchdowns of his college career. Abel’s performance lifted his team to a 26-14 win over Drake and extended the Tommies’ home regular-season win streak to 35 games.
“Gabe is very capable,” Caruso said. “It’s tough to play as a freshman at any college, let alone a Division I school.”
With injuries limiting the play of sophomore running back Shawn Shipman and last year’s “Freshman Offensive Player of the Year” Hope Adebayo, Abel jumped in and took control.
“It feels good to just step up – ‘next man up’ mentality,” Abel said.
With their win over Drake and Valparaiso’s loss at Butler Saturday, the Tommies (5-1, 3-0 Pioneer Football) nabbed sole possession of the PFL first-place spot.
But the Bulldogs (0-7, 0-4 PFL) didn’t make it easy at first, stopping the Tommies on their opening drive. The Bulldogs are the first team this season to keep the Tommies out of the end zone to start a game.
After Drake moved the ball steadily down the field and scored on its opening drive, the Tommies’ offense needed a spark after coming up with no points on its first two possessions.
That spark did not come on offense, but defense, as junior defensive back Grif Wurtz intercepted a pass by Drake senior quarterback Ian Corwin at the Drake 30-yard line.
“(The interception) really helped get us going in that first half,” Wurtz said. “Everybody did their job, got some pressure on the quarterback, made him throw up a bad ball, and I was just there.”
Two plays later, St. Thomas senior quarterback Cade Sexauer completed a 24-yard pass to sophomore receiver Andrew McElroy for a score, tying the game at seven apiece.
Sexauer finished the day completing 15 of 25 passes for 181 yards. McElroy, who entered Saturday’s game leading the PFL in all-purpose yards, led the Tommies in receiving yards with 67.
After McElroy’s score, Abel took the rest of the half into his own hands, running for two scores.
Abel’s first score came with 8:28 left in the first half when he powered six yards through traffic into the end zone.
Continuing the “next man up mentality” of the St. Thomas football team, Abel rushed for his second score on the Tommies’ next drive. Abel muscled in the score on a 1-yard plunge with 2:10 left in the first half.
“I’ve never been a part of a team like this before,” Abel said. “Everybody believes in me. I love everybody and everybody loves me. Everybody’s just close; it makes me want to play harder.”
The Bulldogs marched 72 yards in 10 plays in the final two minutes of the first half, ending the drive with an 8-yard touchdown pass to graduate student tight end Matt Hartlieb to pull within 20-14.
If the Bulldogs were thinking about an upset heading into halftime, the Tommies had other ideas, holding the Bulldogs to just two first downs in the third quarter.
The Tommies’ defense held Drake to 307 total yards compared to the Tommies’ 430. The defense also posted two interceptions and forced two fumbles.
“We have to find ways to win every week,” said Wurtz, who finished the game with six tackles. “It ain’t gonna be pretty all the time, but we kept working. We never gave up and found a way.”
After a scoreless third quarter for the Tommies, Abel capped his performance off with an early fourth-quarter score to seal Drake’s fate. Abel found space down the right sideline and rushed for a 33-yard gain before dealing the final blow on a 5-yard TD rush on the next play.
“Great momentum change,” Abel said. “We lulled a little bit, and I feel like that brought the energy back.”
Caruso said his team has been a “fun group to coach” over the past several weeks.
“It’s my job to teach them life and play football, but it’s made it really, really enjoyable to see,” Caruso said.
The Tommies take on Presbyterian Saturday, Oct. 22 at noon Central in Clinton, South Carolina.
Cam Kauffman can be reached at kauf8536@stthomas.edu.