Video by Pauleen Le

Sophomore quarterback Dakota Tracy completed 15 passes for 185 yards and three touchdowns in his first career start Saturday at O’Shaughnessy Stadium as St. Thomas (7-1, 6-1 in MIAC) pounded Augsburg College 42-3.

“I didn’t really approach it as a first start,” Tracy said. “I just thought it was an opportunity to go out there and play the game with the brotherhood of St. Thomas and it was fun.”

The game looked to be a clash of the MIAC’s offensive titans – St. Thomas was ranked first and Augsburg (4-4, 3-3) was second in total offense in the conference – but both Augsburg’s offense and defense failed to show up.

“We watched a lot of film,” senior linebacker Tommy Becker said. “And they ask their quarterback to do a lot running the ball and throwing the ball. We knew if got in our drops and read the quarterback’s eyes we could make some plays.”

The opening kickoff set the tone for the game. Fritz Waldvogel returned it 87 yards for a touchdown giving the Tommies a lead the team built on for the rest of the game.

The offense rolled all day gaining 519 total yards and averaging almost eight yards per play.

“The offense definitely needed to put some points up on the board,” Tracy said. “That was the main goal … I think we just wanted to get in a flow, get things clicking a little bit better. Obviously penalties killed us a today, disrupted the flow a little bit.”

Penalties were the most interesting aspect of a game that was never close. St. Thomas was penalized 14 times for 141 yards while Augsburg was penalized only four times for 26 yards. Yet the difference was not a factor in the game at all.

Because of the two high-powered offenses, defense was an important factor. The Tommies forced six turnovers – five interceptions and one fumble recovered in the Augsburg end zone – while holding the previously potent Auggie offense to just 320 yards. In addition to the fumble recovery in the end zone, Becker had an important interception in the third quarter at the goal line that killed any chance of Augsburg getting into the game.

“That play was meant to be a blitz,” Becker said. “I was supposed to blitz strong B-gap but I saw [number] eight in the slot and I knew they were going to run the slant so I just ran over there and the ball hit me in the hands. I just ran with it.”

After picking off the ball, Becker moved his 250 pounds as fast as he could, but it wasn’t fast enough.

“I was just trying to run as fast as I could,” he said. “That quarterback cut me off and I tried to get a little help from the blockers but they just weren’t fast enough.”

The St. Thomas fans weren’t the only people disappointed by Becker’s failure to return the pick.

“Tommy Becker’s pick was definitely the highlight,” Tracy said. “I just wish he would have scored six on that.”

In addition to playing well on both sides of the ball, St. Thomas accomplished other goals in the process.

“The one thing [coach Caruso] said last night after we watched a movie together [was], ‘Lets have some fun out there,'” Becker said. “And I think we did that today. We were laughing around on the field today between plays. It was just a good time.”

That goal of having fun was definitely met in the fourth quarter with a trick play. Senior wide receiver Tony Margarit hit quarterback Greg Morse for a 21-yard touchdown pass.

“We came into this game – it wasn’t a revenge game for us – as more of a statement game,” Becker said. “We wanted to play well on every side of the ball including special teams. I think we really did that today.”

Sitting in second place in the conference, St. Thomas plays Saturday in Arden Hills against Bethel University (6-2, 5-1). The Royals are right behind the Tommies in third place.

Matt Wolfgram can be reached at mnwolfgram@stthomas.edu