The fifth-ranked St. Thomas football team will attempt to post its fourth consecutive victory over Carleton College this Saturday, Sept. 29, in Northfield, Minn.

The Tommies (3-0 overall, 1-0 MIAC) are coming off a bye week after an exciting 43-21 win over archrival St. John’s Sept. 15, in Collegeville, Minn. Carleton (2-1, 1-1) lost to No. 8 Bethel University last week 52-14. Carleton senior quarterback Mike Hartwell completed five of 12 passes for 113 yards and one touchdown.

Last season, the Tommies dethroned the Knights 56-0 in Northfield.

Coach Glenn Caruso said he was impressed with his team’s results last season, but didn’t think the outcome was going to be that one-sided.

“Our defense played great, our offense was great, and our special teams also did a good job,” Caruso said. “We didn’t think the margin of victory was going to be that big though.”

The Tommies dominated the offensive side of the ball with 511 yards of total offense in last season’s game against the Knights, which included 360 rushing yards.

Senior defensive lineman Ayo Idowu is excited for young players to get some field time after watching their performance at St. John’s.

“We had a lot of other guys making plays you don’t see often and it was at St. John’s. Our starters were getting tired and we put other guys in and they made plays,” Idowu said.

When looking at the upcoming game, Caruso said he sees more than just an opponent on the opposite side of the field.

“The team is in their first year as a new coaching staff, but they remind me a lot of our coaching staff when it was our first year,” Caruso said.

Idowu said he is going to treat this game as any other and will enjoy himself while playing the game he loves.

‘We’re going to do what we always do. We’re just going to go get in the film room, see what they do and try to do whatever we can to stop that from happening,” Idowu said.

Sophomore running back Ryan Toney said he feels that if the team plays like it practices every day, it shouldn’t have a problem going into Saturday’s game.

“Our team, week in and week out, comes out here does our job. The line is probably going to put together a good game,” Toney said. “The work ethic they put in day in and day out in practice is going to lead on to Saturday’s game.”

Toney currently ranks second in MIAC standings for rushing touchdowns (five) and is 10th in yards per game (54). Carleton’s defense shows numerous blitzes but Toney said it’s nothing the Tommies’ offensive line can’t handle.

“They work on blitzing a lot,” Toney said. “We practice it all week so we should be able to fend for ourselves.”

Caruso said he feels that the bye week helped the team settle down after an exciting win over St. John’s but knows his team is ready to get back on the playing field.

“It seems like we haven’t played football forever and I know our guys are ready to hit someone,” Caruso said.

Idowu said he is ready to get back to game action Saturday.

“I am expecting a good game,” Idowu said. “Everytime we step on (Carleton’s) field, it’s never been easy so I can expect them to play some hard nosed football and we’re going to do the same.”

Jesse Krull can be reached at krul7386@stthomas.edu.