EAU CLAIRE, Wisc. — Fourth-ranked St. Thomas battled back from a slow start to defeat the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Blugolds 42-6 behind the passing of quarterback Alex Fenske and a stingy defense in the season opener Saturday night at Carson Field.
Fenske threw two touchdown passes to Nick Waldvogel and one to Jackson Hull. The fifth-year senior passed for 345 yards on 17 completions in 29 attempts. He did not play in the fourth quarter.
MIAC SCOREBOARD
- St. Thomas 42, Wis.–Eau Claire 6
- Jamestown 30, Concordia-Moorhead 14
- Gustavus 35, Westminster (Mo.) 6
- Hamline 29, Crown 9
- Dubuque 70, Bethel 53
- Macalester 30, Carleton 23
- St. Olaf 69, Grinnell 14
- St. John’s 49, St. Scholastica 7
- Northwestern (Minn.) 14, Augsburg 0
Coach Caruso was happy with Fenske’s throws.
“If you are a fan of Tommie football and you’ve been watching, you know that we were able to air it out vertically a lot,” he said. “Alex has the ability to make the big play, and he can make the routine play, but we need to make that at a higher rate.”
All-American running back Jordan Roberts scored on a one-yard plunge to give St. Thomas a 7-6 lead in the second quarter and the Tommies pulled away. He also found the end zone on a three-yard run late in the third period to give St. Thomas a 35-6 lead.
The Tommies’ took full advantage of their passing game upon recognizing Eau Claire’s game plan to shut down Roberts.
“They had both safeties rolled down and they were trying to stop the runs, so our pass game opened up,” Roberts said. “We got to just be able to do both out there.”
The Blugolds opened the scoring with a 63-yard touchdown pass to Brody Diggins in the first quarter, but Ryan Winter blocked the extra point. That was about all the offense the Blugolds could muster until the final quarter, when many Tommie starters were on the bench.
“They were running a coverage that was not exactly what we expected, so the passes had to be adjusted quite a bit to be a little bit more short,” Caruso said.
Back-up quarterback Jacques Perra, a transfer from Minnesota, tossed a fourth-quarter touchdown pass to Luke Iverson in his first action as a Tommie.
“I think the offense did a better job of (adjusting) in the second and third quarter, but we have always been a balanced team that should be able to move the ball with a couple different things,” Caruso said.
Carolyn Meyer can be reached at cameyer@stthomas.edu