After last week’s tough loss to bitter rival St. John’s, the No. 24-ranked St. Thomas football team will play its first road game of the season Saturday in Northfield against St. Olaf College.

Following four straight losses in the series, the Tommies (2-1 overall, 0-1 MIAC) have won five of the past six matchups against the Oles (0-4 overall, 0-2 MIAC) since coach Glenn Caruso’s arrival in 2008. Following last week’s loss though, Caruso said the team will focus on improving itself, not just the outcome of the game.

“I’m a huge believer in trying to be the best we can be, and right now the team we’re playing is not the top priority, and the game is not even the top priority,” Caruso said. “The top priority for us right now is getting back to working in a manner that we play with the appropriate level of emotion and passion that this program has been built on.”

Caruso said that the review of last week’s game tape highlighted two aspects of the Tommie defense that suffered against St. John’s.

“There’s a lot of bad that’s on the tape. It falls into two categories: either not doing our responsibilities or … not tackling well,” Caruso said.

Defensive back Sean Hamlin said every member of the defense looked at film from last week and knows they must play better.

“We need to dominate this week and play with emotion,” Hamlin said. “ (We want to) start showing the type of team we want to be down the road.”

St. Thomas has won four of the last five games against St. Olaf by at least two touchdowns, but despite the past success, quarterback Matt O’Connell said the Tommies can’t overlook Saturday’s contest.

“We see these guys every year. They play us tough and we play them tough,” O’Connell said. “If there’s ever a time to take it one game at a time, it’s now.”

O’Connell was replaced by quarterback John Gould midway through the third quarter last week, but Caruso quelled any notion of a quarterback controversy.

“Matt’s our starting quarterback, there’s no question,” Caruso said.

Caruso said his team played “in a manner that I’m not used to seeing us play” last week against St. John’s.

“No one is going to be perfect, nor do I expect that people are going to be perfect,” Caruso said. “But we’ve gotta hit our routine offense with much higher percentage and productivity than we did.”

O’Connell agreed that the offense could perform at a higher level, and added that it is part of his responsibility to ensure that.

“I have to perform better, I have ten other guys out on the field that count on me,” O’Connell said. “That’s the beauty of a team sport though.”

Defensively, the Tommies will look to shut down the Oles’ trio of offensive weapons.

Quarterback Nate Penz, who enters the game with a 63.2 completion percentage, leads the St. Olaf passing attack. Wide receiver Joel Reinhardt is the Oles’ top pass catcher and has accounted for nearly eight catches and just over 58 yards per game.

Even with a good quarterback and playmakers at the wide receiver position, Hamlin said the defense will still look to make St. Olaf throw.

“We expect them to pass a lot … we are gonna shut down that run game and make them throw,” Hamlin said. “Once they throw we just need to create turnovers and make plays.”

Running back J.J. Strnad is St. Olaf’s most versatile weapon. He leads the team with 130 rushing yards and is third on the team with 107 receiving yards. Hamlin said the defense’s tackling will play a big part in shutting down Strnad and the Ole attack.

“(Strnad) is a great player. He can make a lot of plays in the pass game as well as the run game,” Hamlin said. “We just need to come out shutting down the run and running to the football (and) swarm tackling..”

Saturday’s game marks the beginning of eight straight games against MIAC opponents for the Tommies, and Hamlin said the team recognizes the importance of the upcoming game against St. Olaf.

“We control our own destiny for the rest of the year and it starts with this game and how hard we play,” Hamlin said.

Tom Pitzen can be reached at pitz2014@stthomas.edu.