Cougars stun Tommies in season opener - The University of St. Thomas (2024)

ST. PAUL, MINN. – The saying goes when it rains, it pours. That was very true for the University of St. Thomas football team in its season opener Thursday afternoon. The Tommies were eager to kick off their 2024 season, sitting through a two hour rain delay before opening play at 8:04 p.m. Thursday afternoon. Despite scoring the first touchdown of the season less than one minute in, St. Thomas was unable to leave O'Shaughnessy Stadium with a victory, falling to the University of Sioux Falls by a final score of 34-13. With the loss, the team opens the season with a 0-1 record.

RECAP:
The Tommies opened the 2024 season with a bang, courtesy of a little thunder and lightning from Branden Smith (Las Vegas, Nev. / Cimarron-Memorial). The redshirt junior returned to the St. Thomas line up in a big way, coming up with a red zone interception on the third play of the game. The Tommies took full advantage during their offensive possession, as Tak Tateoka (Waukesha, Wis. / North) found Jacob Wildermuth (Plymouth, Minn. / Wayzata) in the end zone, giving St. Thomas a 6-0 lead just minutes in the game. Thanks to Stephen Shagen (Park City, Utah / Park City), it was very quickly a 7-0 lead with 13:16 left to play.

However, the wonky football won the first quarter, benefitting the Cougars far more than St. Thomas. With seconds remaining in the quarter, Evan Tyler (Hudson, Wis. / Hudson) forced a fumble on the four yard line, seemingly halting a scoring drive for Sioux Falls. However, the ball landed right in the hands of the Cougars quarterback, who waltz into the end zone to make it 7-6. Sioux Falls opted to go for two points and successfully competed the two-point conversion, taking an 8-7 lead into the third quarter. The Cougars would extend their lead to 11-7 with a field goal right before halftime.

Sioux Falls made it a 10+ point game on its first possession of the half, marching downfield and scoring to make it 18-7 with 8:22 remaining in the third quarter. St. Thomas was still very much in the game, though, despite the large deficit. Not two minutes later, veterans Luke Herzog (Mendota Heights, Minn. / St. Thomas Academy) and C.J. Warren (Circle Pines, Minn. / Centennial) made it a one score game. Herzog poked the ball out of Camden Dean's hand, and Warren scooped it up for the six-yard touchdown run, making it 18-13 with six minutes to play.

Unfortunately, things did not go well on the two point conversion. After scoring on a fumble, the Tommies fumbled themselves, and the Cougars returned the ball 86 yards for two points of their own. Despite late offensive runs, St. Thomas could not muster another touchdown, while Sioux Falls scored two more, resulting in the 34-13 final score.

TOP TOMMIES

• The defense was the star of the show for the Tommies, playing a hand in all 13 points scored Thursday evening. Branden Smith (Las Vegas, Nev. / Cimarron-Memorial) led the team with nine tackles and the interception, which led to St. Thomas' first touchdown of the season.
• Luke Herzog (Mendota Heights, Minn. / St. Thomas Academy) closed the night with nine tackles as well, including 1.0 for loss and a forced fumble.
• Jacob Wildermuth (Plymouth, Minn. / Wayzata) and C.J. Warren (Circle Pines, Minn. / Centennial) scored the lone touchdowns for St. Thomas Thursday evening.

NOTEABLES
With Thursday's loss, the Tommies 31-game home field win streak, which was the longest in NCAA football, was snapped. St. Thomas had not lost a game at O'Shaughnessy since December 3, 2016.

UP NEXT
The Tommies will host (RV) Northern Iowa in their second home game of the 2024 season. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. at O'Shaughnessy Field in St. Paul, Minnesota.