St. Thomas football gets its first test against a MIAC opponent this season when the Tommies play St. Olaf Saturday at home.
The Tommies crushed Wisconsin-River Falls last week 45-22 on the strength of senior running back Colin Tobin’s 121- yard, four touchdown performance.
The Tommie defense also played well, holding Falcons’ running back Taylor Edwards to 58 yards on 21 carries. The Tommies will try to contain another talented back this week in the Oles’ Leon Clark, a D-III Senior Classic Preseason All-America second team selection.
While Edwards is more of a physical, imposing back, Clark is a speedster, capable of breaking loose for a big gain on any play.
“He’s got more flash and speed in the open field and one of the goals is to do our best defensively not to let him get into those open spaces because he can make you pay in a hurry if he does,” coach Glenn Caruso said.
St. Thomas had no problem handling the Oles last season, winning 49-14 on the road. Still, with eight starters returning on defense and what Caruso referred to as the “trilogy” on offense, don’t expect the Oles to simply lie down.
“They’ve got a quarterback who can throw the ball (Dan Dobson), a tailback that can make you pay if you make mistakes, and they’ve got a young receiver who’s starting to emerge a little bit in [Stephen] Asp, so any time you have those three things you always have a shot.”
Dobson had three passing touchdowns last week in St. Olaf’s win over Simpson College (Indianola, Iowa), and Asp had 147 receiving yards and a touchdown. The Oles are 2-0 to start the season.
Of course, the Oles will also have to contend with St. Thomas’ own “trilogy” in Tobin, senior quarterback Dakota Tracy and senior wide receiver Fritz Waldvogel, who all will be playing in their final MIAC opener.
“It’s just crazy how fast time flies,” Waldvogel said. “Where this program has gone from when we were freshman and where it is now, it’s pretty remarkable.”
Waldvogel was one of the first players Caruso recruited and has played in every game at St. Thomas. He broke P.J. Theisen’s career receptions record in week one of this season and needs only six yards to break Theisen’s career-receiving yardage record.
“I think it’s a pretty cool accomplishment; and as I’ve talked about in the past, it’s a culmination of myself being at the right place at the right time with the right people,” Waldvogel said. “It’s been pretty remarkable because P.J. is such a great guy. I got to know him over the years, and he’s such a great person so it’ll be a really special day for myself.”
Caruso has nothing but high praise for what Waldvogel has brought to this Tommie team over the last four seasons.
“Tough to quantify Fritz because to measure him in stats, albeit very impressive, is not to do him justice,” Caruso said. “He is an A-player, physically, with an A-attitude mentally and anytime that your most explosive players are also your hardest workers, I think it’s very difficult to say what that type of player means to you.”
Though Waldvogel has had some great catches the last two games, Caruso said his favorite play so far was last week against River Falls when Waldvogel hustled 60 yards downfield to set a block for Tobin, allowing him to score.
“That’s the type of play that typifies who Fritz is,” he said.
After giving up three turnovers in week one against St. Norbert, the Tommies bounced back and had zero against River Falls. Asked if decreasing the amount of turnovers was a focus in practice, Caruso laughed and said, “Oh yeah, no question about it.”
Despite the success of both the offense and defense this season, Caruso has been most impressed by the special teams. So far in two games, the Tommies have blocked two kicks, averaged 42.5 yards per punt, pinned the opposing team inside the 20-yard line five times, gone eight for eight on point after attempts and have an 81-yard kick return.
“I’ve seen some very high end plays on special teams,” Caruso said. “The consistency is not there yet, but it’s getting better.”
Tom Graves can be reached at grav5886@stthomas.edu.
Coach Caruso and Colin Tobin join TommieMedia in “The Locker Room” Thursday. Check back for the interview.