By Don Stoner
Augsburg Sports Information Director
MINNEAPOLIS -- Before I get into this week's column, I must make this confession, in the interest of full disclosure. I'm a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.
So when I opened my Sunday morning paper here in the Twin Cities and saw that my alma mater had beaten Wisconsin-Eau Claire, a Division III playoff team of a year ago, 16-14, one thought went through my mind, and I'm sure it went through the minds of many other UW-O grads who are scattered across the country.
It had to be a misprint.
So I quickly checked the other paper (it's good to live in an area with two major daily newspapers). Same score. Another thought went through my mind.
The Associated Press must have gotten the score wrong.
So I checked D3football.com. Same score. I guess if Pat Coleman had the score listed that way, it had to be right (of course, I checked both school's web sites, just to make sure).
Needless to say, for a Titan alum, a win like this can't go uncelebrated. Oshkosh is off to a 2-1 start to the season, and most importantly, the Titans have won their opening WIAC game over a top-notch opponent. As a former Titan, I can remember many lean years in football for my alma mater. During my years there, I did play-by-play for many Titan games on the campus radio station. And I hate to admit it, there were many more losses than wins.
I can still remember, as if it were yesterday, a classic season-opening game in 1988 against Valparaiso. A game where a "Hail Mary" catch with no time remaining to give the Titans the win was called back, thanks to an ineligible man downfield penalty against Oshkosh. Final score: a 0-0 tie, one of just a handful of scoreless ties in college football history.
It always seemed that way for the Titans -- coming close, but never close enough to crack the upper half of the always-competitive WIAC. The Titans opened the season with an impressive 24-14 victory at Midwest Conference school St. Norbert, and followed that up with a 28-14 loss at Wittenberg (Ohio), an OAC school rated seventh in this week's AFCA poll.
Then came the win against Eau Claire -- Oshkosh's first win against a WIAC opponent other than UW-Stout or UW-Platteville since 1995. Consider that last year, the Blugolds demolished the Titans, 62-27.
David Gaulke hit a school-record three field goals, including a 45-yarder, and Shannon King caught a 78-yard touchdown pass from Alan Beversdorf (whom, incidentally, was making his first career start at quarterback) early in the fourth quarter to preserve the 16-14 win. The defense held the Blugolds to just 200 yards while Ryan Thompson had two of the team's five quarterback sacks in the game.
Is this finally the year for 16-year head coach Ron Cardo's Titans to make the big jump in the WIAC race? Maybe. The real test will come this week, when Oshkosh plays host to WIAC leader UW-Stevens Point at Titan Stadium.
The Pointers are rated 11th in the latest AFCA Division III national poll, while Oshkosh has barely cracked the "Others Receiving Votes" column. Meanwhile, Stevens Point is, itself, a surprising conference star in the WIAC. The Pointers have scored three strong victories, including a win against Division II Northern State (S.D.) and an impressive win at Division I-AA Drake (Iowa).
Last week, the Pointers opened the WIAC campaign with a 24-20 win against UW-Stout, taking advantage of a five-yard scoring strike from Ryan Aulenbacher to Tom Nolan midway through the fourth quarter.
Stevens Point has beaten Oshkosh 14 of the last 15 years -- with the one Oshkosh win a forfeit victory in 1987. Oshkosh hasn't won on the field in the series since 1983.
Will Oshkosh avenge last year's 47-28 thumping? Will Ron Cardo's Titans give John Miech's Pointers his first loss as the UWSP coach? For UWO alums around the country, a magic season could see us bringing out the black and gold once again.
First quarter, pass; fourth quarter, run
UW-Stevens Point has developed an interesting rhythm in its first three victories. Pass the ball to Larry Aschebrook early in the game, hand the ball off to Wally Schmitt late. In the Pointers' first three games, Schmitt has gained 174 of his 284 yards in the fourth quarter, including 69 of his 88 total yards in the fourth quarter of last week's win against UW-Stout. Meanwhile, Aschebrook has 11 of his 13 catches for 214 of his 249 yards in the first half of games. Aschebrook hasn't caught a pass in the fourth quarter yet this season.
Dubuque center of IIAC this weekend
Want to scout the best teams in the Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference this weekend? Go to Dubuque, Iowa, where No. 4 Central (4-0) plays at Dubuque (0-3), and No. 15 Wartburg (3-0) plays at Loras (2-2). Central will try to win its 20th consecutive regular-season game Saturday, though in the last four weeks, it's taken four quarterbacks to do it.
Opening-day starter Scott Koerselman hasn't played since he was injured in the opening game. Jeff Borgman, who recovered from a preseason injury, started the next two games but was hurt in practice last week. The next quarterback in line, Brad Steenhoek, was also hurt in practice. Who was left? Sophomore Andy Goos, who only led the Dutch to a 43-7 win against Luther.
Koerselman, Borgman and Steenhoek are all back, and Koerselman is expected to start Saturday against the Spartans. Oh, by the way, did we mention that the fifth Central quarterback, Cole Van Vark, had shoulder surgery in the offseason and will be out for the year? Of course, Central head coach Rich Kacmarynski sees the silver lining in the quarterback cloud.
"If things had worked out the way we diagrammed them at the start of the year, we would have had one or two quarterbacks taking most of the snaps," he said. "But in the long run, I think this will make us better because we've been getting reps for a lot of guys at quarterback. As long as we can get our top quarterbacks some snaps this week, I think we're going to be fine."
As fine as a team that averages 256.5 yards rushing (to go with just 131.8 yards passing) a game needs. Aaron Aeschiliman has averaged 95.5 yards per game to lead a balanced Dutch running attack.
Meanwhile, a short distance away at Loras, Wartburg and its powerful offense will go into the Rock Bowl to face the Duhawks. The Knights are leading the nation in scoring, averaging 52 points per game. Matt Wheeler has been the key at quarterback, leading the league with a 258-yards-per-game passing average an 11 touchdowns to just three interceptions.
"He may be the best quarterback who has ever played in this conference," admits Loras coach Bob Bierie. "That's a pretty strong statement. He's the key to their success."
Combine that with league-leading rusher Tyler Molstre (115.5 yards per game), Justin Beatty (74 ypg) and Ryan Mix (61 ypg), and you have an offense that has been clicking at nearly a 500-yards-per-game (499.7, to be exact) clip.
Blueboys on a new streak
Two weeks ago, Illinois College broke a 19-game losing streak with a win against Lawrence. Now, the Blueboys have a winning streak to deal with. Illinois College edged Knox 35-34 in overtime last Saturday, behind a school-record five touchdown passes by Derek Leonard. IC scored first in overtime on a Leonard pass to Doug Gustafson. Knox scored on its OT possession, a one-yard run by Drew Sherman, but a potential game-winning two-point conversion pass was intercepted by IC's Brad Schneider.
Illinois College, now 2-1 on the season, will go for its third win in a row, hosting Monmouth (0-3) this Saturday.
Games of the Week
Augsburg (3-0) at No. 5 St. John's (3-0), 1:00 CDT, Collegeville, Minn.
A big game in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference for both unbeaten teams, as the Auggies face St. John's in the Johnnies' homecoming contest at Clemens Stadium. St. John's has been dominating in its three wins, even without starting quarterback Tom Linnemann, who was lost for the season with a severe leg injury in the first quarter of last week's game at key rival St. Thomas. Without skipping a beat, coach John Gagliardi moved starting tight end Corey Stanger to quarterback, and he only threw for 182 yards and three touchdowns in the Johnnies' 34-18 win.
The Auggies, after two close wins to start the year, finally clicked on offense in last week's 30-27 win against St. Olaf, with quarterback Paul Tetzloff throwing for 297 yards and two scores. Defense may be the key in this game, as both teams' offenses have the potential to put together some big numbers.
Millikin (2-0) at Augustana (2-0), 1:00, Rock Island, Ill.
The biggest game in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin is the league opener for both teams, as 1997 CCIW champ Augustana hosts 1998 champ Millikin. Augustana is rated No. 16 in the AFCA poll, while Millikin is 27th. Look for a strong ground game by both teams, as Augustana is the top rushing team in the nation (370.5 rushing yards per game) while Millikin is rated fourth (283.0), and both teams pour on the point, with Millikin averaging 38.5 points and Augustana averaging 32.5 points per contest.
It may be a major "revenge game" for the Vikings, as in last year's contest, Millikin pulled out a dramatic 27-21 win in overtime, tying the game at 21-21 on a three-play, 61-yard drive in the final 25 seconds without any timeouts.
St. Norbert (2-1) at Ripon (2-1), 1:30, Ripon, Wis.
A key early season tilt in the Midwest Conference, as the Red Hawkshost the Green Knights in a game that probably won't make anyone "blue." (Sorry, we feel compelled to continue the color theme.) Both teams' offenses are "in the black" and would make opponents "green" with envy, as they put their opponents last week through a "white-out."
St. Norbert squashed Lawrence 43-14 behind quarterback Tim Pierret's three touchdown passes and two TD runs. Meanwhile, Ripon handled Carroll 36-7, paced by a solid offense and the defense of Casey Plamann, who five solo tackles, three assisted tackles, one quarterback sack for an eight-yard loss, and also picked off two passes to earn Midwest Conference Defensive Player of the Week honors.
Sure, we won't earn the "gold" medal for this preview, but we're still "in the pink." (By the way, complaints should be sent directly to Don, not Pat Coleman.)
This column is drawn from a variety of sources, including the outstanding work and research of sports information directors from Division III schools all over the Midwest.
