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Brenton Braddock tied a St. Thomas record with five rushing touchdowns in a career-best 261-yard day to lead the No. 22-ranked Tommies to a 57-35 win over Gustavus in Saturday's regular season-ending football game at O'Shaughnessy Stadium.
The Tommies (8-2 overall, 6-2 MIAC) started the day with slim NCAA Playoff hopes. But their victory and Bethel's 62-61 overtime loss to Augsburg gives St. Thomas a more reasonable chance for one of the remaining Pool C at-large bids. The Division III field will be announced Sunday at 5 p.m.
Bethel finished 7-3 and is most likely out of consideration. The other conference 8-2 team, Concordia-Moorhead, lost 35-32 to the Tommies and is behind them in NCAA consideration.
St. Thomas secured its sixth consecutive top-two MIAC placing and kept alive hopes for a fifth NCAA playoff berth in six years. UST broke a school record for regular-season points with 457 in 10 games and also set a school record for fewest punts with 16 in 10 games. St. Thomas scored 45 or more points in six of its 10 contests.
Braddock, a fourth-year junior, may have played his final home game as he's on track to graduate in 2015. He has 1,967 rushing yards and 29 touchdowns in three UST seasons. He's been the backup to Jack Kaiser this season and came on after Kaiser left with a first-quarter leg injury. Braddock rushed 41 ties and had TD runs of 5, 5, 20, 25 and 47 yards to tie Jake Barkley's 2002 school record for rushing touchdowns.
UST rolled up 504 yards of total offense, had no turnovers, and converted 12 of 18 on third and fourth downs. The Toms trailed 14-7 late in the second quarter before scoring 29 consecutive points.