La Crosse, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse football team fell 41-7 to sixth-ranked UW-Oshkosh Saturday afternoon at Roger Harring Stadium at Veterans Memorial Field Sports Complex. The Eagles drop to 3-5 overall and 2-3 in the WIAC while the Titans improve to 8-0 overall and 5-0 in the conference.
UW-Oshkosh, ranked sixth on D3football.com and seventh on the American Football Coaches Association, earned its first win at UW-L since 1967 with Saturday's victory. The Titans were 0-19-2 in their last 21 appearances in La Crosse.
After toth teams punted on their first possessions of the game Saturday, UW-Oshkosh drove 64 yards on 12 plays in 3:18 to take a 7-0 lead. Jake Dostalek scored on a one-yard run with 7:49 remaining in the opening quarter. The Eagles had a forced a fourth-down after an incomplete pass, but were called for holding to give the Titans a first-down at the UW-L 16-yard line.
UW-Oshkosh took a 14-0 lead on the first play of the second quarter as Nate Wara threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to Cole Myhra. The Titans went 70 yards on four plays in 1:56. The key play in the drive was Wara's 54-yard completion to Dostalek.
The Titans made it 21-0 with 8:40 left in the first half as Wara threw a 43-yard touchdown pass to Caleb Voss. UW-Oshkosh went 61 yards on three plays in :33.
Wara threw his third touchdown pass of the first half with 6:59 left in the second quarter on a 62-yard pass to Voss. The extra-point was missed.
UW-Oshkosh led 27-0 at halftime.
UW-L cut the lead to 27-7 on the first drive of the second half. Andy Sires threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to Jake Welch with 11:57 left in the third. The Eagles went 71 yards on eight plays in 2:56.
The Titans quickly took a 34-7 lead three plays later as Myhra scored on a 74-yard run with 11:00 remaining in the third.
Wara threw his fourth touchdown pass of the game with 2:26 left in the third quarter with a 48-yard pass to Mitch Hintz. UW-Oshkosh went 61 yards on three plays in :51.
UW-L finished with 225 yards of offense, including 43 rushing and 182 passing. Sires was 14-of-28 passing for 172 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Zachary Mestelle finished 3-of-3 for 10 yards. Jared Stan had 33 yards rushing on nine carries while Jake Gundlach had 23 yards on six attempts and Dillon Bean 18 yards on 13 rushes.
Welch totaled five catches for 59 yards and a touchdown while Bean had four receptions for 16 yards.
The Eagles finished with 14 first downs while going five-of-21 on third-down. UW-L won the time of possession, 32:18 to 27:42. Christian Hallingstad averaged 45.1 yards on 12 punts for UW-L.
UW-O totaled 543 yards Saturday, including 162 rushing and 381 passing. Wara was 20-of-30 passing for 369 yards and four touchdowns. Myhra had 152 yards on 10 carries and a touchdown. Voss finished with 171 yards and two touchdowns on seven receptions. Myrha (42 yards) and Jon Krysiak (21) each had three catches.
The Titans had 22 first downs while finishing five-of-14 on third-down.
Max Nicholson led UW-L with 10 tackles, including eight unassisted. Jake Meckstroth finished with eight tackles, seven unassisted. Jordan Pendergast (all unassisted) and Jack Leahy (four unassisted) each totaled seven tackles. Brandon Heeg had two sacks for the Eagles.
Beau Steffens led UW-Oshkosh with 11 tackles. The Titans had nine quarterback sacks.
UW-L returns to action Saturday, November 3 at UW-River Falls at 1 p.m.
Sixth-Ranked UW-Oshkosh Earns Win Over UW-La Crosse
/seasons/2012/boxscores/20121027_agq0.xml
2012
UW-Oshkosh
41
UW-La Crosse
7
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 5 UW-Oshkosh (8-0) | 7 | 20 | 14 | 0 | 41 |
| UW-La Crosse (3-5) | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
Oct 27, 2012