MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The St. Olaf College football team suffered its first loss of the season after failing to convert the decisive two-point conversion in overtime of a 35-34 defeat to Augsburg University on Saturday afternoon at Edor Nelson Field.
St. Olaf (6-1, 4-1 MIAC) recovered from a pair of early 14-point deficits to extend the game to overtime after Augsburg (3-4, 2-3 MIAC) missed two short field goals in the fourth quarter, including one with 27 seconds remaining. In the extra session, the Auggies scored on a 25-yard pass from Ryan Harvey to Tyrone Wilson in the back of the end zone on a fourth-and-10 play.
The Oles answered with a 25-yard touchdown connection from senior Theo Doran to senior Braden Menz on their first play of overtime. St. Olaf opted to decide the game on a two-point conversion, but fifth-year senior Derek Hansen was unable to come down in bounds with Doran's pass in the back-left corner of the end zone. Prior to this year, the last time the Oles were 6-0 was 2005.
Doran finished 21-for-36 for 289 yards with three touchdowns, two interceptions, and one lost fumble for St. Olaf. Senior Evan Hammonds caught six passes for 92 yards, including the game-tying 60-yard touchdown midway through the third quarter, while junior Will Skemp had eight receptions for 79 yards. Hansen and Menz hauled in the other touchdowns from Doran.
Sixth-year senior Siegel Howard ran for a team-high 75 yards on 11 carries and broke loose for a career-long 42-yard touchdown in the second quarter. Junior Gus Gartzke also ran for a touchdown on a 10-carry, 26-yard afternoon.
Senior Tate Sauerwein paced the St. Olaf defense with nine total tackles, a pass breakup, and a quarterback hurry. The Oles also had four sacks in the loss, getting one apiece from sophomore Tytan Small, sophomore Finn Qualls, and senior Jacob Vasquez, as well as a half a sack from junior Noah Barrett and sophomore Terry Mikell. Senior Elijah Short added an interception as well.
Augsburg built an early 14-0 lead on the first two of four touchdown connections from Harvey to Wilson. Trailing by two touchdowns early in the second, St. Olaf got on the board on a one-yard run by Gartzke with 13:37 to go until halftime two plays after Doran hit senior Devin McNearny for a 25-yard gain down to the two-yard line. The Auggies responded with another scoring drive that ended in a 26-yard pass from Harvey to Wilson to go back up by 14 a little over two minutes later.
St. Olaf put together its second of three consecutive touchdown drives in the second quarter with a 10-play, 73-yard march that culminated in a 29-yard pass from Doran to Hansen to cut its deficit right back to seven. The Oles converted three third downs on the drive before Hansen caught his eighth touchdown of the season.
Short got the ball back for St. Olaf by returning an interception 28 yards to the Augsburg 40-yard line on the next possession and, two plays later, Howard burst up the middle for a 42-yard score – his first of the season – to tie the game at 21-21 at the half. The Augsburg defense picked off Doran just two plays into the second half before the Auggies went back on top with an eight-play, 73-yard drive that resulted in a five-yard pass from Harvey to CJ Ritchie.
The Oles quickly tied the game when Doran hit Hammonds for a 60-yard touchdown midway through the third quarter to knot the score at 28-28. Neither offense produced any points the rest of the way, although both had opportunities to break the tie. Augsburg missed a 33-yard field goal a minute into the fourth quarter but thwarted a St. Olaf drive with a fourth-down interception near the goal line with 4:26 to go.
The Auggies appeared likely to win the game in regulation after forcing and recovering a fumble at the St. Olaf 34-yard line with 1:56 to go. After getting down to the six-yard line but failing to convert a third-and-one, Augsburg settled for the potential game-winning field goal but missed wide left with 27 seconds to go before eventually getting the win in overtime.
St. Olaf will remain on the road next week for a 1 p.m. kickoff at Gustavus Adolphus College on Saturday, Nov. 2.
St. Olaf sees unbeaten start end at Augsburg after going for two in OT
/seasons/2024/boxscores/20241026_6d4h.xml
2024
St. Olaf
34
Augsburg
35
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Olaf (6-1) | 0 | 21 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 34 |
| Augsburg (3-4) | 14 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 35 |
Oct 26, 2024