Tommie stays unbeaten as defense pitches shutout
The St. Thomas defense made huge stops in the clutch and pitched a 17-0 shutout at previously-unbeaten Augsburg in MIAC football play Saturday in Minneapolis.
The No. 3-ranked Tommies (6-0 overall, 4-0 MIAC), who ran their regular-season win streak to 20, had a 485-250 advantage in total offense and punted just once on the day. Freshman Tyler Maxwell rushed for 114 yards to lead Augsburg (4-1, 3-1).
UST needed Dakota Tracy's 50-yard scoring run with 4:04 to go to break open a tight struggle. Tracy also had a 63-yard scoring pass to Fritz Waldvogel in the second quarter. He finished with 278 total yards, including 100-plus yards in both passing and rushing, and improved to 21-1 on his career as a starter.
Tracy's touchdown run capped a 91-yard scoring drive after UST stopped Augsburg on downs at the Tommie 9-yard line.
Besides the red zone pickoff, St. Thomas also stopped the Auggies on three fourth-down conversion tries in UST territory.
The shutout was St. Thomas' first in conference play since 2003 and came against an Augsburg attack averaging 32.5 points and 398 yards a game.
Colin Tobin rushed 32 times for 155 yards, and Tracy ran 12 times for 124 as UST rushed for 331 yards and posted its 33rd and 34th 100-yard rushing performances on the four-season Glenn Caruso coaching era.
With UST ahead just 10-0 in the fourth quarter, Augsburg had 1st-and-10 at the Tommie 12, but Chinni Oji's interception near the goal line stopped the Auggies' best drive. Oji also had two pass breakups and eight tackles to lead the St. Thomas defense.
Waldvogel's 63-yard TD let him tie a 29-year-old school career record for TD receptions at 26. He had seven catches for 110 yards. Tim Albright kicked a 26-yard field goal and added two PATs for the Tommies.
The game was played before a near-capacity crowd of 1,821 at Augsburg's Edor Nelson Field, the largest crowd to attend an Augsburg game since new bleachers were installed at the field in 2006.
