28 straight points lead Tommies to another 10-0 season
St. Thomas completed its third consecutive 10-0 regular season with a 35-21 win over visiting St. Olaf on Saturday in O'Shaughnessy Stadium.
The No. 4 Tommies (10-0, 8-0) spotted St. Olaf a 7-0 lead – the first time they have trailed in the first quarter this year. It also was the first time they've trailed in 26 quarters since the first half of the Sept. 15 St. John's game.
UST bounced back to score 28 consecutive points to take control. The Toms extended their regular-season winning streaks to 34 overall and 27 in the MIAC. The Tommies have also won 28 of their last 29 home games, including 13 in a row, as well as 14 consecutive November games.
St. Thomas expects to host a first-round NCAA Division III playoff game on Nov. 17 and will learn its opponent at 5 p.m. It will be the Tommies' fourth straight appearance in the playoffs.
Freshman running back Brenton Braddock picked up a career-high 207 yards on 27 rushes to lead the Tommies. It was the seventh 100-yard rushing performance of the season by a Tommie. His running dominated two scoring drives in the second quarter, and on a second-half drive he rushed for 84 yards and five first downs before the Tommies were stopped at the St. Olaf 1.
Tight end Matt Allen caught two touchdown passes for St. Thomas – an eight-yarder from Matt O'Connell tied the game at 7-7 and a 36-yarder from backup Kyler Anderson gave the Tommies a 35-14 lead in the fourth quarter.
UST ran 49 plays and had the ball for 20:41 in the second half, running up 341 yards over the final two quarters.
St. Thomas ran the ball 61 times for 347 yards -– both season highs -– en route to 498 yards of offense and held St. Olaf running back Michael Thai 10 yards short of a 1,000-yard season. Thai finished with 111 yards on 11 rushes and caught six passes for 50 yards.
Olaf senior quarterback Dan Dobson finished his three-year career with a 22-8 record and 67 TD passes and 6,504 yards in 30 games. He threw 25 TD passes with only six interceptions this season.
St. Thomas ' special teams blocked a field goal and covered a successful on-side kick. Ayo Idowu had 1.5 sacks and a forced fumble to lead the balanced defense.
