Titans Rout Blugolds in Final Regular-Season Home Game
The UW-Oshkosh football team scored all of its points and racked up 540 yards in the first three quarters en route to a 52-13 victory over UW-Eau Claire on Saturday (Nov. 8) at J. J. Keller Field at Titan Stadium.
The Titans, who won for the 19th time in 22 WIAC contests, ended the game with 334 yards and three touchdowns on the ground and 223 yards and three scores through the air. It was UW-Oshkosh's best offensive output since gaining 600 yards against The College of St. Scholastica (Minn.) on Nov. 17, 2012.
UW-Oshkosh (5-4, 5-1 WIAC) remained tied with UW-Platteville (7-2, 5-1 WIAC) for second place in the conference standings. UW-Eau Claire (1-8, 1-5 WIAC) stayed tied for sixth.
The Titans, who defeated the Blugolds for the fourth straight time, scored seven touchdowns and one field goal on their first 11 drives.
Brett Kasper connected with Joe Sommers on two long touchdown passes to give the Titans a 14-0 first-quarter lead. Sommers broke two tackles and scored from 51 yards out with 11:03 remaining in the first period before adding a 35-yard touchdown catch with 5:58 left.
UW-Eau Claire closed within 14-7 on a 7-yard touchdown pass from Joel Newman to Chris Cummings, who caught the ball off of a deflection in the corner of the end zone with 56 seconds left in the first quarter.
CJ Blackburn returned the ensuing kickoff 86 yards for a touchdown to push the Titans' lead to 21-7 with 40 seconds left in the first quarter. It was UW-Oshkosh's first kickoff return for a touchdown since Jeremy Roach went 90 yards against UW-Stevens Point on Nov. 1, 2008.
Following a UW-Eau Claire punt on the next possession, Kasper tossed a 31-yard touchdown to Blackburn that put the Titans ahead, 28-7, with 12:28 left in the first half. The consecutive scores were the first two of Blackburn's career.
Ethan Steinhoff gave UW-Oshkosh a 35-7 advantage on a 20-yard touchdown run off left end with 5:55 remaining in the half.
Nate Ray capped UW-Oshkosh's first-half scoring on a 25-yard field goal with six seconds to play in the second quarter. The kick was his WIAC-leading ninth of the season.
UW-Oshkosh recovered an onside kick to open the second half and Craig Schommer capped a seven-play, 57-yard drive with a touchdown run from 16 yards out that gave the Titans a 45-7 lead with 12:27 left in the third quarter.
After getting a fourth-down stop on the next UW-Eau Claire possession, the Titans went 76 yards in six plays to take a 52-7 lead on Beau Ash's 9-yard touchdown run up the middle.
UW-Eau Claire completed the scoring with a 7-yard touchdown pass from Mark Munger to Daniel Brennan with 6:51 to play in the game.
Kasper completed 9-of-17 passes for a career-high 216 yards. He tied his career high with three touchdown passes.
Schommer rushed six times for a career-best 126 yards while catching two passes for 38 yards. Steinhoff added 10 carries for 69 yards for the Titans, who averaged 8.1 yards per carry.
Sommers made three catches and established career highs with 105 yards and two touchdowns.
Reese Dziedzic led the Titans with six tackles, followed by Beau Steffens's five and four apiece by Max Adkins, Cameron Brown, Trevor Fiegel, Cody Huemmer and Kevin MacCudden.
UW-Eau Claire's Joel Newman completed 14-of-32 passes for 129 yards and one score. Mark Munger went 5-of-9 passing for 40 yards and one touchdown.
Jon Van Geffen and Riley Gebelein led the Blugold rushing attack with 62 and 57 yards, respectively.
Cummings, Korey Jacobson and Matthew Knapp paced UW-Eau Claire with four receptions apiece.
Cody Taubman led the Blugold defense with seven tackles and one interception.
Saturday's victory marked the first time that UW-Oshkosh won consecutive home games against UW-Eau Claire since 1973. Last Saturday (Nov. 8), the Titans registered consecutive victories at UW-Stevens Point for the first time since 1980.
The Titans conclude their regular season next Saturday (Nov. 15) at UW-Platteville. A win by either team would keep their hope for a NCAA Division III postseason alive.