Titans Snap Warhawks' 36-Game Winning Streak

UW-Oshkosh's Greg Rand made a 41-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter and UW-Whitewater had a field goal blocked with less than two minutes remaining as the Titans hung on for a 10-7 triumph over the two-time defending national football champion Warhawks on Saturday (Oct. 10) at J. J. Keller Field at Titan Stadium.

The victory snapped UW-Whitewater's 36-game winning streak, which was the longest active streak in all of college football. The Warhawks, ranked first in the NCAA Division III by D3football.com, lost for just the fourth time in 90 contests, with two of those losses coming to UW-Oshkosh. The Titans also defeated the Warhawks, 28-13, in 2012.

Fifteenth-ranked UW-Oshkosh (4-1, 2-0 WIAC), which has won 22 of its last 25 WIAC games, played the last 30 minutes (30:20) of the contest with third-string quarterback Jayden Essman under center after starter Brett Kasper and backup Connor Senger were both forced from the game due to injuries.

Essman conducted a nine-play, 64-yard drive on the Titans' first possession of the fourth period that culminated in Rand's eventual game-winning field goal with 10:45 remaining.

Essman recovered his own fumble on the first play of the winning drive at the UW-Oshkosh 16-yard line. Essman then completed a 7-yard pass to Joe Sommers, but a face mask penalty added 15 yards to Sommers's catch, moving the ball to the Titans' 38-yard line.

Following completions to Dylan Hecker for 7 yards and Zach Kasuboski for 1 yard, Essman raced 26 yards on third-and-2 to the UW-Whitewater 28-yard line. Hecker gained 4 yards on second-and-10 and, after an incompletion on third down, Rand split the uprights to give UW-Oshkosh a 10-7 advantage.

Neither team gained a first down on their next possession. UW-Whitewater then mounted a 12-play, 48-yard drive that began at the Warhawks' 25-yard line with 7:18 left to play.

UW-Whitewater (4-1, 1-1 WIAC) picked up three first downs on its final drive, each on passes through traffic from Chris Nelson to Marcus Hudson. Warhawks running back Jordan Ratliffe was stuffed for a short loss on first-and-10 from the UW-Oshkosh 31-yard line and Nelson found Ryan Shorto for a 5-yard pass before running back Jarrod Ware was stopped for no gain at the Titans' 27-yard line. UW-Whitewater kicker Lake Bachar then had his 44-yard field goal attempt blocked up the middle by UW-Oshkosh's Branden Lloyd with 1:59 remaining.

Hecker gained a first down with a 3-yard run on third-and-2 from the UW-Oshkosh 37-yard line with 93 second left, and the Titans ran out the clock with a Hecker carry and two kneel downs by Essman.

UW-Oshkosh opened the scoring on Hecker's 4-yard touchdown run with 12 seconds left in the first quarter. UW-Whitewater knotted the score at 7 on a 1-yard sneak up the middle by Nelson with 10:32 to go before halftime.

The Titans outgained the Warhawks, 340-226, and converted 9 of 19 third downs while UW-Whitewater was 3-for-11 on third down.

Essman completed 11 of 18 passes for 73 yards and added five rushes for 31 yards in his first extensive collegiate action.

Kasper was 10 of 12 passing for 78 yards before exiting early in the second quarter. Senger replaced Kasper and completed one of his two passes (three yards) before being forced to the sideline late in the second period. Hecker acted as the Titans' quarterback for the majority of UW-Oshkosh's final drive of the first half until Essman entered with 20 seconds left.

UW-Whitewater entered the game ranked fifth in the country by allowing just 45.5 rushing yards per game. UW-Oshkosh gained 186 yards on 41 carries, including 92 yards on 23 totes by Hecker, who scored his eighth touchdown of the season.

Sommers paced the UW-Oshkosh receiving corps with a season-high eight catches for 66 yards. Hecker and Kasuboski both added four catches for 27 and 29 yards, respectively.

The Titans defense recorded four sacks, including two by Lloyd, who also led the team with eight tackles. Kevin MacCudden and Justin Watson both added seven tackles, followed by six apiece from Cameron Brown and Trevor Fiegel.

Watson had 2.5 tackles for loss, while Matt Gasper recorded a fumble and a sack. Brown registered both of UW-Oshkosh's pass breakups.

UW-Oshkosh limited the Warhawks to 76 rushing yards (32 attempts). Ratliffe, the WIAC's leading rusher, had 81 yards on 19 carries.

Nelson completed 20 of 26 passes for 150 yards for the Warhawks, who received six catches each from Tony Gumina, Hudson and Joe Worth. Hudson had a team-leading 58 yards, Worth 50 and Gumina 29.

Paul Foster led all players with 12 tackles, including nine solo, for UW-Whitewater. The Warhawks, who went into the game leading the WIAC with 29 sacks, didn't take down any of the Titans' four signal callers.

Justin Dischler contributed nine tackles, Shawn Shillcox eight and Ryan Winske seven for UW-Whitewater. Warhawk Dylan Morang had the game's lone interception.

The 107th meeting between the teams featured UW-Oshkosh defeating UW-Whitewater at home for the first time since 2002.

UW-Oshkosh hosts its homecoming contest against UW-Stevens Point next Saturday (Oct. 17) at J. J. Keller Field at Titan Stadium.