Titans Celebrate Homecoming With Win Over Pioneers
Dylan Hecker scored a pair of fourth-quarter rushing touchdowns as UW-Oshkosh pulled out a 22-13 victory over UW-Platteville in a matchup of highly ranked football teams on Saturday (Oct. 22) at J. J. Keller Field at Titan Stadium.
Hecker plowed into the end zone from 1 yard out to give UW-Oshkosh a 15-6 lead early in the final period while his 19-yard ground score capped the scoring with 7:01 remaining in the Titans' homecoming contest.
UW-Oshkosh (6-1, 3-1 WIAC), ranked fifth in the NCAA Division III by D3football.com, out-gained seventh-ranked UW-Platteville, 434-306, including 216-84 passing. The Pioneers, who entered the game averaging a WIAC-leading 322 passing yards, were held to their lowest yardage total through the air since gaining 71 against the Titans on Oct. 15, 2011.
With the victory, the Titans take over sole possession of second place in the WIAC standings with three league games remaining. Second-ranked UW-Whitewater (7-0, 4-0 WIAC) remained atop the league with a 24-2 win over UW-Stevens Point (4-3, 1-3) on Saturday.
The Pioneers' vaunted aerial attack, which ranked 17th in the nation, attempted just 19 passes. However, UW-Platteville (5-2, 2-2 WIAC) registered 49 rushes for 222 yards – the most allowed by the Titans all season.
Defending WIAC champion UW-Oshkosh, which has won 30 of its last 34 league games, entered the contest ranked sixth nationally in scoring defense (9.7 points per game) while UW-Platteville listed second in the conference and 16th in the country (13.7). The Titans also boasted the league's best running game with 268.8 yards per contest.
UW-Oshkosh's Devon Linzenmeyer had 10 carries for 123 yards while Hecker added 15 rushes for 88 yards to go along with his sixth and seventh touchdowns of the year as the Titans amassed 218 rushing yards on 33 carries for a 6.6-yard average.
Titan quarterback Brett Kasper, the reigning WIAC Offensive Player of the Year, completed 16 of 24 passes for 191 yards.
Dom Todarello paced UW-Oshkosh receivers with a career-high seven catches for 95 yards. Chad Redmer and CJ Blackburn chipped in four grabs apiece for 68 and 28 yards, respectively.
UW-Oshkosh's standout defensive effort, which did not yield a play longer than 19 yards, was highlighted by Reese Dziedzic's career-best 16 tackles, including five solo and one of the Titans' two sacks.
The Titans' Cole Yoder also established a career high with 10 stops while Cameron Brown and Jake Thein contributed eight tackles apiece and Branden Lloyd seven. Justin Watson contributed four tackles, including one sack.
UW-Oshkosh marched the game's opening possession 71 yards on 13 plays as Kasper went 7-for-7 for 58 yards on the drive that was punctuated by a 21-yard field goal from Eli Wettstein with 9:20 to play in the first quarter.
UW-Platteville answered with an 11-play, 51-yard drive on its first possession before knotting the score at 3 with a 41-yard field goal from Samuel Herkert at the 4:50 mark of the first period.
The Titans' second drive stalled at the Pioneer 30-yard line after a Kasper pass fell incomplete on fourth-and-9.
The teams traded punts on the next four possessions before Herkert connected on a 28-yard field goal for a 6-3 Pioneer lead with just over two minutes remaining in the first half. UW-Platteville's go-ahead drive spanned 12 plays and 64 yards while taking 6:18 off the clock. The Pioneer possession featured 10 rushes for 51 yards, including eight carries by Sean Studer for 46 yards.
UW-Oshkosh answered with a 30-yard field goal by Wettstein on the ensuing possession to tie the score at 6 with 25 ticks left before halftime. Following a 39-yard kickoff return by CJ Blackburn to near midfield, Kasper began the game-tying drive with a 13-yard pass to Redmer, followed by a 12-yard run from Hecker and a 23-yard pass from Kasper to Todarello that advanced the ball to the Pioneer 14-yard line.
The Titans went into intermission with a 193-142 advantage in total yards, including 110-19 passing.
Following a UW-Platteville punt to open the second half, UW-Oshkosh took the lead for good with a 14-play, 73-yard drive that was punctuated by Wettstein's 37-yard field goal with 5:43 remaining in the third period. The possession was sparked by an 8-yard pass from punter Turner Geisthardt to Taylor Ripplinger on fourth-and-1 from the Titan 32-yard line. Linzenmeyer ran for 16 yards on the following play, and Hecker added a 14-yard rush three plays later to reach the Pioneer 18-yard line.
UW-Platteville responded with a 12-play, 59-yard possession, but Herkert pulled his potential score-tying 23-yard field goal wide left. The Pioneers attempted eight runs for 34 yards during the drive.
The Titans extended their lead to 15-9 after marching the next possession 80 yards on just six plays, including Hecker's 1-yard touchdown run up the middle on a direct snap. The drive was highlighted by a 10-yard run by Todarello and Kasper passes of 26 yards to Todarello and 33 yards to Redmer.
UW-Platteville once again answered the Titan score with one its own, this time on a 7-yard pass from Tom Kelly to a wide-open Mitch Munda over the middle that cut the Pioneer deficit to 15-13 with 7:44 to play. The scoring strike, Kelly's league-leading 21st of the season and Munda's lone catch of the game, terminated an 11-play, 65-yard possession that featured 37 passing yards and 16 rushing yards from Kelly.
UW-Oshkosh took just two plays to respond the Pioneers' touchdown. Blackburn returned the ensuing kickoff 30 yards to the UW-Oshkosh 38-yard line before Linzenmeyer ran to the right for 43 yards and Hecker busted up the middle for his 19-yard score at the 7:01 mark.
UW-Platteville reached the UW-Oshkosh 46-yard line on the following possession, but Dziedzic registered his 16th tackle when he stopped Kelly two yards shy of the first down on fourth-and-7 with 4:22 remaining.
UW-Oshkosh then picked up a pair of first downs on carries by Hecker to run out the clock. The Titans registered 11 carries for 91 yards and completed all four of their passes for 71 yards during the fourth quarter.
UW-Platteville's Kelly ended the game 10-for-19 passing for 84 yards with one touchdown and added 17 carries for 66 yards.
Studer logged 23 rushes for 122 yards for the Pioneers, who averaged 4.5 yard per carry.
Patrick Sheehan led UW-Platteville with three receptions for 30 yards.
Pioneer receiver Dan Arnold, who entered the game with a WIAC-leading 674 receiving yards and nine scores, was held to two grabs for 24 yards. Quinn Buschbacher was limited to two catches for nine yards after entering with a league-best 7.5 receptions per contest.
Marty McGrail headlined the UW-Platteville defense with 13 tackles, followed by eight stop apiece from John Hotchkiss and Patrick Swanson. Chandler Crary, who recorded the Pioneers' lone sack, had two tackles, including 1.5 for loss.
UW-Oshkosh recorded five plays of at least 20 yards against UW-Platteville to bring its season total to 46 big plays this season while the Titan defense has ceded just 10 plays of 20 yards or more this year.
With the win, UW-Oshkosh now owns a 49-48-4 record in the series that began in 1911.
UW-Oshkosh travels to UW-River Falls (3-4, 2-2 WIAC) next Saturday (Oct. 29).