Titans Opens 126th Football Season In Alabama
The nationally ranked UW-Oshkosh football team makes its long-awaited return to competition Sept. 4 at Huntingdon College (Ala.). The 126th season opener in program history marks UW-Oshkosh's first game since Nov. 23, 2019.
UW-Oshkosh, the 2019 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference co-champion, and its league rivals did not play during the 2020 campaign due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, which also forced the cancellation of last year's NCAA Division III Championship.
Seeking its sixth NCAA postseason berth since 2012, UW-Oshkosh begins its nine-game regular season schedule with four road contests before hosting the home opener Oct. 16 against fellow 2019 WIAC co-champion and Division III runner-up UW-Whitewater for a matchup of nationally ranked teams at J. J. Keller Field at Titan Stadium.
UW-Oshkosh (8-3 record in 2019), which fell by a 38-37 overtime score at Central College (Iowa) during the first round of the 2019 NCAA Championship, enters the 2021 season ranked ninth in the country by D3football.com while UW-Whitewater (13-2), which lost a 41-14 decision to North Central College (Ill.) in the 2019 Division III title game, lists fourth.
Following the season opener in Alabama, UW-Oshkosh travels to NCAA Division II member Northern Michigan University on Sept. 11. The Titans then open WIAC play with road games at UW-Platteville on Oct. 2 and UW-La Crosse on Oct. 9.
UW-Oshkosh, which has won each of its last 27 regular season home games, hosts UW-Eau Claire on Oct. 23 and visits UW-Stout on Oct. 30 before concluding the regular season with a pair of home games against UW-Stevens Point on Nov. 6 and UW-River Falls on Nov. 13.
The Titans have won all three of their meetings with Huntingdon College and own a 14-9-1 record against Northern Michigan University. UW-Oshkosh defeated Huntingdon College, 44-14, in 2019. Huntingdon College, the only UW-Oshkosh opponent to play in 2020, posted a 3-1 record last season. UW-Oshkosh and Northern Michigan University, which played each other yearly between 1923-42, will be meeting for the first time since a 36-24 Wildcat victory in 1953.
In 2019, Huntingdon College reached the second round of the NCAA Championship, won its fourth USA South Conference title in five seasons and produced an 8-4 record. Northern Michigan University, the 1975 Division II national champion, went 1-9 in 2019, including 0-8 in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
Preseason coaches polls conducted by its respective league voted Huntingdon College to win the nine-team USA South Conference this fall and Northern Michigan University to finish seventh in the eight-team GLIAC.
UW-Oshkosh and UW-Whitewater tied atop the 2019 WIAC standings with 6-1 records while UW-La Crosse (7-3 overall record) was third at 5-2. Rounding out the standings were UW-Platteville (7-3 overall record) in fourth at 4-3, UW-Stout (4-6) fifth at 3-4, UW-Stevens Point (3-7) sixth at 2-5, and UW-Eau Claire (3-7) and UW-River Falls (2-8) seventh at 1-6.
The WIAC titles were UW-Oshkosh's 11th and UW-Whitewater's 37th. The Titans and UW-Whitewater have combined to claim each league title since 2009, including UW-Oshkosh championships in 2012, 2015, 2017 and 2019. UW-Oshkosh has gone on to reach the Division III championship game in 2016, the national semifinals in 2012 and 2017, the quarterfinals in 2015 and the first round in 2019.
UW-Oshkosh looks to continue its recent success in the WIAC. The Titans own winning streaks of 14 games against UW-River Falls, 10 versus UW-Stout and six against UW-Platteville. UW-Oshkosh has also won eight of its last nine meetings with each of UW-Eau Claire, UW-La Crosse and UW-Stevens Point, while going 3-3 in its series with UW-Whitewater since 2015.
UW-Oshkosh 14th-year head coach Pat Cerroni, who boasts a program-best 103-42 record, five NCAA postseason appearances and four conference titles, welcomes back eight starters on offense and six starters on defense as part of 38 returning lettermen from the 2019 WIAC title squad.
Headlining the returning UW-Oshkosh offensive players are quarterback Kobe Berghammer, running back Peter MacCudden, wide receivers Jimmy DuVal and Mitchell Gerend, tight end Justin Kasuboski and offensive linemen Joe Blitstein, Mike Olsen and Hunter Schultz.
Berghammer, the 2019 WIAC Newcomer of the Year, passed for 1,700 yards and 14 touchdowns while rushing for a team-leading 706 yards and another nine scores in 2019.
MacCudden was second on the team with 527 rushing yards and four touchdowns in 2019. Mitch Gerhartz, who has rushed for 1,779 yards in 30 career games, also returns to the UW-Oshkosh offensive backfield after appearing in only one game in 2019 due to an injury.
Gerend paced the team two years ago with 33 receptions for 467 yards and three touchdowns.
Kasuboski, a 2019 All-WIAC First Team selection, added 21 catches for 248 yards and one touchdown while combining with Blitstein, Olsen, Schultz and the offensive line to help the team average 4.7 yards per carry and yield just 14 sacks two seasons ago. Olsen was named a 2021 D3football.com Preseason All-American at center after garnering All-WIAC First Team and D3football All-America Second Team honors in 2019.
The Titans return six All-WIAC defensive performers from the 2019 team, including First Team selection Nick Noethe at linebacker. Noethe led the team two season ago with 68 tackles to go along with four sacks and one interception.
Returning with Noethe on the UW-Oshkosh defense are 2019 All-WIAC Second Team defensive linemen Brandon Kolgen and Trenton LaCombe, All-WIAC Second Team cornerback Kollyn Beyer and All-WIAC Honorable Mention picks in defensive linemen Brandon Hughes and linebacker Tory Jandrin. LaCombe and Kolgen recorded six and five sacks, respectively, in 2019 while Jandrin chipped in 56 tackles, Hughes made 43 stops, and Beyer had a team-leading five interceptions and 14 pass breakups.
UW-Oshkosh also welcomes back placekicker and punter Jaydon Haag, who was tabbed a 2021 D3football.com Preseason First Team All-American after being named the 2019 WIAC Special Team Player of the Year and a 2019 D3football.com Second Team All-American. Haag made all 12 of his field goal attempts and went 27 of 30 on extra points in 2019 while averaging 35.4 yards per punt.
The Titans own an 84-20 record during their string of nine straight winning seasons. The nine consecutive seasons with a winning record, which include each of UW-Oshkosh's five NCAA postseason appearances, is the longest stretch in the 125-year history of the program, eclipsing the eight straight winning seasons from 1918-25.