Titans Win 11th Straight WIAC Season Opener
Kobe Berghammer passed for two touchdowns and ran for another pair of scores to lead the nationally ranked UW-Oshkosh football team to a 35-32 victory at UW-Platteville in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opener Saturday (Oct. 2).
UW-Oshkosh (3-0, 1-0 WIAC), ranked eighth in the NCAA Division III by D3football.com, jumped out to leads of 14-0 and 21-3 during the first quarter before holding off a late UW-Platteville comeback attempt.
UW-Platteville (1-3, 0-1 WIAC) cut its deficit to 35-32 with 3:22 left in the fourth quarter and regained possession at its own 15-yard line at the 2:15 mark following a UW-Oshkosh punt. However, the Titans defense held the Pioneers to one first down and 14 yards during UW-Platteville's final drive, securing the hard-fought win on an incomplete pass on a fourth-and-9 play with 35 seconds remaining.
UW-Oshkosh outgained UW-Platteville, 443-400, on the day despite the Pioneers owning a 35:22 to 24:38 advantage in time of possession and a 24-21 edge in first downs. UW-Platteville ran 75 offensive plays while UW-Oshkosh, which produced eight plays of 20 yards or more, had 54 offensive snaps.
The Titans, who won their seventh straight game over the Pioneers and their 11th consecutive WIAC opener, have not lost at UW-Platteville since the 2003 season.
Berghammer went 15 of 22 passing for 226 yards without throwing an interception and added 92 yards on eight carries. Berghammer, who has tossed five total touchdowns over the past two games, now has 19 passing touchdowns and 11 rushing scores in 14 collegiate games.
Peter MacCudden scored one touchdown on the ground and one more score through the air for UW-Oshkosh, rushing for a career-best 96 yards on 13 totes and gaining 18 yards on two receptions. Saturday's game marked MacCudden's third career two-touchdown performance and first this season.
Eight different Titans caught passes against the Pioneers, including Tony Steger with four grabs for a career-high 87 yards and one touchdown, and Justin Kasuboski with three catches for 59 yards. Steger's touchdown – a 40-yard connection with Berghammer that provided the Titans a 28-17 lead late in the first half – was the second of his career.
Kyle Scharenbroch and Carson Raddatz paced the UW-Oshkosh defense with career highs of 12 and nine tackles, respectively, while Brandon Kolgen and Jhe'veon St. Julien both recorded sacks for the Titans, who also received a combination sack from Trenton LaCombe and Tory Jandrin.
UW-Platteville's Colin Schuetz completed 33 of 50 passes for 345 yards with three touchdowns and zero interceptions.
Brandt Stare, Lucas Petersen and Austin Guy each hauled in touchdown grabs for the Pioneers. Stare and Guy led all players with nine receptions apiece as Stare had 139 yards through the air and Guy 65. Petersen ended the day with six grabs for 74 yards.
Tyler Lamer headlined the Pioneers rushing attack, gaining 44 yards with one touchdown on 11 carries.
Sam Smith made a team-leading five tackles for the UW-Platteville defense that featured a sack by Logan Ketelhut and a fumble recovery from Justin Blazek.
UW-Oshkosh marched down the field on the opening possession of the game, covering 75 yards in just three plays as MacCudden ran for 20 yards, Berghammer completed a 26-yard pass to Steger and MacCudden capped the drive with a 29-yard run. Jaydon Haag's first of five successful extra points gave the Titans a 7-0 a mere 66 seconds into the game.
UW-Platteville punted after gaining 9 yards on three plays, and Berghammer scampered 55 yards untouched into the end zone on the next Titans snap, extending the UW-Oshkosh cushion to 14-0 with 12:06 left in the first quarter as each of the first four Titans plays from scrimmage went for at least 20 yards.
The Pioneers pulled within 14-3 on a Andrew Schweigert field goal at the 4:35 mark of the opening quarter, but UW-Oshkosh responded with a nine-play, 75-yard drive that culminated in a 4-yard touchdown pass from Berghammer to a wide open MacCudden in the corner of the end zone for a 21-3 advantage with 10 seconds remaining in the opening period.
UW-Platteville cut its deficit to 21-17 following a 22-yard touchdown pass from Schuetz to Petersen with 12:03 left in the second quarter and then a 1-yard scoring run by Lamer with 9:38 to go before intermission. Lamer's touchdown run was set up by a Berghammer lost fumble at the Titans' 15-yard line. The fumble was the only turnover of the game.
UW-Oshkosh then answered with Berghammer's 40-yard touchdown toss to Steger for a 28-17 lead with 5:16 left in the second quarter. The Titans outgained the Pioneers, 283-213, during a first half that included six combined touchdowns and just one punt.
The teams traded touchdowns in the third quarter as Berghammer plowed into the end zone from 2 yards out to extend the Titans lead to 35-17 with 7:15 to go in the period before the Pioneers responded on their next offensive play 17 second later with a 74-yard scoring strike from Schuetz to Stare.
Both squads exchanged punts during the ensuing five possessions until Schuetz found Guy on a 10-yard touchdown throw and a two-point conversion that provided the final score with 3:22 left.
UW-Oshkosh travels to play 20th-ranked UW-La Crosse next Saturday (Oct. 9).
Photo by Andrew McNeill, UW-Platteville