Titans Take Charge Early And Cruise To Homecoming Win Over Blugolds

Kobe Berghammer threw four of his career high five touchdown passes in the first quarter as nationally ranked UW-Oshkosh built a commanding early lead and coasted to a 54-31 victory over UW-Eau Claire during a Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football matchup Saturday (Oct. 23) at J. J. Keller Field at Titan Stadium.

UW-Oshkosh (4-2, 2-2 WIAC), ranked 23rd in the NCAA Division III by D3football.com, scored on the first play from scrimmage on a Berghammer 70-yard touchdown pass to Tony Steger just 18 seconds into the contest.

Berghammer went on to toss first quarter touchdowns of 43 yards to Steger with 8:35 left, 65 yards to Trae Tetzlaff at the 8:11 mark and 9 yards to Steven Makinen for a 34-0 lead with 16 ticks remaining in the opening period. Berghammer, who exited the game midway through the fourth quarter, later fired his fifth touchdown to Stephan Flores on a 17-yard completion that upped the UW-Oshkosh cushion to 48-7 with 30 seconds left before intermission.

Berghammer concluded the game 15 of 22 passing for 316 yards with five scores. His five touchdown passes eclipses his previous career high of three established on two occasions – most recently during a 28-10 rout at NCAA Division II member Northern Michigan University on Sept. 11. Berghammer's 316 passing yards also surpass his previous high of 290 set at Salisbury University (Md.) on Sept. 14, 2019.

UW-Oshkosh's 54 points are its most against UW-Eau Claire in the 72 all-time meetings between the teams in a series that began in 1937. The 85 total points Saturday were the second most in the rivalry, trailing only the 89 points tallied during a 62-27 UW-Eau Claire win over the Titans on Nov. 14, 1998.

UW-Oshkosh, which moves into a three-way tie for third in the WIAC standings, outgained UW-Eau Claire, 532-413, despite the Blugolds having advantages of 83-48 in total plays and 40:03 to 19:57 in time of possession. The Titans averaged 11.1 yards per play, including 14.0 yards per pass attempt and 8.4 per carry.

The Titans paired Berghammer's career passing day with 209 rushing yards on 25 carries as backup quarterback Cody Staerkel led the way with 61 yards on four rushes. The balanced UW-Oshkosh rushing attack also featured Peter MacCudden with five carries for 52 yards, Mitch Gerhartz with seven rushes for 46 yards and Mac Winkler with seven totes for 31 yards.

Makinen notched his first touchdown of the game when he recovered a Gerhartz fumble in the end zone to increase the UW-Oshkosh lead to 13-0 at the 13:20 mark of the first quarter. Winkler also scored a touchdown – his second this season – plowing into the end zone from 1 yard out to increase the Titan advantage to 54-24 with 12:32 left in the game.

Steger finished with two receptions for 113 yards and two scores for the Titans while Tetzlaff had two grabs for 74 yards and score, Flores four catches for 69 yards and a touchdown and Justin Kasuboski three receptions for 47 yards. The touchdown receptions were Steger's third this season and fourth career, Tetzlaff's third on the year, Flores' second in 2021 and Makinen's first career.

Carson Raddatz and Kyle Scharenbroch anchored the UW-Oshkosh defense with 17 and 10 tackles, respectively. Raddatz's 17 tackles are the most by a Titan since James Taraboi made 21 stops versus Ohio Dominican University on Sept. 26, 2009.

Tory Jandrin had a tackle for loss among his eight total stops for the Titans, who also received six tackles and an interception from Kollyn Beyer, an interception by Jared Saad and fumble recoveries from both Jhe'veon St. Julien and Tijs Santiago. St. Julien stripped UW-Eau Claire running back Austin Belot and returned the fumble 17 yards for his first collegiate touchdown that provided UW-Oshkosh a 41-7 lead with 5:37 to go in the second period.

UW-Eau Claire (3-4, 1-3 WIAC), which falls into a tie for sixth in the league standings, held UW-Oshkosh to zero yards during the third quarter and outscored the Titans, 24-6, in the second half.

The Blugolds cut their deficit to 34-7 following a 1-yard quarterback sneak into the end zone by Harry Roubidoux at the 7:15 mark of the second quarter. However, the Blugolds never got closer than 23 points down the rest of the way.

Roubidoux went 23 of 38 passing for 235 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. Roubidoux added two scores on the ground – both on 1-yard plunges – and finished with three carries for 2 yards.

UW-Eau Claire's Belot, the WIAC leading rusher entering the day, rushed 30 times for 119 yards and one touchdown while making four grabs for another 23 yards. Belot, who averaged 4.0 yards per carry Saturday, went into the game ranked fifth nationally with 154.5 rushing yards per game and averaging a WIAC best 7.0 yards per rush.

Isaac Garside led all players with seven receptions for 88 yards and a touchdown for the Blugolds. Garside's 15-yard touchdown catch and Brady Frantal's ensuing extra point capped the scoring with 8:01 left in the game. Frantal went 1-for-1 on field goals – connecting from 30 yards out – and 4-for-4 on extra points Saturday, improving his season totals to 8-for-8 on field goals and 25 of 25 on extra points.

Sam Burzynski spearheaded the UW-Eau Claire defense with seven tackles. Spencer Van Pietersom recovered a fumble for the Blugolds.

UW-Oshkosh, which has won 28 of its last 29 regular season home games and avoided its first three-game losing streak since 2010, has not lost in Oshkosh to UW-Eau Claire since Oct. 31, 2009. UW-Eau Claire, sporting a 42-30 record in the series with UW-Oshkosh, has lost nine of the last 10 meetings in the series.

The Titans travel to UW-Stout next Saturday (Oct. 30).