Titans Stun Blue Devils With Touchdown In Closing Seconds
UW-Oshkosh's Kobe Berghammer hit a wide open Tony Steger for a go-ahead 68-yard touchdown pass with 14 seconds left to lift the nationally ranked Titans to a wild 43-36 victory at UW-Stout during a pivotal Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football matchup Saturday (Oct. 30) in Menomonie.
Berghammer's fourth touchdown pass and fifth overall touchdown of the game came on a fourth-and-3 play from the UW-Oshkosh 32-yard line with 26 second remaining as Steger hauled in the deep pass over the middle, stiff armed a defender at the UW-Stout 20-yard line and raced into the left side of the end zone for the eventual winning score.
UW-Oshkosh (5-2, 3-2 WIAC), ranked 21st in the NCAA Division III by D3football.com, earned its 11th consecutive win over the Blue Devils on the strength of a season best 381 rushing yards and Berghammer's five-touchdown performance. The 381 yards on the ground are the program's most since gaining 410 against Washington University in St. Louis (Mo.) during the first round of the 2016 Division III postseason.
The Titans, who had not trailed the Blue Devils at any point since the 2012 season, were forced to overcome deficits Saturday of 7-0, 21-14, 28-27 and 36-35 during a contest that featured seven leads changes and zero turnovers.
UW-Stout (5-3, 2-3 WIAC) suffered its first home loss of the season, falling to 2-1 at Don and Nona Williams Stadium. The Blue Devils reclaimed their 36-35 advantage with 1:12 left in the game following a 4-yard touchdown pass from Sean Borgerding to Arthur Cox and an ensuing successful two-point conversion on a high arching pass from Borgerding in the middle of the end zone to leaping Cox.
Berghammer, who tossed a career best five touchdowns against UW-Eau Claire last Saturday (Oct. 23), went 17 of 29 passing against UW-Stout for 240 yards with four touchdowns while rushing 13 times for a career high 189 yards and one score. Berghammer now has 17 touchdown passes and five touchdown runs on the year.
Each of Berghammer's four scoring passes went to different receivers as Steger, Peter MacCudden, Justin Kasuboski and Trae Tetzlaff notched touchdown catches Saturday. Tetzlaff recorded a team leading five grabs for 79 yards. Steger finished with 92 yards on four receptions. The touchdown receptions were Kasuboski's fourth this season and sixth career, MacCudden's second on the year and third career, Steger's fourth in 2021 and fifth career, and Tetzlaff's fourth this season.
Mitch Gerhartz added a season high 18 carries for 127 yards for the Titans squad that averaged 8.7 yards on its 44 rushes.
Carson Raddatz paced the UW-Oshkosh defense with 10 tackles while Tyler Staerkel and Kyle Scharenbroch made nine and eight stops, respectively, and Brandon Kolgen collected two sacks among his five tackles. Staerkel also accounted for one of the Titans' three sacks on the day.
Borgerding went 24 of 35 passing for 295 yards with four touchdowns for the Blue Devils, tossing a pair of scoring passes to Levy Hamer and one apiece to Cox and Will Knutson.
Hamer, the WIAC leader in receiving yards entering the day, had 11 catches for 161 yards.
UW-Stout's Matt Pomietlo rushed 17 times for 116 yards and one touchdown as the Blue Devils ended the game with 115 rushing yards on 28 carries overall.
Cannon Griner led all players with 16 tackles for the Blue Devils, who also received seven stops, including a sack, from Haydon Miller.
UW-Stout jumped out to a 7-0 lead on a 33-yard touchdown pass from Borgerding to Hamer with 6:43 left in the opening quarter, marking the Blue Devils' first lead over the Titans since 2012.
UW-Oshkosh answered with a 21-yard touchdown pass from Berghammer to MacCudden with 7:29 remaining in the second quarter and a 1-yard scoring strike from Berghammer to Kasuboski for a 14-7 lead at the 1:55 mark of the second period.
The Blue Devils then pulled even at 14 just before intermission as Pomietlo ran for a 3-yard score with 27 second left in the first half.
UW-Stout reclaimed the lead for the second time at 21-14 on a 17-yard touchdown pass from Bogerding to Hamer with 5:40 to go in the third quarter, but UW-Oshkosh responded once again just over three minutes later following an 8-yard fade pass from Berghammer to Tetzlaff in the corner of the end zone to tie the score at 21 with 2:34 left in the third period.
Gerhartz spun into the end zone from 3 yards out to provide the Titans a 27-21 advantage at the 11:11 mark of the fourth quarter. However, UW-Stout blocked the extra point and went on to take a 28-27 edge after Borgerding hit Will Knutson on a 21-yard touchdown pass that preceded a successful Luke Cool extra point with 3:44 left.
UW-Oshkosh answered quickly as Berghammer ran 42 yards and then 28 yards to the end zone on successive plays to cap a 34-second drive that put the Titans back ahead by a 35-28 score following a 2-point conversion pass from Berghammer to Kasuboski with 3:01 to go.
UW-Stout had seemingly won its first game against UW-Oshkosh since 2010 when Borgerding found Cox for not only a touchdown but also the two-point conversion that resulted in a 36-35 lead with 72 ticks left.
UW-Oshkosh's improbable game winning drive commenced with an incomplete pass and a 9-yard Berghammer run that advanced the ball to the Titans 34-yard line. Gerhartz then ran for 11 yards, but an illegal formation wiped out the first down. Berghammer rushed for 3 yards, setting up a fourth-and-3 from the UW-Oshkosh 32-yard line ahead of Steger's catch, stiff-arm and run that followed a UW-Stout timeout with 26 seconds remaining. The Titans capped the scoring on a two-point conversion as Berghammer completed a pass to Tetzlaff.
After a penalty on UW-Oshkosh for sideline interference and a 12-yard kickoff return, UW-Stout got the ball back at the Titans 44-yard line with 11 seconds to play. Borgerding completed a pass to Hamer for 10 yards, but Kolgen secured the victory with a sack of Borgerding for a loss of 19 yards as time expired.
UW-Oshkosh returns home to face UW-Stevens Point next Saturday (Nov. 6) at J. J. Keller Field at Titan Stadium.