Eagles Fly In For Titans' Final Regular Season Home Game

The top two defenses in the WIAC square off when the UW-Oshkosh football team hosts UW-La Crosse on Saturday (Nov. 5). Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. at J. J. Keller Field at Titan Stadium.

UW-Oshkosh (7-1, 4-1 WIAC) leads the league by allowing just 248.6 yards per game while UW-La Crosse (5-3, 2-3) ranks second by yielding 299.6.

The Titans, seeking their sixth straight win over the Eagles, also enter the 70th meeting between the teams leading the WIAC with per game averages of 39.1 points, 470.4 total yards and 264.1 rushing yards.

UW-La Crosse paces the conference with a .625 completion percentage while ranking second with 283.3 passing yards, but the Titans will counter the Eagles with the league's best passing defense, which has ceded just 157.4 yards per contest and a 91.27 passing efficiency rating.

The Eagles are also the league leader with just 43.88 penalty yards per game, 201 first downs and 125 first downs allowed while UW-Oshkosh leads the conference in yards per completion (14.60).

UW-La Crosse owns a 49-14-6 record against UW-Oshkosh in a series that dates to 1919, but the Titans have outscored the Eagles, 139-51, during their last five meetings.

UW-Oshkosh, ranked fifth in the NCAA Division III by D3football.com, has won 31 of its last 35 WIAC contests and outscored opponents by a 201-12 score during the first half this season.

Last Saturday (Oct. 29), the Titans extended their winning streak to 11 games over UW-River Falls with a 41-7 victory. UW-Oshkosh scored the first 41 points of the game and outgained the Falcons, 544-279, as Brett Kasper threw for two touchdowns and Chad Walton rushed for a career-best 104 yards and two scores.

UW-Oshkosh opened the season with comfortable wins of 33-14 over then-No. 18 John Carroll University (Ohio), 68-7 over Finlandia University (Mich.), 77-0 over Morthland College (Ill.) and 45-17 over UW-Stout. The Titans then suffered a 17-14 setback at UW-Whitewater in front of an NCAA Division III-record 17,535 fans on Oct. 8 before bouncing back with a hard-fought, 13-3, decision over UW-Stevens Point on Oct. 15 and a 22-13 victory over then-No. 7 UW-Platteville on Oct. 22.

The Titans have recorded 57 offensive plays of 20 yards or longer this season while the UW-Oshkosh defense has surrendered just 11 plays of at least 20 yards this year, including zero against each of its three nationally ranked opponents – UW-Whitewater, UW-Platteville and John Carroll University.

UW-La Crosse began the year with five consecutive lopsided wins of 45-14 over Luther College (Iowa), 65-14 over Ripon College, 41-7 over Carroll University, 35-14 over UW-River Falls and 42-6 over UW-Stout.

The Eagles lost three straight games since their win over UW-Stout, decisions of 32-22 to UW-Whitewater, 20-14 to UW-Eau Claire and 38-22 to UW-Stevens Point last Saturday.

UW-Oshkosh quarterback Brett Kasper, the reigning WIAC Offensive Player of the Year, has completed 97 of 164 passes for 1,396 yards with nine touchdowns and four interceptions. He leads the conference with 14.39 yards per completion and 8.51 yards per pass attempt.

The Titans rushing attack, which has accounted for 25 touchdowns and averaged 7.1 yards per carry, is headlined by Devon Linzenmeyer and Dylan Hecker. Linzenmeyer, averaging 8.6 yards per carry, leads the team with 585 rushing yards and seven touchdowns. Hecker has added 543 yards on 6.6 yards per rush with a team-best eight scores. Linzenmeyer has added 11 catches for 158 yards and one touchdown.

Four other Titans have accumulated more than 100 rushing yards this season as Walton has contributed 196 yards, Dom Todarello 152, Mitch Gerhartz 133 and Beau Ash 111.

Todarello paces the UW-Oshkosh passing game with 25 catches for 388 yards and five touchdowns. He also ranks fifth in the country by averaging 16.9 yards on his 11 punt returns.

The UW-Oshkosh receiving corps has also featured 17 grabs for 249 yards and one touchdown from CJ Blackburn, 13 receptions for 146 yards from Chad Redmer, 12 catches for 82 yards from Evan Thammahong and 10 grabs for 184 yards and one score from Sam Mentkowski.

Reese Dziedzic leads the UW-Oshkosh defense with 51 tackles to go along with two sacks, one interception and one fumble recovery.

Steve Forner has registered 37 tackles, including a team-leading six for loss, and two sacks for the Titans. Branden Lloyd has added 35 tackles, including a team-leading 2.5 sacks, and one fumble recovery.

The UW-Oshkosh defense, which has recorded 18 sacks, nine interceptions and nine fumble recoveries, has also received 32 tackles each from Cameron Brown, Jake Thein and Cole Yoder. Johnny Eagan and AJ Plewa have notched two interceptions apiece while Yoder has one fumble recovery and one interception.

UW-Oshkosh's Eli Wettstein has converted 11 of 14 field goals and 34 of 37 extra points, and Turner Geisthardt is averaging 40.6 yards on his 23 punts.

The UW-La Crosse offense, averaging 467.4 yards and 35.8 points per game, is led by quarterback Tarek Yaeggi, who has completed 152 of 243 passes for 1,906 yards and 12 touchdowns with seven interceptions. Yaeggi, who has also rushed 70 times for 168 yards and six scores, leads the WIAC with 296.3 total yards per game, 21.71 completions per contest and a .626 completion percentage.

Tyler Jenkins leads the Eagles' ground game, which has tallied 19 touchdowns and 4.3 yards per carry, with 113 rushes for 580 yards and seven touchdowns. Troy Bailey has chipped in 149 rushing yards, followed by the 144 from Austin Mancosky, 114 from Ben Schramski and 104 from Ryan Kruser.

Yaeggi's favorite target in the passing game is Joel Oxton, who has 52 receptions for 726 yards and seven touchdowns. Kruser has 37 catches for 284 yards and one score, Samuel Zwieg 30 grabs for 392 yards and two touchdowns and Nick Holcomb 20 catches for 255 yards and four scores.

The UW-La Crosse defense, which has registered 24 sacks, six interceptions and eight fumble recoveries, is led by Noah Risch's 53 tackles, 52 stops from Peter Krien and 44 from Peter Kissling.

The Eagles have totaled 60 tackles for a loss, including 11.5 by Risch, 10 by Sam Phillips and 7.5 from Krien. Krien and Phillips have a team-leading five sacks while Dakin Coons has four of UW-La Crosse's 24 quarterback takedowns.

Steve Law leads the UW-La Crosse with two interceptions while Risch has a team-best two fumble recoveries.

On special teams, UW-La Crosse placekicker Joshua Fischer has converted 7 of 15 field goal and 33 of 35 extra points while Zach Kirby is averaging 32 yards on his 28 punts.

UW-La Crosse went unbeaten in 37 consecutive games (35-0-2 record) against UW-Oshkosh from 1973-2009. UW-Oshkosh had never defeated the Eagles in three straight games until its current five-game streak that began with a 16-7 victory in 2012.

UW-Oshkosh concludes its regular season next Saturday (Nov. 12) at UW-Eau Claire.