Crusaders Hold Off Titans To Capture National Title
The most successful season in UW-Oshkosh football history concluded with a 10-7 loss to the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor (Texas) in the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl on Friday (Dec. 16) in Salem, Va.
University of Mary Hardin-Baylor (15-0), ranked first in the country by D3football.com, captured its first NCAA Division III title with the victory. Fourth-ranked UW-Oshkosh, which competed in its first national champiopnship game, ended its historic season with a 13-2 record.
The Titans drove into University of Mary Hardin-Baylor territory late in the fourth period, but Crusaders linebacker Matt Cody intercepted a pass by UW-Oshkosh quarterback Brett Kasper at the 22-yard line on fourth-and-10 with 35 seconds to play.
Crusaders quarterback Blake Jackson, named the game's Most Outstanding Player, completed 16 of 27 passes for 171 yards with one interception and added a career-high 28 carries for 119 yards and one touchdown. Jackson's 1-yard scoring run gave University of Mary Hardin-Baylor the lead for good at 10-7 with 3:16 left in the second quarter.
UW-Oshkosh took a 7-0 advantage on a 2-yard scoring run that capped the Titans' first possession at the 9:38 mark of the first period.
University of Mary Hardin-Baylor cut its deficit to 7-3 on a 22-yard field goal from John Mowery that punctuated a 20-play, 66-yard drive with 71 second remaining in the first period.
The scoreless second half featured eight combined punts, three turnovers, one turnover on downs and a missed field goal. UW-Oshkosh's second-half drives resulted in five punts, a turnover on downs and an interception. University of Mary Hardin-Baylor punted three times, lost two fumbles and missed a short field goal during the second half before taking a knee to end the contest.
University of Mary Hardin-Baylor committed three turnovers and eight penalties for 73 yards while UW-Oshkosh had a pair of turnovers and committed two penalties for 25 yards. Both Titan penalties came in the span of three offensive snaps during the fourth quarter.
The Crusaders overcame their miscues by outgaining UW-Oshkosh, 332-215, including 161-30 rushing. University of Mary Hardin-Baylor averaged 3.66 yards per rush and limited the Titans, who entered the contest ranked 13th with 263.9 yards on the ground per game, to 1.03 yards per carry. UW-Oshkosh was held to -2 rushing yards on 16 carries during the second half.
University of Mary Hardin-Baylor also concluded the game with advantages in first downs (19-12), time of possession (32:53 to 27:07) and average yards per play (4.7 to 3.5).
The Crusaders, who entered the title game ranked second in the country with an average of 49.4 points per contest, had their lowest scoring output since tallying nine points during a 2010 NCAA quarterfinal round loss, a span of 81 games.
Duane Thompson and Markeith Miller had 33 and 11 rushing yards, respectively, for University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. Miller entered the game ranked in the top eight nationally with 1,472 rushing yards and 20 scores on the ground.
Bryce Wilkerson paced the Crusaders with five catches for 35 yards. Wykeyhe Walker added four grabs for 55 yards and T.J. Josey two receptions for a game-high 57 yards.
Cody led all players with 10 tackles for University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. Keith Reineke had nine tackles, including one sack for the Crusaders, who also received eight tackles from Reggie Wilson, seven stops from D'Andre Jackson and six from Baylor Mullins.
University of Mary Hardin-Baylor's Teidrick Smith notched one sack among his four tackles while Jaedon Johnson recorded three tackles and one interception.
After UW-Oshkosh forced a punt on the game's opening possession, the Titans marched down the field on nine plays, culminating in Hecker's touchdown run off a direct snap on third-and-goal. The scoring drive was aided by a 39-yard pass from Kasper to CJ Blackburn on third-and-9 from the Titans' 37-yard line.
The Crusaders answered with a drive that began with 16 straight passes or runs by Jackson. Jackson went 5-for-10 passing for 44 yards and rushed eight times for 32 yards on University of Mary Hardin-Baylor's 20-play drive that resulted in Mowery's 22-yard field goal.
UW-Oshkosh's AJ Plewa intercepted a Jackson pass at midfield on University of Mary Hardin-Baylor next possession. Hecker rushed for eight yards to gain a first down at the Crusader 25-yard line, but Kasper was eventually held to no gain on fourth-and-10 from the 25.
University of Mary Hardin-Baylor picked up four first downs during its next possession, including two on passes by Jackson, to advance the football to the UW-Oshkosh 8-yard line. Jackson then ran for 3 and 4 yards to set up third-and-goal from the 1-yard line before Jackson ran into the end zone to provide the game's final score and conclude an 11-play drive that consumed 4:22 off the clock.
Following a 24-yard kickoff return by Devon Linzenmeyer, UW-Oshkosh started at its own 27-yard line with just over three minutes left in the first half. Kasper completed five consecutive passes to reach the Crusaders' 23-yard line with just over one minute to go before intermission, but Johnson stepped in front of a Kasper pass near the goal line to thwart the Titans' scoring opportunity.
UW-Oshkosh possessed the ball for more than 11 minutes during the third period but went 2-for-6 on third downs and 0-for-1 on fourth down in the quarter.
UW-Oshkosh's Dom Todarello returned the opening kickoff of the second half 27 yards, and a face mask penalty on the Crusaders allowed the Titans to begin the third quarter at their own 44-yard line. Kasper connected with Hecker on a 13-yard pass to reach the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor 37-yard line, but facing a fourth-and-2 from the Crusader 29, Hecker was dragged down for a 1-yard loss by Cody and Mullins.
On the first play of the next Crusader possession, UW-Oshkosh's Reese Dziedzic recovered a fumble by Miller at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor 30-yard line on the Crusaders' first offensive play of the second half. However, the Titans lost 13 total yards on their next two plays before UW-Oshkosh was forced to punt.
The teams exchanged punts on the next two drives of the third quarter. Jackson then completed a 54-yard pass down the middle to Josey to set up the Crusaders at the Titan 16-yard line. Following three straight Jackson runs for a total of 10 yards, UW-Oshkosh's Jake Thein stripped Jackson and Cameron Brown recovered the fumble for the Titans at the 7.
After punts on the next five possessions, University of Mary Hardin-Baylor was poised to put the game out of reach late in the final period. The Crusaders reached the UW-Oshkosh 6-yard line after gaining five first downs, including one on a holding penalty on the Titans and another on a pass interference infraction. Jackson ran for a 4-yard loss on first-and-goal from the 6-yard line, and a delay of game penalty forced the Crusaders into third-and-goal from the 10. Jackson was then stopped 2 yards shy of the goal line, and Mowery pulled his 19-yard field goal to the left.
With the Titans starting their final drive at their own 20-yard line with 2:23 remaining, Kasper completed consecutive passes to Cody Moon for 6 yards, Chad Redmer for 11 yards, Linzenmeyer and Blackburn for 4 yards apiece and Hecker for 5 yards to gain a first down at midfield.
University of Mary Hardin-Baylor then committed a pass interference penalty to advance the ball to the Crusaders' 35 yard line, but three straight incompletions by Kasper preceded Cody's championship-sealing interception.
Kasper concluded the game 20-for-33 passing for 185 yards with a pair of interceptions. Hecker gained a team-leading 29 yards on 13 carries for the Titans.
UW-Oshkosh's Sam Mentkowski led all players with six receptions for 18 yards while Blackburn had three catches for 46 yards, Moon a career-best three grabs for 27 and Todarello two receptions for a team-high 49 yards.
The UW-Oshkosh defense was led by the eight tackles apiece from Thein and Cole Yoder. Jon Kallas and Jamier Szymanski both chipped in seven tackles and Branden Lloyd six for the Titans. Szymanski had two of UW-Oshkosh's three tackles for loss, and Justin Watson contributed four tackles and two of the team's four pass breakups.
University of Mary Hardin-Baylor's 10 points matched the lowest winning score in Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl history. The team's 17 combined points tied for the second fewest in a Division III championship game.
UW-Oshkosh's record fell to 9-3 in three NCAA tournament appearances. The Titans reached the semifinal round of the 32-team tournament in their playoff debut in 2012 and to the quarterfinals last season.
University of Mary Hardin-Baylor improved its NCAA postseason record to 32-14 in 15 appearances. The Crusaders, who lost the 2004 Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl by a 28-21 score in 2004, were playing in the title game for the second time in program history.
UW-Oshkosh opens the 2017 season at John Carroll University (Ohio).