St. Thomas football lost 21-7 to Morehead State University Saturday afternoon in Kentucky.
The loss drops the Tommies to 4-1 in Pioneer League competition along with Morehead State, and still behind 5-0 Drake.
“It’s on the coaching staff, and the coaches need to look inside and try and figure out how we need to be better, and certainly the players do,” coach Glenn Caruso told ESPN Radio.
The Tommies’ offense had been averaging over 37 points per game in conference play entering Saturday’s matchup, but only reached the end zone once.
“Offensively, that’s not it. The run game would get going, it was very herky jerky. It stalled again–much like we were a couple weeks ago–stalled in the high red zone and in the strike zone,” Caruso said.
After the Eagles marched down the field and scored on their first drive, sophomore quarterback Tak Tateoka responded by connecting with junior receiver Colin Chase down the left sideline for a 68-yard touchdown.
“Even on the one score, it never felt like it was smooth or in rhythm at all,” Caruso said.
Junior quarterback Carter Cravens threw his second touchdown early in the second quarter, this time to graduate receiver Trevion Green, to put Morehead State up 14-7.
“I think their quarterback, number 9, did a fantastic job. I just told him, he did a great job of trying to find a time to create space and time,” Caruso said.
St. Thomas’ following drive only lasted five plays after a miscue on a handoff between Tateoka and senior running back Hope Adebayo. The ball dropped onto the field and was recovered by Eagles senior defensive lineman Noah Benza.
Adebayo rushed for 142 yards on 24 carries but never scored.
Morehead State marched down the field after the turnover and reached its own 7-yard line. Another possible touchdown was saved by junior defensive back Ryan Calcagno’s diving interception to end the drive.
Each team punted on their next drives, giving the purple and gray the ball on their own 48-yard line with 1:45 left in the half.
A few plays later, St. Thomas’ offense was on Morehead State’s 33-yard line. Tateoka rolled out right and threw off his right foot to graduate receiver Jacob Wildermuth who bobbled the ball all the way to the ground for a 4-yard catch.
First-year kicker Ben Hoiland’s field goal in the final seconds of the half went wide-left, sending the Tommies to the locker room still down a touchdown. The miss was Hoiland’s first of his career after starting 5-5.
“Special teams was not a winning edge today,” Caruso said.
The Tommies continued to stall on offense, and on a 4th and 9 early in the first quarter, they decided to fake a field goal. Graduate defensive back Grif Wurtz ran the ball from his holding position but was still a yard short of the first down, even after Caruso challenged it.
Morehead State just needed six plays to work its way back down the field to score its final touchdown on a touch pass to the third different receiver.
St. Thomas held its opponent scoreless the rest of the game, but could jumpstart the offense to find a score. Tateoka’s final pass in the last seconds was picked off.
“I think the defense in the second half did a really nice job, at least giving us a chance to be in it, but the offense did very little to be able to move the ball and affect the score,” Caruso said.
Saturday’s loss was the team’s fourth of the season, the most a Caruso-led team has ever had in a single season.
“You are going to get the absolute best performance of every team all year long. That is the privilege of pressure. And right now, as a staff and as a a team, we have to figure out how to handle that because this wasn’t it,” Caruso said.
The Tommies’s next game is homecoming against reigning Pioneer League champion and current front-runner Drake. The game kicks off at 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 9 at O’Shaughnessy Stadium.
“I’m going to have to digest this one, but it’s the simple belief that we need to be urgent and on edge with everything we do,” Caruso said.
Adam Mueller can be reached at muel7541@stthomas.edu.