St. Thomas football will forever be known as the program that was so dominant that it got kicked out of its league.
Success also came early for the Tommies in its move to Division I and the Pioneer Football League, so the type of adversity they are facing as they begin league play on Saturday against Stetson at O’Shaughnessy Stadium is unlike any they’ve experienced in years.
The 1-3 Tommies’ latest loss was a 64-0 drubbing at Lindenwood two weeks ago. The 64 points were the most given up by the Tommies since a 69-13 loss at St. John’s in 1993. After opening this season with a 34-13 loss to Division II Sioux Falls, the question has to be asked if this team, expected to contend for its second league title in four years, is underachieving.
Head coach Glenn Caruso said it depends on who is on the field.
“The answer will be told in the next month,” he said. “Once we get some guys healthy and are able to have some consistency, and play teams that are in our league and we are familiar with, this next month will tell us more than this last month did.”
As the Lindenwood score indicates, Caruso said the Tommies did not play well on offense, defense or special teams. The only significant changes that will come after the bye week, however, involve the return of some key starters.
“There are no major alarms going off that things have to change,” Caruso said. “We know what we have to do, and we worked really hard this week to get as many guys healthy and back as we possibly could.
“Once someone is ready to play a game, it doesn’t mean they’re game-ready to play 40 reps, let alone 70 reps. The ramping-up process is still something we are in the middle of.”
Caruso expects the Tommies’ top two running backs, Gabe Abel and Hope Adebayo, to play. Wide receiver Jacob Wildermuth also couple return, but in a limited role. The same is true of linebacker Nick Flaskamp.
A significant number of injuries over the past three-plus seasons have come against Division I opponents with players on athletic scholarship. St. Thomas will have to weigh the benefits of playing higher-caliber opponents against the physical strain it puts on its players.
“That’s something we’ll review at the end of the season,” Caruso said. “But I’m not going to negate the fact that when you do play bigger, tougher teams, the physical toll is something you absolutely have to account for.
“The hope is that, regardless of what the outcome is on the scoreboard, that we can go into the conference season as well prepared as we can. Right now we have an inordinate amount of guys who are out from game-day injuries.”
Caruso said two quarterbacks will see action on Saturday, but did not specify which two. Tak Tateoka and Michael Rostberg have started games this season, and Amari Powell got his first playing time of the season against Lindenwood.
“We need to find who is going to be the one who allows the rest of the offense to operate the game plan,” Caruso said.
Meanwhile, how the lopsided loss to Lindenwood plays on the team’s psyche is not something Caruso said he is concerned about.
“The belief in one another, the belief in this culture, is tremendously high,” he said. “Any college football season is a long season. Even in times that were perceived as our best years, there were times where we weren’t very good relative to what I though we could be.
“The opportunities are all over the place for us to grow. We just have to get the right guys in the right position to do it, and then get them the amount of reps they need to learn what they need to learn.”
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