Perhaps you spent week eight a little differently than the prior seven weeks because the Buckeyes had a bye. Perhaps you took time to clean out the garage; knocked a few yard projects off the to do list; finally moved all those Kate Smith albums your grandmother gave you from the attic to the trash as you should have done years ago; started cello lessons; researched Hawaiian royalty or organized your socks alphabetically by color and season because, well, you had the time. I just re-read that sentence and realized those were things you were supposed to do but instead you watched all the other games and still need more.
We’re happy to help with the interesting, unusual, spectacular, and not so spectacular events form week 8 that happened, “Elsewhere in College Football”…
Biggest Blowout of the Week
Several teams made big statements in the blowout department over the weekend. Mt. Union beat Wilmington by 59 points; Lake Forest won by 64; Montana Tech had a 74-point win over Montana State Northern (more on this one later) but in week 8, the Tommies of the University of St. Thomas went all eighties on Hamline in a MIAC match-up. Final score St. Thomas 84 Hamline 0.
The Tommies are ranked #4 in D-III and they lead the NCAA in rushing defense. This was their third shutout in the past five games. Ten Tommies scored touchdowns in the game and the victory stretched UST’s conference winning streak to twenty-five. Ten Tommies scoring needs to replace Lords a-Leaping in the 12 Days of Christmas immediately.
St. Thomas compiled 669 yards in total offense and included in their scoring plays are a pick-six, two punt returns and a 60-yrd run. The defense limited Hamline to 5 first downs; 71 total yards; recovered two fumbles and forced 13 punts. St. Thomas improves to 6-1 overall and 5-0 in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and the Pipers of Hamline fall to 2-5 and 1-4.
Fewest Points by a Winning Team
Ohio Northern traveled to Muskingum and despite turning the ball over five times, the Polar Bears headed home with a 7-6 victory. Every other winning team in college football scored more than Ohio Northern.
Muskingum scored first, a 10-yard TD pass from Brody Hahn to Cameron Near, early in the second quarter but the PAT was blocked. Northern scored on a 2-yrd run and the successful extra point made it 7-6 with 10:36 left in the third.
The Polar Bears turned the ball over three times in the second half and the third, a fumble inside the Muskingum 10-yard that stopped a 16-play, 72-yard drive with 2:52 in the game was the most critical.
Muskingum took over and drove 86 yards to the Ohio Northern five-yard line with 26 seconds remaining but a game-winning 22-yard field attempt went wide right and Northern escaped with the win. The Polar Bears are now 5-2 on the season and the Muskies fall to 1-6.
Most Points by a Losing Team
Since we’ve identified Ohio Northern as the team that won with the fewest points, let look at the other side of the spectrum and see who scored the most points and lost. In week 8, two teams scored 42 points—or 6 times as many as Northern—and still lost.
Nevada hung 42 points on Air Force but the Falcons got a 30-yard field goal from Luke Strebel as time expired to win 45-42-
In D-II action the Ichabods of Washburn University provided the homecoming crowd several opportunities to celebrate piling up more than 550 yards of offense and six touchdowns, but Central Missouri dominated the fourth quarter by scoring 28 points to secure a 62-42 win. Washburn lead 35-34 late in the third and increased the lead to 8 when Blake Peterson hit James Brania-Hopp with a 28-yard TD pass on the final play of the quarter. The final stanza was all-Mules-all-the-time as Central Missouri ran off four unanswered scores and ran home with a key Mid-American Intercollegiate Athletics Association win. The victory improves the Mules to 6-2 and Washburn is 5-3.
Big Numbers in Big Sky Country
We’re off to Butte, Montana and a wild game featuring the #11 team in NAIA football the Orediggers of Montana Tech. Tech hosted Montana State University Northern and they seemed to be less than hospitable hosts as they rolled to 93-19 win. The 93 points are the most in a game in Tech history.
The Orediggers also set a new school record for total offense in a game with 932 yards. They ran 82 plays and averaged 11.3 yards/play. Running back Jed Fike had 12 carries for 247 yards and 4 TD’s all coming in the first half. QB’s Quinn McQueary and Davan Norris combined to go 27 of 37 for 413 yards and 5 touchdowns. In all eleven Diggers caught a ball in this game—eleven Diggers Catching, another major upgrade to the song—led by Dion Williams and Tanner Osborne who combined for 12 receptions for 213 yards and 3 TD’s. The Lights of MSUN struggled on third down converting only 2 of 16 tries to continue a trend established in the earlier meeting between these two teams when they went 6 of 22 on third down in a 70-27 loss back on September 9th. Tech is now 6-1 and Montana State Northern is 1-7.
Getting Their Kicks In
Steady rain and high winds severely impacted a pair of top 20 teams in a Northwest Conference game in McMinnville, Oregon Saturday afternoon. #7 Linfield got four field goals from Willy Warne to defeat #16 George Fox 12-6. Warne hit from 32, 20, 43 and 35 yards and the Linfield defense forced George Fox to punt 8 times. These two teams combined for only 295 yards and George Fox’s only score came on the last play of the game, a 32-yard pass from Grant Schroeder to Kenny May.
Meanwhile 2,650 miles to the east, Fairmont State rode the foot of senior kicker Sam Keil’s school record six field goals in the Falcon’s 18-15 overtime win over Glenville State. The sixth kick was the game winner in overtime Fairmont State improves to 5-3. Glenville drops to 3-5.
Finally, Box Scores We Love
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Total | |
| Simon Fraser (0-7, 0-5) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Azusa Pacific (5-3, 3-3) | 23 | 14 | 10 | 14 | 61 |
That’s 30 consecutive losses for Simon Fraser. Nuff said.