First-Round Matchup - College of St. Scholastica

By literally the luck of the draw, Oshkosh will face the College of St. Scholastica in the first round of the DIII football playoffs this Saturday. The Saints finished in a three-way tie for the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference title with Northwestern College and Greenville College, but received the bid by way of a random draw (name pulled out of box). I'm dead serious!!! "Last March we discussed several ways to break a three-way tie," Saints head coach Greg Carlson said.* "The scenario that we thought could never happen, happened. After a long discussion after different types of criteria, a commissioner randomly drew out of a hat. We couldn’t come to a consensus as a group, we simply had to go to a draw." The Saints (8-2), are making their second consecutive NCAA playoff appearance in just its fifth year as a program. Which in my opinion is quite remarkable. Eighty percent of the roster that played in last year's playoff game will be dressing this Saturday. The Saints also get the benefit of an extra week which will also be used as a time of healing some of the injured players. CSS lost (48-2) to national semifinalist St. Thomas last season in its first-ever playoff appearance. Coincidentally enough, coach Carlson is an alum of Oshkosh where he graduated in 1970.

With a conference rank of 26th (lowest in DIII) to start the year, St. Scholastica doesn't have many "quality" wins under its belt. However, their Strength of Schedule ranking is 124th (.500 OWP and .4837 OOWP) out of 239 programs. Which is actually pretty respectable considering it's a higher rank than these notable DIII playoff teams: Coe-131, Franklin-133, Widener-153, Heidelberg-168, Adrian-181 and Wittenberg-220. Far and away CSS's toughest matchup this year was a non-conference game against Whitworth to start the season. The Saints fell at home 28-13 afternoon. Whitworth didn't make the playoffs, but finished with a 7-3 record and had an impressive SOS ranking of nine.

Offensively, the Saints are led on the ground by Jake Jensen with 569 yards and four touchdowns, as well as Thomas Fragale with 520 yards and four touchdowns. Quarterback Tyler Harper (5'9"), in his first year as a starter after replacing last season's D3football.com All-Region selection Alex Thiry, has thrown for 1540 yards and 17 touchdowns and was intercepted eight times this season. His main target has been 6'3" Nick Thiry with 44 catches for 562 yards and seven touchdowns. St. Scholastica's defense has been led by Zach Dubanoski, a four-year starter who is second in tackles with 70 (26 solo). The senior is also the team leader in sacks with 4.5. Saints' defensive back Alec French leads the team in tackles with 80 (42 solo) and also has three interceptions and two sacks on the year. The kicking game has been solid as well as kicker Mike Theismann has connected on 11 of 12 field goals, including a game-winner in overtime against Presentation in the second to last game of the year.

2012 Statistics (National Rank)
St. Scholastica Rushing Offense: 200.3 ypg (51)
Oshkosh Rushing Defense: 97.9 ypg (29)

St. Scholastica Offense: 157.0 ypg (183)
Oshkosh Passing Defense: 192.6 ypg (94)

St. Scholastica Total Offense: 357.3 ypg (120)
Oshkosh Total Defense: 290.5 ypg (31)

St. Scholastica Rushing Defense: 88.3 ypg (18)
Oshkosh Rushing Offense: 251.6 ypg (20)

St. Scholastica Passing Defense: 170.2 ypg (37)
Oshkosh Passing Offense: 243.6 ypg (63)

St. Scholastica Total Defense: 258.5 ypg (10)
Oshkosh Total Offense: 495.2 ypg (11)

If St. Scholastica wants to keep this game close they will have to establish a running game early, and keep this Titan offense off the field. Oshkosh has been near perfect all season long, but is prone to giving up large chucks of rushing yards from time to time. Last week the Titans surrendered 136 yards (5.3 yards/carry) to Stout's Eric Brown. On the season Brown has only been averaging under 73 yards/game. Even though the Saints' running game is their strong suit, that might be the only glimmer of hope for them this Saturday. The Titans should win this one similar to the CSS/St. Thomas outcome in the playoffs last year.

*Quote taken from D3football.com's Around the Region