News

SAU Faces Biggest Test of the Season

For the SAU football team, it appears to be deja vu, all over again. They currently ranked fourth in the country in the NAIA and stand at 6-0, 3-0 in the Mid-States Football Association, with a much anticipated game at Saint Xavier on the horizon. That is the same ranking and record held by the Fighting Bees last season when SXU came into Brady Street Stadium and handed SAU a 27-23 defeat, which was the turning point in the Bee's season that eventually saw them miss out on the playoffs.

"Hopefully we learned from what happened last year. I hope it's in their minds. I think it's a positive thing because I think our kids have evaluated that game and tried to figure out how to not let that happen again," head football coach Todd Sturdy said.

Saint Xavier won last year's contest on a 27-yard touchdown pass with 28 seconds remaining, just one play after SXU recovered an SAU fumble as they tried to run the clock out. Even though that may still be in the back of some player's minds, the Fighting Bees are trying to look forward, not back.

"I try not to look back too much. I thought we let one get away last year and we had a chance to seal the deal and get the win, but we didn't get it done, so that leaves a bad taste in everyone's mouth," Sturdy said, "We're just trying to focus on this year's game."

Even though SAU knows that the playoffs are no guarantee, even at this point, 6-0 is still 6-0.

"We feel really fortunate to be where we're at," said Sturdy, "This will be a great challenge for us playing at Saint Xavier, which is one of the top programs in the country."

Saint Xavier has held their own against St. Ambrose in recent years, defeating the Fighting Bees in two of their last three contests, both of which were at Brady Street Stadium. St. Ambrose holds a slim 5-4 lead in the all-time series, and each time these two teams meet, the game seems to go down to the wire.

"Both programs have been pretty consistent recently and have had some pretty good match-ups over the years and I'm sure it will be another nail biter come this weekend," Sturdy said.

One problem area for the Bees may be at the receiver spot, where they are running out of players. Leading receiver Tim Turkowski has sat out the last few games with a knee injury, while Brandin Smith and Chris Burhans have battled injuries all year, but are playing through the pain. Add to that the recent injury to starter Nic Gieselman, and SAU may be asking their fans to play. Gieselman was injured in last week's 29-14 win over Iowa Wesleyan when he broke his collarbone, putting him out for the year.

"Nic going down was a big loss to our football team. It was at a position that already had a lot of injuries, but we just have to move forward and be positive about it," said Sturdy, "Our kids have handled everything that's come their way so far this year, and really responded well to everything."

More injuries means more playing time for even less experienced players on what is already a very young team.

"Shane Jones will be the guy that will come in a lot more to take a lot of Nic's reps," said Sturdy, "Shane's been playing great football the past couple weeks and has been a big part of what we've done all season."

Saint Xavier is ranked 14th in the country, after falling nine spots since last week, due to a 34-28 loss to Olivet Nazarene. They may allow a lot of points now and then, but they can usually score enough where it doesn't matter. The Cougars rank first in the MSFA in passing yards per game, with 291.

"They have a quarterback (John Perryman) that's been a three year starter for them and they also have three of the best receivers in the league if not the country," Sturdy said.

That could cause problems for a Fighting Bee pass defense who have struggled at times this year, although they only gave up 12 yards through the air last week.

"Defensively, we're going to have to be really focused on their passing game. (Defensive Coordinator Mike) Magistrelli is working hard to put together a game plan to slow them down," said Sturdy, "I don't know if you can stop them or not, but if anyone can do it, our defense can."

Without a doubt, this will be SAU's toughest obstacle in their first seven games, with just as tough obstacles to follow, as they'll play two of their last three games against ranked opponents.

"It's a big challenge. We just have to be consistent, not give up the big play, and win the turnover battle. Hopefully if we can do that, in the fourth quarter we'll be able to have a chance to win the game," Sturdy said.

Return to the Football Homepage