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Defense Leads SAU to Sixth Win

DAVENPORT, Iowa -- St. Ambrose has had several games this season where they've moved the ball very well in the first half, but it didn't show on the scoreboard. Saturday was no different in the Fighting Bee's 29-14 victory over Iowa Wesleyan at Brady Street Stadium. SAU out gained the Tigers, 248 to 8 in the first half, but were only able to manage a 10-0 lead at the half.

"We need to do a better job down in the red zone," said head football coach Todd Sturdy, "It's not one thing, it's a combination of things. It's not a huge problem right now, but it's definitely something we need to focus on."

Chris Burhans started the game off right for SAU by catching an 18-yard touchdown from Jeff Kietzman on SAU's first drive of the game. Evan Gutierrez then managed a 22-yard field goal later in the half. That first quarter touchdown was the 38th of Jeff Kietzman's outstanding career at St. Ambrose, which moves him into a third place time on the school's career TD passes list.

"I think it's a great honor for Jeff. When it's all said and done this year, he's going to move into quite a few all-time bests in several categories," Sturdy said.

Kietzman finished the game with 272 yards passing and continued to play mistake-free, which is something that hampered him towards the end of last season. Kietzman has thrown just four interceptions this season, all of which came in the Fighting Bee's opening game against Loras.

One of Iowa Wesleyan's strengths this year has been forcing the opposition into mistakes. The Tigers forced eight turnovers in last week's upset over Olivet Nazarene, including three that went for touchdowns. That is something that was a bit of a concern for St. Ambrose entering the game.

"Offensively we moved the ball quite a bit to put the pressure on them. We didn't turn it over, which is what we thought would be a big key to getting the win tonight," Sturdy said.

Receiver Brandin Smith was involved in the offense early and often, catching six passes for a season-high 100 yards, including several diving catches.

"Brandin's playing great football right now and he's doing great things for us. He's been banged up a little bit, but he's playing through it and playing real well. He's a big part of what we do offensively, and he's got to be if we're going to be successful," Sturdy said.

Brandin is one of many SAU receivers who have been injured throughout this season, and is playing through the pain. SAU, already having lost wide out Tim Turkowski to a knee injury, suffered yet another blow at the position, as Nic Gieselman broke his collarbone, and is out for the year. That leaves an already young team with even less experienced players having to play even bigger roles at a position that is very involved in the offense.

"It's definitely a concern. Other guys are going to have to step up and we'll have to get it done with other people. We've been able to do it all year, and hopefully we'll continue to do well with the guys we have out on the field," Sturdy said.

SAU's defense did their part to secure the win by shutting down Iowa Wesleyan's offense, which led the MSFA in rushing at 192 yards per game. IWC ended the game with 138 total yards, but just 12 through the air. This comes a week after SAU's secondary was burned on two long touchdown passes of over 70 yards, which raised some questions about the position.

"Defensively, we did some great things against both the run and the pass and our kids are playing very consistently," said Sturdy, "That's obviously one of our biggest strengths and we need to continue to play at the level we're at right now."

SAU will travel to Chicago next weekend for a huge match-up against St. Xavier, whom is one game behind the Fighting Bees with a 2-1 conference record. Game time is set for 1:00 pm when SAU will try to avenge last season's 27-23 loss to the Cougars in Brady Street Stadium.

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