A perfect season for the Tommies

A 10-0 regular season. The St. Thomas football team has accomplished this feat for the first time in its 105-year history. Statistics and records from this season are incredible. This all comes just three years into head coach Glenn Caruso's career at St. Thomas.

With a bye in the final week of the season this Saturday, the Tommies can rest easy and know that they have earned an automatic bid to the NCAA playoffs. It's a spot they deserved after winning their first MIAC title since 1990, and its first outright title since 1983.

This was their year
A lot of things went right for the Tommies this season, including huge victories over St. John's and Bethel. Those were probably the two biggest games of the year. In a homecoming game for the Johnnies, they were upset in overtime by the long-time rival Tommies, 27-26. It was the first time St. Thomas had been victorious in the Tommie-Johnnie battle in the last 13 tries.

In the homecoming game for Caruso and his players, it was a game of undefeateds as tough-squad Bethel arrived at O'Shaughnessy Stadium. I attended that game, along with 6,000-plus others, to watch the Tommies come away with a 10-6 win in a strong defensive battle. That was a great game.

Double-digit win total
This past weekend, I also went to cheer on the Tommies in their last regular-season home game against Carleton. I got a little nervous during the first half. Having trouble getting first downs, 56 yards in penalties and just a 10-7 halftime lead were enough to make me squirm.

But they came back in a tale of two halves, as they say. Caruso's squad came out firing with 28 unanswered points before securing a 38-7 win, ringing the victory bell and raising the MIAC trophy in celebration on the field.

If you are hungry for some more stats and records, chew on these...

• This team became the fourth in 95 years to have an unbeaten regular-season record
• As of right now, St. Thomas is the only Division III football team to hold a 10-0 record
• They are among six teams in all of NCAA football to have a 10-0 record
• 282 points for senior Ben Wartman, breaking a school record

And in case you missed it, check out this amazing feature (complete with photos and video) on Caruso and the Tommies written by the Star Tribune's Rachel Blount.

Now the Tommies wait until next week to find out their opponent in the first round of the playoffs, where they will have home field advantage. In my mind though, no matter what happens from here on out, this season was a huge success in Tommie football. I hope it's the start of many more successful years to come.