Photo by Evan Neubauer / The Crest
The zero on the scoreboard seemed impossible.
Over its first three drives against St. Thomas, the Lindenwood offense ran 33 plays, gained 184 yards and possessed the ball for 17 of the first 23 minutes. The Lions advanced the ball to the St. Thomas 8, 6 and 15-yard lines, but all three drives stalled, and three missed field goals kept the game scoreless.
The Lions’ lack of red zone efficiency allowed the heavy underdog Tommies to stay close, find their groove and earn a 35-13 victory over Lindenwood last Thursday at St. Thomas University in Minneapolis.
“When we got in the red zone, (St. Thomas) did a great job with their pressures, we got behind the chains and we weren’t able to make first downs,” Lindenwood coach Jed Stugart said. “Red zone is something we’re really going to emphasize this week, both offensively and defensively.”
St. Thomas had the opposite relationship with the red zone. On the Tommies’ first trip inside the 20-yard line, quarterback Andy Peters found Patrick Wagner for a 19-yard touchdown. Another one-play, red zone trip resulted in a Peters-to-JaShawn Todd 16-yard TD connection early in the third quarter.
Another point of emphasis for Lindenwood this week will be execution on special teams. In addition to three missed field goals and a missed extra point by redshirt sophomore Will Graham, the Lions also surrendered a touchdown on a fake field goal.
“Special teams just really killed us (Thursday), and that’s the reality,” Stugart said.
Stugart said he will stay with Graham as the Lions’ primary placekicker despite his struggles in his first collegiate football game. He recalled four-year starter Logan Seibert needing time to adjust to the full speed rush of the college game as a freshman.
“I have a lot of confidence in Will. He’s been very consistent kicking in practice.” Stugart said. “You try to simulate (a full-speed rush) and we do a lot. We’ll get people around him, throw bags at him, yell, scream, do things to put a lot of pressure on him because he can handle it. We believe in Will.”
Several positives emerged for Lindenwood despite the disappointing outcome. A talented, but unproven receiving corps proved it was more than capable of producing big plays. Rockwood Summit alum Drew Krobath accrued 128 yards receiving, including a 40-yard reception to set up the first Lions’ touchdown.
Quarterback Nate Glantz, who threw for 318 yards, found East St. Louis grad Rico Bond to advance the chains on multiple third downs. He located tight end Darren Fugitt for a 37-yard strike and hit O’Fallon alum Jalen Smith for a 45-yard touchdown on the Lions’ first drive of the second half.
“We really feel like we have playmakers in the receiving corps, and we saw that on Thursday,” Stugart said.
But St. Thomas, which lost 64-0 to Lindenwood last season, took over the game in the second half. After Lindenwood stopped the Tommies on third-and-11 late in the third quarter, the Lions were flagged for an unnecessary roughness penalty which kept the drive alive. Joseph Koch capped it with an 18-yard touchdown run – the third time St. Thomas scored one play after entering the red zone.
The Lindenwood offense advanced the ball to the 3-yard line during a final red zone trip, but the result was a turnover on downs. In all, the Lions drove inside the St. Thomas 15-yard line on five separate possessions and only once came away with points.
“We had too many guys spend too much time thinking about what happened last year and thinking that was just going to happen again,” Stugart said. “We warned our kids that (St. Thomas) was not going to forget that game and that they were going to be ready for us. I give a lot of credit to Coach (Glenn) Caruso and his team. We got humbled, and we needed to get humbled.”
On Saturday, the Lions will switch roles as the heavy underdog when they travel to Appalachian State for a 2:30 p.m. kickoff. It will be the second time Lindenwood faces an FBS opponent after opening the season at Kansas in 2024.
A young Lindenwood secondary will be tested against a Mountaineers’ air attack led by AJ Swann, who went 31-48 for 368 yards and threw three touchdown passes in a 34-11 victory over Charlotte in Week 1.
“It’s going to be an electric atmosphere. I think it’s sold out and there will be about 30 thousand people there,” Stugart said. “Going on the road and playing in hostile environments are great opportunities for our guys to face adversity and learn how to handle it. These are things that can pay off down the road.”
This week, the Lions are working to clean up correctable mistakes and rid themselves of the bitter taste of a humbling defeat.
“St. Thomas was the heavy underdog and they outplayed us, they were more physical than us, and now we have go and try to match the same thing,” Stugart said. “It’s a play-by-play concept. All I ask is for our guys to compete every play to the best of their ability and let the chips fall where they may.”
Lindenwood vs. Appalachian State will be televised at 2:30 p.m. CT on ESPN-Plus