Swirls of rain peppered the stands and turf at Strong Stadium on Saturday as the Bucs took on newly-minted Midwest Conference member Luther College. It is the first time the two schools have clashed on the gridiron since 1957. The game also fell on the weekend of Beloiter Days, a time for alumni to return to campus and relive their revelrous days as students. Instead of a loving embrace, Bucs fans were greeted with an icy shoulder as their squad was vanquished 28-0 at the hands of their new conference cohorts. A miserable afternoon barometrically brought with it knuckling and rolling punts, muffed kicks, and a lot of hard-nosed running along with vicious hits. The Bucs were hungry for a win after last week’s 10-0 shutout on the road vs. Cornell College, but not yet in such a state of starved deprivation that a win would be assured.
With temperatures lingering in the mid 60s at kickoff, and with rain drizzling down, a raucous crowd of students, alumni, parents, and community members spilled all the way out of the stands and to a tented area — now called “the boneyard” — beyond the student section. Pom-poms rustled violently and cowbells clanged through the turbid elements.
The Luther College Norse, who won the toss and deferred, were up against the Bucs on defense for their first offensive drive of the game after a decent 20-yard return by Jayden Gist’29 to bring them out to their own 21-yard line. While quarterback Noah Carasco’30 showed a touch more poise and decisiveness in his third start, the opening drive saw a rock fly into its axle after an illegal motion penalty called on wide receiver Braeden Hoth’30 on second down and a catch-and-fumble out of bounds by running back Deandre Fields’30 that left the Bucs with a fourth down and eight at their own 23-yard line. Ian Ladd’29’s first punt of the afternoon swerved in the wind and tumbled out of bounds at the Norse 45-yard line. Luther proceeded to embark on a grueling drive that took around one-third of the first quarter to complete. The Norse coaching staff called but a single passing play on their opening drive, battering the Bucs with an utterly relentless ground game. A grueling gridiron odyssey like this can break the spirit of any defense, let alone one whose offensive effort after this punishing display by the Norse led to yet another three-and-out and a punt from Ladd.
Despite strong tackling from cornerback Josh Yearby’27 and defensive back Alex Klun’29, as well as a strong showing from breakout linebacker Jimmy Guillaume’29 — or “The Quiet Storm,” as Bucs Football Play-by-Play Announcer Matt Laszlo’92 has dubbed him — Luther once again tilled the turf pebbles with attrition to another touchdown. This one came in the form of a 13-yard, wide-open pitch-and-catch in the corner of the end zone, as the Norse became more comfortable dialing up their short and intermediate passing attack, eating up the remaining minutes of the first quarter and chewing into the early goings of the second. Suddenly, the Bucs found themselves down 14-0 after a grueling first quarter with no offensive momentum to speak of.
Carasco and the offense seemed to wake up from their sideline slumber in the second quarter, with Bucs running back Arturo Aguilera’30 darting away from would-be Norse tacklers and cutting his way upfield for a few good gains. Carasco even scrambled out of the pocket for a first-down run. But the young signal caller’s desperate scrambles and early indecisiveness with the football would cost the Bucs. Following a play in which Aguilera was enveloped by defenders behind the line for a four-yard loss, the Bucs faced a third-down play with eight yards to go on their own 38-yard line. Protection broke down, and Carasco was greeted with a bear-hug hit from a Norse pass rusher, bludgeoning him to the turf for a five-yard sack for loss. Plunging a rusty cutlass into an already beleaguered squad, Ladd’s subsequent punt was run back by a Luther returner, slipstreaming along the sideline and gliding past wayward Bucs for a 66-yard touchdown.
In response, the Bucs offense could not muster a first down, despite a productive reception out of the backfield by running back Elijah Grimsley’29. To their credit, the Bucs defense tightened up on the following drive behind clutch hitting by Klun, Guillaume, and ever-present linebacker Michael Snow’27. Forcing a Norse punt, Carasco and the offense hoisted themselves back onto the deck of the ship with plunderous sentiments, taking over at their own ten-yard line with six and a half minutes remaining in the first half. On second down with 13 yards to go, pinned back at their own seven-yard line, Carasco fired a laser in stride to fleet-footed receiver Carson Corby’29, who turned upfield for a 13-yard gain, just enough for a first down. A tackle for loss by the Norse was quickly followed up by Carasco’s finest pass of the afternoon, a 21-yard intermediate strike that was hauled in along the left side by a diving Grimsley, cradling the over-the-shoulder pass with a horizontal leap. Grimsley proved himself to be an adept receiving back on a wet and muggy afternoon, cementing his role in the new-look Bucs passing attack.
A couple of desperation scrambles by Carasco yielded only a few yards before he found Corby again along the sideline for a ten-yard gain to move the chains on third down and advance the Bucs into Norse territory. A missed opportunity came after the two-minute warning timeout with 1:57 remaining in the half when Carasco uncorked a deep bomb down the middle on first down from the Norse 48-yard line that fell just beyond the outstretched hands of wide receiver Bryan Perkins’30 for what would have been a walk-in touchdown. Despite this, Carasco continued to find his rhythm on the drive, connecting with receiver Bayley Mendoza’30 in quick succession for two chunk-yardage plays that resulted in first downs.
The Bucs now stood at Luther’s 25-yard line in the waning minutes of the first half, determined to drive to paydirt. A short pass to tight end Zach Carey’28 gained eight yards and set up third down with two yards to go at the Norse 17-yard line. A pass out of the backfield to running back Anthony Sharp’28 was snuffed out for a one-yard loss, setting up a do-or-die fourth down and three at the 18-yard line. Carasco took the snap, stepped back, and scrambled out to his right. He looked forth and saw a wide-open running lane and an easy dump-off pass opportunity to Sharp, but instead decided to fire a missile to his favorite target, Corby, over the middle. Corby was unable to scoop a low throw off the turf in slick conditions, and the pass fell incomplete, resulting in a devastating turnover on downs for the Bucs.
The second half brought with it a brief reprieve from the constant rain showers, although waves of tepid excitement, brief jubilation, and ultimate devastation still crested and crashed within the home crowd. A stewing Bucs defense burst forth with violent fury to begin the third quarter, stifling the Norse on their first drive and flying in on special teams to block a punt that set them up with enviable field position at their own 45-yard line. Special teamer and defensive back RJ Dube III used every inch of his five-foot-ten frame to stick a hand up skyward and deflect the ball the opposite way, with Yearby leaping on the loose ball for the Bucs’ recovery. This jolt of energy was soon tamped down by a brief drive that did not yield a first down despite hard running by Deandre Fields. The running back-by-committee approach that proved successful against Rockford’s porous defensive front was barreled over by Luther’s downhill run-stoppers on this day.
While Carasco and the offense plodded along at their usual pace before screeching to a halt, the other side of the ship proved unfailingly ferocious. Luther bullied the Bucs’ defense inside the five-yard line with a brutally repetitive run game, but not without a quarterback sack along the way for linebacker Brayden Gonzalez’29 and a final stand. With pressure applied by Bucs rushers, an errant pass by Luther’s signal caller sailed incomplete, resulting in a turnover on downs.
Pinned back in their own territory, the Bucs came and went very quickly, with Ladd launching a 50-yard beauty that boomed all the way down from the Bucs’ 14-yard line to the 36-yard line of Luther. The Bucs’ secondary finally gave out near the third quarter’s end, leaving a receiver wide open, streaking down the middle of the field for a 54-yard touchdown strike for the Norse. A cashed extra point made the score a demoralizing 28-0. The game’s final period came and went without much fanfare, save for two back-breaking interceptions by Carasco as he tried to force the ball downfield across his body, scrambling to his right, as well as a fade ball to the corner of the end zone that was snatched out of the air by a Norse safety.
Fans filed into the muddy parking lot and out the Strong Stadium gates, damp and dour as they shuffled into the gloomy early evening. While back-to-back shutouts might not seem like anything to build off of, the defense showed resilience and tenacity in the face of adversity, and quarterback Noah Carasco stayed in the game, took hits, and delivered accurate strikes from the pocket on his better series, all essential traits for a Bucs quarterback. Our gridiron squad will be on the road next week, hoping to lop down the cornstalks of Grinnell, Iowa, cutlass in hand as they visit the Pioneers on Sept. 26.
Featured image: Elliot Ave-Lallemant’27
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