Oshkosh, Wis. - The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse football team opened Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) play with a 32-31 win at UW-Oshkosh Saturday afternoon at J.J. Keller Field at Titan Stadium.
The Eagles improve to 2-2 overall while the Titans, also playing their league opener, drop to 2-2.
LATE RALLY WIN:
* UWL cut the lead to 31-30 on
Kyle Haas' 12-yard touchdown pass to Braden Ott with :24 remaining. The Eagles earned the victory when
Keaton Arendt scored on the two-point conversion.
* UW-Oshkosh drove to its 37-yard line, but a final pass was incomplete.
SCHOOL RECORDS:
* Haas tied UWL's record for career touchdown passes while setting the school record for completions. With four touchdown passes on Saturday, Haas now has 48 in his career, tying
Craig Kusick's (1993-95) record. Haas finished with 30 completions in the game, giving him a school record 498. He breaks
Nick Anker's (2007-10) record of 488 completions.
* Haas is second in career passing yards (5,550) and third in attempts (763).
Dennis Goettl (1988-91) is first in yards (6,340) while Anker is first in attempts (887) and Goettl second (822).
UWL opened its WIAC season with Saturday's win at UW-Oshkosh.
RANKINGS:
* UWL entered the game ranked 19th on the D3football.com Top 25 Poll and American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Top 25 Poll. UW-Oshkosh is receiving votes on the AFCA Top 25 Poll.
SERIES RECORD:
* UWL now leads the all-time series, 55-18-6, with UW-Oshkosh.
* UWL and UW-Oshkosh were meeting in the WIAC opener for first time since the Titans earned a 16-7 home win in 2012.
HOW IT HAPPENED – 1ST QUARTER:
* UWL took the opening kickoff and 7-0 lead, going 75 yards in nine plays and 3:56. Haas was five-of-five passing on the drive, including an eight-yard touchdown pass to
Brady Kuhn with 11:04 remaining.
* After UW-Oshkosh punted on its first possession, UWL extended the lead to 10-0 on
Maddox Pratt's 37-yard field goal with 4:53 left. The Eagles went 59 yards in 10 plays and 4:58.
* The Titans turned the ball over on downs on their next possession with AJ Korth stopped for a two-yard loss by
Colin O'Neil on fourth-and-one at UWL's 11-yard line.
HOW IT HAPPENED – 2ND QUARTER:
* Haas threw a 43-yard touchdown pass to
Calahan Miles on the third play of the second quarter. The touchdown made it 17-0 with 13:34 left after a four-play, 89-yard drive in 1:59.
* UW-Oshkosh cut the lead to 17-7 with 10:52 remaining after Demir Ashiru's four-yard touchdown run. The Titans used four plays and 2:37 to go 77-yards. Ashiru had a 61-yard completion to Tommy Hammond on the drive.
* The Titans later cut the deficit to 17-14 with :51 left on a 14-yard touchdown pass from Ashiru to Ryan Sims. UW-Oshkosh went 80 yards in eight plays and 2:29.
* UWL led 17-14 at halftime after Pratt missed a 41-yard field goal on the final play of the quarter.
HOW IT HAPPENED – 3RD QUARTER:
* UW-Oshkosh took its first lead on its first drive of the second half. The Titans went 72 yards in seven plays and 4:44 with Ashiru scoring on a 21-yard touchdown run with 10:11 left to give UW-Oshkosh a 21-17 advantage.
* Haas was intercepted on UWL's first possession of the third quarter by Bryce Manders, who returned it eight yards to the Eagles' 38-yard line.
* Ashiru threw a six-yard touchdown pass to Sam Peterson with 6:03 remaining to extend the Titans' lead to 28-17. The drive went 38 yards in four plays and 2:15.
* UWL quickly responded on its next drive with Haas connecting with
Luke Gardner on a 13-yard touchdown pass with 1:22 left to cut the lead to 28-24 after three quarters. The Eagles went 75 yards in 10 plays and 4:41.
Nolan Wulf finished with seven receptions for 114 yards.
HOW IT HAPPENED – 4TH QUARTER:
* Ashiru's 13-yard touchdown pass to Hammond on the first play of the quarter was nullified by a penalty.
* Axel Vera Trejo's 23-yard field goal with 12:52 remaining gave UW-Oshkosh a 31-24 lead. The drive used 3:24 to go 63 yards in eight plays.
* Haas was intercepted on UWL's next drive by Dayshawn Henry at the UW-Oshkosh 15-yard line.
* The Titans were forced to punt with the Eagles taking over at their own 20-yard line with 2:54 remaining. UWL went 80 yards in 14 plays and 2:30 to cut the lead to 31-30 on Haas' 12-yard touchdown pass to Ott with :24 left.
* Arendt's two-point run conversion gave UWL a 32-32 lead.
* UW-Oshkosh drove to its 37-yard line, but Ashiru's final pass was incomplete.
UWL TEAM STATS:
* The Eagles finished with 499 yards, including 160 rushing and 339 passing. UWL had 30 first downs, finished eight-of-11 on third-down and four-of-five in the red-zone.
UWL INDIVIDUAL LEADERS:
* Haas went 30-of-46 for 339 yards with four touchdowns and two interceptions.
* Ott led the team with 39 yards rushing on eight attempts while Haas totaled 32 yards on three carries and Kuhn had 30 yards on seven attempts.
*
Nolan Wulf had seven catches for 114 yards with Gardner finishing with 92 yards and one touchdown on eight receptions. Miles had 60 yards and one touchdown on four catches while Arendt totaled 44 yards on seven receptions.
*
Ben Ott led the defense with nine tackles.
Sal Balistrieri finished with seven tackles.
UW-OSHKOSH TEAM STATS:
* The Titans totaled 471 yards, including 243 rushing and 228 passing. UW-Oshkosh had 20 first downs and went five-of-11 on third-down while missing its only fourth-down attempt.
* UW-Oshkosh was four-of-five in the red-zone and won the time of possession, 30:51 to 29:09.
UW-OSHKOSH INDIVIDUAL LEADERS:
* Ashiru went 16-of-28 passing for 228 yards with two touchdowns while rushing for 209 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries.
* Hammond (68 yards) and Jackson Brush (28) each had three receptions.
* Manders, Johnny Spallasso, Ty Adams and Kellen Wright each had six tackles.
UP NEXT:
* UWL returns to Roger Harring Stadium at Veterans Memorial Field Sports to host UW-Whitewater on Saturday, October 10 at 1 p.m.
