Gary Fasching kept repeating himself, but he wasn't sure his team was listening. Every week, the St. John's football coach told his players how good he knew they could be, hoping they would finally begin to see it themselves.

Consider it done. On the strength of a superb defense — and 210 rushing yards from Sam Sura — the Johnnies upset No. 10 St. Thomas, grinding out a 24-14 victory Saturday at O'Shaughnessy Stadium. St. John's (3-1, 1-1 MIAC) never trailed in its second consecutive victory over the Tommies, taking a 21-7 lead in the third quarter before forcing four turnovers in the final 10 minutes.

Johnnies quarterback Nick Martin, who suffered a concussion two weeks ago and did not play in last Saturday's loss to Concordia, returned to the lineup and completed 11 of 16 passes for 162 yards and two touchdowns. But Sura stole the show, breaking loose for a 44-yard touchdown in the second quarter behind an offensive line that helped him gain more than 200 yards for the second time this season.

The Tommies (2-1, 0-1) outgained the Johnnies, amassing 440 total yards to St. John's 379. But they were undone by a flood of mistakes, including dropped passes, missed tackles, nine penalties for 80 yards and turnovers that ended all four of their fourth-quarter possessions.

"Sometimes, it takes a game like this for [players] to realize, 'You know what? We're pretty darn good,''' Fasching said, as he accepted a steady stream of congratulations from elated Johnnies alumni and fans. "I told them after practice [Friday] that there were going to be peaks and valleys in the game, and they just had to buck up and keep going after it. And they did.''

A record crowd of 12,483 jammed into the stadium, including hordes of red-clad students who stormed the field after the game. St. John's scored first on a 23-yard pass from Martin to Josh Bungum, on a drive that was extended when St. Thomas was penalized for roughing Johnnies punter Griffin Toomey.

The Tommies answered on the ensuing possession, as Brenton Braddock powered into the end zone from 3 yards out. After a short punt that gave the Johnnies good field position at the St. Thomas 44, Sura outran the defense on the first play to put his team ahead 14-7 at halftime.

Though they got inside the St. John's 30-yard line five more times, the Tommies scored only once on their final 10 possessions. Coach Glenn Caruso pulled starting quarterback Matt O'Connell in the third quarter, hoping backup John Gould could spark a rally. Jack Kaiser's 1-yard touchdown run pulled them within seven, 21-14, with 12 seconds left in the third quarter, but in the fourth, they lost two fumbles — including one at the St. John's 23-yard-line — and Gould was intercepted twice.

"This was a big loss, for many reasons,'' said Caruso, whose team lost for only the fourth time in the past 44 home games. "It was difficult to watch the way we played. This gives us a pretty good reflection of where we are, and we're not anywhere near where I expect us as a program to be. I didn't recognize the team out there today.''