St. Thomas to face Pioneer League leader, and four more things about Minnesota college football

Since starting Pioneer League play with back-to-back losses, St. Thomas has won four consecutive games to move into a tie for third place in the conference standings.

On Saturday, the Tommies (6-3, 4-2 Pioneer League) take on league-leading Drake (6-2, 5-0) in Des Moines in a matchup of the two hottest teams in the Pioneer League.

The Tommies began their fifth season in the Pioneer League with a three-point loss at San Diego on Sept. 27 and a 21-14 overtime loss to Butler on Oct. 4. In their current winning streak, the Tommies have scored at least 45 points in each game.

Drake, in its first season under coach Joe Woodley, defeated Butler 24-19 in Indianapolis on Nov. 1 for its fifth consecutive victory. Drake has the league’s best defensive unit in league play at 10.4 points per game, while the Tommies are scoring a league-best 41.7 points per game.

Drake has won the past two meetings in the series, including 22-19 last year in St. Paul.

The Tommies’ 45-0 victory over Marist last week came in Glenn Caruso’s 200th game as the coach. Caruso is 163-37 since being hired in 2008.

Minnesota State Mankato, No. 19 in the D2football.com poll, and No. 8 Augustana meet Saturday in Sioux Falls, S.D. It will be the fifth meeting in just over 24 months for the NSIC South Division rivals.

The Mavericks (7-2, 4-1 NSIC South) have relied on an opportunistic defense — they rank seventh in D-II with 13 interceptions — and an efficient offense, which has a Division II-leading 97.4% success rate in the red zone.

Augustana (9-0, 4-0 NSIC South) is ranked No. 5 in the D-II Super Region III rankings. MSU Mankato is No. 8.

Bethel, one of eight unbeaten teams left in Division III, remained No. 4 in the D3Football.com poll, after winning at Concordia (Moorhead) 55-9 on Saturday.

The Royals (8-0, 7-0 MIAC) are No. 7 in the D-III National Power Index (NPI) and No. 2 in the D-III Region 6 rankings.

The Royals take a 14-game regular-season winning streak into Saturday’s home game against Carleton (6-2, 6-1).

Wisconsin-River Falls quarterback Kaleb Blaha, a senior from Fridley, leads D-III in total offense (419.2 yards per game) and is sixth in passing yards.

Blaha has passed for 2,666 yards and 21 touchdowns and rushed for a team-high 688 yards (5.7 yards per carry) and 11 TDs for the Falcons, who share the WIAC lead with Wisconsin-La Crosse. The Falcons are No. 8 in the D3football.com Top 25, No. 5 in the D-III NPI and are the top-ranked team in the Region Six rankings.

Last week, Blaha passed for 492 yards and five TDs and ran for 63 yards and two TDs as the Falcons beat Wisconsin-Whitewater 52-14. The Falcons ended a 22-game losing streak to the Warhawks dating to 2001.

This week, the Falcons (7-1, 4-1 WIAC) can clinch a share of the WIAC title with a home victory over No. 9 Wisconsin-La Crosse (6-1, 4-1). The Falcons have not won even a share of a WIAC title since 1998.

With his two rushing TDs last week, Blaha, who helped Fridley win the Class 4A, Section 4 title in 2019, became the Falcons’ all-time scoring leader with 52 touchdowns.

Rochester (8-1) defeated Central Lakes 30-10 and NDSCS (9-1) defeated Minnesota West 41-28 in the MCAC semifinals Nov. 2.