MENOMONIE, Wis. — A 27-point deficit proved too much to overcome, but Augustana football showed plenty of fight Saturday afternoon, turning a one-sided opening half into a dramatic fourth-quarter finish before falling 37-34 to the UW-Stout Blue Devils.
The Vikings found themselves in an early hole as the Blue Devils' offense struck quickly and repeatedly. UW-Stout opened the scoring with a 37-yard field goal before a touchdown off of passes of 42, 47 and five yards. UW-Stout's third touchdown of the quarter came with just 28 seconds remaining in the opening period, putting the Blue Devils ahead 24-0 after 15 minutes.
Augustana struggled to find its rhythm offensively early, but the Vikings continued to battle. UW-Stout added another field goal early in the second quarter to extend its advantage to 27-0. With just over three minutes remaining before halftime, Jacob Garbett stepped up from 48 yards and split the uprights, putting the Vikings on the board and sending Augustana into the locker room trailing 27-3.
Augustana opened the second half with urgency, putting together a four-play, 65-yard scoring drive that lasted just over two minutes. Jimmy Makuh found Sean Schlanser down the field for a 49-yard touchdown, cutting the deficit to 27-10 and giving the Vikings an immediate spark. UW-Stout answered with a long scoring drive of its own, marching 65 yards on 12 plays into the end zone from one yard out. The Blue Devils' lead grew to 34-10 with 5:38 remaining in the third quarter.
The Vikings answered almost immediately. Ben Ludlum capped a five-play, 61-yard drive with a four-yard touchdown run, and Augustana converted the two-point attempt when Schlanser connected with Ludlum. Suddenly, the deficit was 16 points with 2:44 still remaining in the third. UW-Stout managed to slow the comeback temporarily after another field goal of the afternoon, a 41-yarder with 7:28 remaining. The kick pushed the Blue Devils' advantage back to 37-18.
David Finfer led the Vikings down the field on an eight-play, 75-yard drive that took only 2:05. Finfer finished the possession himself, powering into the end zone from four yards out. Rather than kicking an extra point, Augustana kept its foot on the gas and converted the two-point attempt on a Finfer rush. The Vikings trailed 37-26 with 5:23 remaining.
Just 14 seconds later, Augustana found the end zone again after Finfer connected with Ethan Vrabec for a 29-yard touchdown on the very next play, and the Vikings once again went for two. Blayden Murdock completed the conversion, bringing Augustana within a field goal at 37-34.
What had been a 27-point UW-Stout advantage early in the second half had suddenly become a three-point game. Augustana's defense needed one more stop to give the Vikings a chance to complete the comeback, but the Blue Devils were able to hold on and escape with the victory.
Makuh finished 19-of-32 passing for 182 yards and a touchdown, while Finfer provided a spark in relief, completing 7-of-10 passes for 111 yards and a touchdown. Finfer also added a rushing touchdown. Ludlum led the Augustana rushing attack with 77 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries. Through the air, Tyreke Fortney delivered 10 receptions for 104 yards. Schlanser added four catches for 78 yards and a touchdown, while Vrabec finished with three receptions for 48 yards and a score. Defensively, Nicholas Franco led all Vikings with 13 tackles, including two tackles for loss. Tyce Albritton recorded 11 tackles, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery, while Dino Hunt added 10 tackles and 1.5 sacks.
With the loss, Augie moves to 1-1 on the season and will be back in action next Saturday to host Illinois Wesleyan.
