Pioneers’ rally falls short as No. 8 UW-Oshkosh holds on for 35-32 win

PLATTEVILLE, Wis. – The University of Wisconsin-Platteville football team was edged 35-32 by the No. 8 nationally ranked University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh in Saturday afternoon's Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opener. The Pioneers (1-3, 0-1) rallied back from a 21-3 deficit in the first quarter and drew within one possession of the Titans (3-0, 1-0) with three minutes remaining in the game at Ralph E. Davis Pioneer Stadium.

The Pioneers' 32 points is the most any team has scored against the Titans in a regular season game since NCAA Division I's South Dakota State put 41 on the board over UW-Oshkosh's 3 points in 2014.

UW-Platteville was forced to work uphill after UW-Oshkosh rushed for 131 net-yards with another 59 yards receiving in the first quarter and jumped to a 21-3 lead.

The Titans scored first, off a 29-yard rush by Peter MacCudden at the 13:54 mark. The Pioneers punted at the end of their first drive and Kobe Berghammer's 55-yard rush pushed UW-Oshkosh's lead to 14-0 with 12:06 to go in the first quarter.

The Pioneers took over and worked their way 70 yards off 14 plays to the Oshkosh 5-yardline and a field goal by junior Andrew Schweigert put UW-Platteville on the board at the 4:35 mark.

UW-Oshkosh found the endzone once more in the first period with a nine-play, 75-yard drive to take a 21-3 lead before the start of the second quarter.

The tides turned in the second period as the Pioneers held the Titans to 25 net-yards rushed and added 134 yards of their own in the air to keep the Titans hopes of a blowout at bay.

Senior Colin Schuetz went 4-for-4 to wrap up the Pioneers' first drive of the quarter and finished the scoring drive with a 22-yard completion to sophomore Lucas Petersen for a Pioneer touchdown.

Trailing 21-10 with 12:03 left in the half, UW-Platteville's defense kept the momentum going and followed a forced fumble recovery that was called back due to an offsides penalty with another forced fumble by junior Dayne Friday and this time recovered by junior Justin Blazek.

The Pioneer offense took over at the Oshkosh 15-yardline and narrowed the Titans' lead to 21-17 with a 1-yard rush by junior Tyler Lamer at 9:38.

UW-Oshkosh cushioned its lead once again in the half with a 44-yard pass completion from Berghammer to Tony Steger and the Pioneers trailed the Titans 28-17 at the half.

The teams exchanged drives to open the second half and UW-Oshkosh extended the lead to 35-17 following another Berghammer rush for a Titan touchdown with 7:15 on the clock.

Schuetz only needed one play the follow drive and spotted junior Brandt Stare for a 74-yard reception and touchdown to draw the score to 35-24 which would eventually go into the final frame.  

In the fourth quarter, the Pioneers held the Titans to just two first downs and 34-yards total offense as their sights on a comeback looked even more hopeful after Schuetz found junior Austin Guy for a 10-yard reception and touchdown with 3:22 remaining in the game. Schuetz found Guy once again for the two-point conversion and the Pioneers narrowed the gap to 35-32.

UW-Platteville forced the Titans to punt, and the Pioneers took over with 2:15 left on the board, but would fall short as a turnover on downs with 00:35 on the clock left Berghammer just one kneel away from the Titan win.

Overall, the Pioneers kept the Titans to 226 net yards rushing after averaging 373 yards coming into Saturday's game. The Pioneers accumulated 344 passing yards.

UW-Platteville tallied 400 yards total offense while the Titans recorded 442 yards.

Schuetz passed for 341 yards and three touchdowns. The Pioneer was 35-of-50 (64%) and was sacked three times. Berhammer was 15-of-22 (68.2%) for 216 yards and two touchdowns.

Stare led the Pioneers with nine catches for 139 yards and one touchdown. Guy also had nine receptions for 65 yards and a touchdown while Petersen totaled 74 receiving yards off six catches with one touchdown.

Lamer led the Pioneers on the ground with 44 yards rushed and one touchdown.  UW-Oshkosh had two Titans record over 90 net yards rushed as MacCudden led with 96 yards and Berghammer carried for 92 yards.

Three Pioneers recorded four solo tackles as junior Sam Smith finished with five total tackles and sophomore Alex Blizzard and Friday finished with four.

The start of the Pioneers' 2021 conference schedule places UW-Platteville in three consecutive weeks against Top 20 teams. Following Saturday's game, UW-Platteville will take on UW-Whitewater currently ranked No. 3 nationally, followed by UW-La Crosse which sits at No. 20 in the most recent polls.

Next Saturday's annual George Chryst Memorial Bowl on October 9 in Whitewater, Wisconsin will start at 1 p.m. in Perkins Stadium.