The UW Oshkosh football team dropped its final game of the 2024 season to UW-River Falls at Ramer Field on Saturday. The Titans, who were ranked No. 19 in the D3football.com top 25, lost to the Falcons by a score of 28-14.
This game was about the defenses, both teams could not cross the 50-yard line on its first drive of the game. Then, during the Falcons second drive of the game, UWRF drove down to the UWO 19-yard line. However, UWRF kicker Justin Scherbel missed the 36-yard field goal, UWO could not take advantage of the missed kick as quarterback Brooks Blount got sacked on third-and-12.
When the Falcons got the ball back, they were able to punch it in this time. UWRF drove all the way down the field and was able to score the first touchdown of the day behind a 14-yard run to take a 7-0. The Titans were able to respond to the Falcons touchdown. Four straight runs from Titan running back Justice Lovelace set up a 29-yard touchdown pass from Blount to tight end Jon Mathieu, tying it up at 7-7.
The Titans got the ball back after holding the Falcons to a failed fourth down conversion. UWO put together a good drive deep in falcon territory, but found themselves at fourth-and-11. UWO tried to convert the fourth-down with a pass from Blount to wide receiver Trae Tetzlaff, but it was an incomplete pass, and the Falcons took over. UWRF used the turnover on downs to their advantage and retook the lead with a 23-yard touchdown reception from Falcon wide receiver Jonah Mallberg to go back up 14-7.
UWO started the second half on offense and was able to drive down to the UWRF 47-yard line. An illegal man downfield penalty killed the Titans’ drive as UWO was pushed back to their own territory. When the Falcons got the ball back, they were able to score another touchdown with a 30-yard run from their running back, Trevor Asher, to extend their lead to 21-7.
Later in the half, the Falcons scored another touchdown to go up 28-7 and UWO could answer. The Titans did score a touchdown with a run from Blount to make the score 28-14 Falcons with 3:14 left in the game. The touchdown was too little too late for the Titans as UWRF won the game 28-14.
The Titans ended the 2024 season with a 6-4 overall record and 4-3 WIAC record.
