The football team fell 42-3 to the Wheaton College Thunder on Saturday, Sept. 21, which moves their record to 1-1. After getting a defensive stop to start the game, the nationally-ranked Thunder proved too much for the Vikings. This win pushes Wheaton’s streak against Augustana to 11 wins, dating back to 2013.
Going into the game, head coach Steve Bell recognized the talent on the other side of the field. When scouting the opponent before a game, the coach must understand the team they face off against. Doing so ensures the best chance of winning or making the game close.
“Wheaton is physical, and they’re very well coached,” Bell said. “They always have been since they’re pretty eclectic offensively. They seem to have a transfer quarterback every year, but he’s just as good as the ones they’ve had in the past. It’s going to be a fun game.”
The Vikings had a full week to prepare before the game since they had an off week after their first game of the season. Though they defeated Simpson College 30-13, sophomore Ethan Vrabec understood the team still had to improve during the bye week.
“Improving on little things,” Vrabec said. “That’s what I think we could have done a lot better on week one. That’s something that we worked on during the bye week: attention to detail, focus, things like that.”
When preparing for the game, senior Tanner Macdonald laid out the goals that he wanted to accomplish. One of the team’s goals, among many, was to be physical. If they let Wheaton push them around and outmatch them, then the game would be over quickly. If a team likes to play physically, it is important to match their physicality so the players do not get overwhelmed.
“We need to be physical,” Macdonald said. “We need to execute, and we need to stop the run on defense because Wheaton has an All-American running back, so stopping him will be big. Another goal is to just click on offense. We’ve had a good week of practice on offense, so I’m excited to see what they can do.”
The last two previous season’s matchups between Augustana and Wheaton have been closer. Last season, the game went back and forth, with the final score being 41-34 and a Viking loss. Despite the lack of success against a nationally ranked team, players such as senior Hugh Keany remained optimistic and looked forward to the opportunity to play them again.
“Beating Wheaton has been a big goal of mine since I’ve been here,” Keany said. “For the last two years, we’ve been close with them. It was a 10-point game two years ago and a seven-point game last year. So for me, it’s just leaving a mark on campus and finally getting that game in against Wheaton and beating them.”
After the loss to Wheaton on the road, the Vikings will stay on the road and travel to Decatur, Illinois to take on the Millikin University Big Blue on Saturday, Sept. 28, for their second conference game of the season.