After an impressive win against Elmhurst the week prior, the Augustana Vikings faltered in a 30-20 loss against Carroll University on Saturday. The Vikings, now sitting at 2-3 in the CCIW conference, are at serious risk of slipping in an increasingly competitive conference.
Augustana visited a hostile environment in Schneider Stadium, going up against a Pioneers squad looking for a bounce-back win following their loss to North Park University. A bounce-back win is exactly what they would get, doing so with a stellar offensive performance that saw impressive stats from both the rushing and passing games.
The Pioneers amassed 412 total yards against an Viking defense that only allowed 264 yards the prior week, most notably 11 total yards from the Elmhurst rushing attack. However, Augustana allowed 174 yards on the ground this week, the most they’ve let up this season. Augustana sophomore T.J. Klein was well aware of the talent the Pioneers held in the backfield and knew the challenge they would be facing.
“They like to run the ball. They’re very physical up front, and they just want to run it down our throat and just out-physical us,” Klein said. “So it’s really going to be another challenge up front.”
The Augustana secondary didn’t have much of an answer for Carroll quarterback Charlie King, who was making his first collegiate start. King had quite the introduction, going 14/19 for 238 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions while adding 41 yards on the ground. Augustana’s head coach Stephen Bell was well aware of the Carroll run game, but he knew what their passing game had to offer.
“The quarterback is very capable, no doubt. But they want to run the ball,” Bell said. “I think now it’s going to be interesting. They may come out and just chuck it around the yard on us because we have struggled to defend the pass. But I would assume they’re probably going to try and run the ball and see what they can do.”
Augustana was unable to defend three passes from crossing the goal line, all of which came from various parts of the field. They saw a 5-yard, 27-yard, and a 70-yard touchdown pass to tight end Reed Breckheimer. That touchdown played right into the defensive plan of Augustana, heading into the matchup prepared to prevent one of Carroll’s main options in their tight end. Sophomore defensive back Kaden McShaw detailed how Augustana planned to halt that scheme.
“We see that Carroll likes to target their tight ends a lot, so we’re game planning against that,” McShaw said. “So our coaches are changing it up a little bit. We’re just game planning for the tight ends because we feel those are the people they like to target and are their best players.”
As for the offensive side of the ball, Augustana saw senior Mike DiGioia, the current CCIW rushing leader, reaching the century mark for the fourth straight time this season, getting 110 yards before the final buzzer sounded. Senior Liam Crawley made his first season start, finishing with 240 yards with a 53% completion percentage to pair with two touchdowns.
The Vikings’ schedule gets no easier from here. They head back home to Lindberg Stadium to face #1 ranked and 6-0 North Central, a team coming off a 69-0 shutout against North Park.