Millsaps College -- There are times when statistics fail to tell the whole story about the outcome of a football game, but such was not the case at Alumni Field on Saturday night as the visiting Blue Devils of national power-house Wisconsin-Stout statistically dominated and physically manhandled the Millsaps Majors 30-6.
Playing their first game of the 2002 campaign, the mighty Stout team hammered away at a smaller Millsaps squad as the Blue Devils piled up 324 yards of offense and limited the Majors to just 114 total yards.
Racking up 20 first downs in the process, Wisconsin-Stout displayed a balanced offensive attack as quarterback Nick Ohman completed 12 of 24 passes for 156 yards, 2 TDs, and 2 INTs, while Luke Bundgaard paced the Blue Devils' rushing performance with 93 yards gained on 16 carries.
Controlling the football for only 22 minutes on the night, Millsaps managed just 8 first downs for the game. Quarterback Brandon Morris never had much of a chance to get the Majors' offensive scheme going as he was constantly hounded by the Blue Devils' defense. Morris, who was sacked 4 times on the evening, completed 7 of 16 passes for 68 yards and tossed 1 interception. Fullback Brett Burgess' 34 yards rushing on 6 carries led the Majors' ground attack.
In sharp contrast, garnering possession of the football for nearly 40 minutes duirng the game, Wisconsin-Stout started its rout of the Majors early in the contest when Matt Schaeuble ran untouched into the endzone from 7 yards out with 8:38 to go in the first quarter. Justin Zmyewski connected on his extra point attempt to make the score 7-0 in favor of the Blue Devils.
Zmyewski then added a 26-yard field goal to start the second quarter, extending the UW-Stout lead to 10-0 with 12:48 to go in the half. Then, with 3:23 to go, the Blue Devils struck again when Ohman found a streaking Matt Sprester for a 56-yard touchdown pass. Zmyewski added his second PAT of the evening to make the score 17-0. After a Millasps' turnover on the ensuing kickoff, the Blue Devils managed to place Zymewski in line for a 38-yard field goal with 32 seconds to go on the clock, giving UW-Stout a 20-0 margin at the break.
After another Zymewski field goal late in the third quarter, which gave Blue Devils an commanding 23-0 lead, the Majors managed their only score of the ballgame when Jay Liles took a pitch from Morris and scampered 14 yards to paydirt. Robert Ezelle's extra point attempt was blocked, giving the Blue Devils a 23-6 lead.
UW-Stout capped its scoring outburst when Ohman found Schaeuble for a 7-yard touchdown pass with 2:31 to go in the game. Zymewski's kick was good and the Blue Devils stamped their name on a 30-6 win.
With the loss, the Majors fall to 1-1 on the year, while UW-Stout improves to 1-0 with the victory. The defeat also snaps a 7 game home winning streak for the Majors dating back to Millsaps' 35-28 victory over Trinity (TX) in 2000. Wisconsin-Stout will battle rival Eau-Claire next weekend, while Millsaps has an open date next week and will next play on September 28 versus the University of South Alabama at Alumni Field. Kickoff is slated for 6:00 p.m.
