St. Thomas tallies two on amazing play (in 80-3 victory over Carleton)

Carleton College, which hadn't won since the opening day of the college football season, took an early 3-0 lead on St. Thomas on Saturday afternoon.

St. Thomas more than got even

Late in the first quarter, after scoring to take a 6-3 lead, St. Thomas lined up for the point-after touchdown.

Here's what the Tommies did:

That made the score 8-3. St. Thomas went on to win 80-3.

St.Thomas' Sports Information Director Gene McGivern said in an email that coach Glenn Caruso told him that he "likes to put gadget plays like these on video to keep opposing defenses honest and to give them more to prepare for."

Of course, it's hard to imagine St. Thomas trying that kind of goofy play in a game where the eventual outcome may be slightly more in doubt. Carleton has given up an average of 52 points per game in the MIAC this season; St. Thomas has scored 55 points per game.

The Tommies are 9-0 this season and preparing for a run at the NCAA Division III football championship. They finish the regular season on Saturday against Gustavus.

And, no, this wasn't the biggest come-from-behind rally in MIAC history. In 1977, Macalester scored on its first play of the game -- only to end up losing 97-6 to Concordia.

At least Carleton managed to accentuate the positive on its web site. The headline on Saturday's loss: "Knights grab early lead but eventually fall to No. 5 St. Thomas."