Glenn Caruso had been the football coach at Macalester for two seasons when he was hired at the University of St. Thomas on Jan. 24, 2008. The first recruiting push he made was for Fritz Waldvogel, the dynamic receiver from St. Thomas Academy.
"Had you tried to recruit Frtiz at Macalester?" a reporter asked Caruso on Saturday.
Caruso smiled and said: "We weren't going to get a player like that at Mac … not a kid from the Academy."
That smile was about the only one Caruso could offer at midafternoon Saturday. The Tommies' latest effort in the NCAA Division III playoffs had come to an end with a 34-31 loss to Wisconsin-Oshkosh in the quarterfinals.
The Titans were a team of creative formations and a depth of weapons. They had baffled St. Thomas' stout defense in the game's first 19 minutes to take a 24-7 lead.
And still in the end, it was St. Thomas that did itself in, with Alex Fenske suffering five interceptions and the Tommies losing three fumbles — eight turnovers to zero for the visitors. Fenske was the MIAC's MVP this season and had four interceptions in the Tommies' prior 12 victories.
"You can't expect to win any game with eight turnovers," Caruso said. "That was about three months' worth for us in three hours."
This was the seventh playoff season in Caruso's nine at St. Thomas. It was the 18th playoff game at home and the second loss.