St. Thomas, which is in its third season in the Pioneer Football League, is still three years away from being eligible to play in the FCS playoffs.
Because of their resilience, the Tommies remain in the running for their second consecutive Pioneer League title.
Two weeks ago in Des Moines, the Tommies lost to Drake 52-24. The loss ended the Tommies' 13-game winning streak in Pioneer League play. Last week in DeLand, Fla., the Tommies rebounded with a 38-6 victory over host Stetson.
The victory improved the Tommies to 5-3 overall and 4-1 in the Pioneer League and left them with a 27-1 record in games following a loss during coach Glenn Caruso's 16-year tenure.
In the victory over Stetson, the Tommies rushed for 378 yards — the most in their three seasons in Division I — as junior Hope Adebayo rushed for a career-high 197 yards (on 13 carries).
On Saturday, the Tommies return to O'Shaughnessy Stadium where they have a 29-game winning streak, the longest home field winning streak at any level of college football. Their last loss at O'Shaughnessy was to Wisconsin-Oshkosh in the Division III playoffs on Dec. 3, 2016.
The Tommies host Marist, which is 4-3 overall and 4-1 in the Pioneer League. The Tommies and Marist trail Pioneer co-leaders Davidson and Drake, who are 4-0 in conference play.
Marist's only conference loss was to Davidson 49-21 in early September. The Red Foxes have defeated Valparaiso, Stetson, San Diego and Presbyterian in succession since then.
Here are four other things to watch this week:
Regional rankings announced
The first Division II regional rankings of the season were announced Monday.
Ten teams were listed in Super Region 4 rankings, which were announced in an alphabetical format. Next week's ranking will be numerical.
Four NSIC teams — Augustana, Bemidji State, Minnesota Duluth and Minnesota State Mankato — were included in the rankings. The other six teams were Angelo State, Central Washington, Colorado Mines, Texas A&M-Kingsville, UT-Permian Basin and Western Colorado.
The 28-team D-II playoffs begin Nov. 18. The first regional rankings for Division III will be released next week.
Key NSIC game in Duluth
Bemidji State and Minnesota Duluth — two of the three teams tied for second place in the NSIC standings — will meet in Duluth on Saturday.
The Beavers, ranked No. 12 in D-II, Bulldogs and MSU Mankato are each 6-1 in the NSIC. Augustana, which improved to 7-0 in the NSIC with a 28-10 victory over MSU Mankato last week, is ranked No. 10.
Augustana will play at Wayne State while MSU Mankato, ranked No. 15, will play host to Southwest Minnesota State on Saturday.
Gusties travel to Northfield
Coming off last week's 38-35 victory at home over St. John's in St. Peter, Gustavus Adolphus travels to St. Olaf this week in a crucial MIAC Northwoods Division game.
With the victory over the Johnnies — just their third in the past 35 years — the Gusties improved to 4-3 overall and 2-0 in the Northwoods Division. Victories over St. Olaf this week and on Nov. 4 against Carleton would put the Gusties in the MIAC championship game.
An interception by Eric Lyons Jr. at the goal line with 1:50 remaining sealed the victory for the Gusties. Lyons Jr., a sophomore from Fort Lauderdale, was named to the D3football.com team of the week.
MCAC playoffs
The semifinals of the MCAC will be held on Sunday with Minnesota North-Mesabi Range playing at North Dakota State College of Science and Central Lakes playing at Rochester Community and Technical College.
The winners meet for the championship Nov. 5. Rochester is ranked No. 2 in the NJCAA Division III poll.
