MINNEAPOLIS – Scoring 35 unanswered points in the second half, the Augsburg College football team remained unbeaten with a 35-14 victory over Carleton College in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contest on Saturday afternoon at Augsburg's Edor Nelson Field.
Augsburg running back Tyler Maxwell (FY, Prior Lake, Minn.), playing in just his third collegiate game, tied single-game school records for touchdowns and points for the second time in his career, rushing 30 times for 144 yards and scoring four touchdowns – three rushing touchdowns and a receiving score.
With the win, Augsburg remains unbeaten at 4-0 overall, 3-0 in MIAC play, setting up a matchup of unbeatens next Saturday (10/8) at 1 p.m. at Edor Nelson Field, as Augsburg hosts St. Thomas (5-0 overall, 3-0 MIAC). The 4-0 start marks the third time in school history that Augsburg has started a season 4-0 (1973 and 2008 seasons), and the fifth time that Augsburg has been unbeaten after its first four games of the year (Augsburg started 2-0-2 in 1928, 3-0-1 in 1929, 5-0 in 1973 and 4-0 in 2008). Carleton falls to 1-3 overall, 1-2 in MIAC play.
Saturday's game was truly a tale of two halves, as Augsburg trailed Carleton 14-0 at halftime. At halftime, the Knights held a 217-116 advantage in total offense over the Auggies, and Carleton quarterback Mike Hartwell (JR, Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville North HS) was a perfect 14-of-14 passing for 118 yards and two touchdowns – a six-yard pass to Jon Lien (SR, Lindstrom, Minn./Chisago Lakes HS) late in the first quarter and a 10-yard pass to John Baker (SO, Minneapolis, Minn./Breck HS) just before halftime.
But the second half was all Augsburg. The Auggies outgained the Knights by a 295-63 margin in the second half and scored on five of its seven second-half drives. Augsburg outgained Carleton by a 411-280 overall margin in the contest.
Auggie quarterback Marcus Brumm (SR, Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville South HS) completed 17-of-22 passes in the second half for 186 yards, en route to a 25-of-39 passing day for 251 yards overall.
Maxwell rushed 21 times for 92 yards in the second half, scoring all four of his touchdowns after halftime. He rushed for a six-yard score with 6:09 left in the third quarter, caught a 33-yard touchdown pass from Brumm with 1:35 left in the third quarter, and had rushing touchdowns of three and five yards in the fourth quarter.
Maxwell tied a single-game school record for rushing touchdowns with his four scores – tying a record he had already tied in his first college game, with a four-touchdown effort in Augsburg's 28-20 win over Hamline on Sept. 17. He tied school records for overall touchdowns (four) and points (24) in a single game, a record held by five other Auggies in school history.
The Augsburg defense was stout in the second half, forcing four Carleton turnovers – two fumbles and two interceptions. The Auggies held Carleton to just 2-of-8 passing for 10 yards in the second half, along with just 53 rushing yards.
Each of the Knight turnovers led to Augsburg scores. An interception and 26-yard return by Bryce Vee (JR, Coon Rapids, Minn./Blaine HS) led to Augsburg's first score four plays later, and a fumble forced by Brandon Hinton (JR, Rock Hill, S.C./South Pointe HS) and recovered by Tyler Phillips (SR, Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial HS) was followed by Brumm's 33-yard scoring strike to Maxwell on the next play.
An interception by Demetrice Whittaker (JR, Cocoa, Fla.) was followed 10 plays later by Maxwell's third touchdown. Maxwell's fourth touchdown came after a 13-play, 85-yard drive with 2:56 left in the game. On the next drive, Aaron Perry (JR, Lino Lakes, Minn./Centennial HS) forced a fumble on a sack which was recovered by Edmond Smith (SR, Minneapolis, Minn./North HS) at the Carleton 31. Four plays later, the Auggies capped the scoring with a 25-yard touchdown pass from Brumm to Adam Carl (SO, Eagan, Minn.).
Carl led the Auggies with nine receptions for 89 yards, while Hakeem Bourne-McFarlane (SO, Bloomington, Minn./Kennedy HS) had six receptions for 55 yards, Maxwell had four catches for 59 yards and Tyler Swanson (JR, Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville North HS) caught three passes for 31 yards.
For Carleton, Baker rushed 19 times for 85 yards and caught two passes for 14 yards. Lien rushed nine times for 45 yards and caught five passes for 31 yards. Hartwell completed 14-of-17 passes for 118 yards and two scores.
Defensively, Augsburg's Smith led all players with 16 tackles (five solo) and two tackles for loss, while Vee had 13 tackles (four solo) and an interception, and Phillips had 10 tackles (seven solo).
For Carleton, Jordan Soteros (SO, Scottsdale, Ariz./Pinnacle HS) had 13 tackles (six solo) and Mark Skoglund (SR, Murdock, Minn./Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunberg HS) had 11 tackles (five solo).