Perfection dressed itself in black and gold on Saturday (Oct. 16) at Titan Stadium.

There's no other way to describe it.

The Titans humiliated visiting UW-Platteville in almost every way possible to earn a 54-6 victory on Homecoming weekend in a WIAC football game.

"That's a big win for these kids," UW-Oshkosh coach Phil Meyer said. "They earned it through practice each week and they deserve it. I'm really happy for those guys."

The contest was close for all of 100 seconds. On the Titans' first play from scrimmage, quarterback Nick Wara (Sr. • Oshkosh), on a play-action pass, hooked up with wide receiver Joe Patek (Fr. • Cedarburg) for a 55-yard touchdown.

UW-Oshkosh (4-2, 1-2 WIAC) was never seriously threatened thereafter.

Meyer seemed most please with the fact that his players were able to put two brutal losses behind them.

The Titans were blown out by UW-Stout, 49-17, on Sept. 25 and lost by a touchdown to UW-La Crosse last Saturday (Oct. 9). It's also the biggest WIAC victory for UW-Oshkosh since Nov. 1, 1969, when the Titans defeated UW-Superior 49-0, also on Homecoming. And it's the biggest win over UW-Platteville since a 60-0 win in 1920.

"Finally, we won a game in conference by a substantial margin," Meyer said. "Most of our wins have been down to the wire, down to the end. So it does feel good to win something like this where you are in total control the whole game."

The Titans exploded in the second quarter to score three touchdowns.

An interception by UW-Oshkosh defensive back Bryan Kent (Fr. • Pewaukee) set up an 11-play, 51-yard drive that culminated with a 1-yard touchdown run by running back Aaron Chaltry (Sr. • Peshtigo).

On UW-Platteville's first offensive play of the ensuing possession, quarterback Brent Nelson's pass hit the helmet of a UW-Oshkosh player and rocketed into the hands of defensive end Ryan Neff (So. • Merrill) for another interception. That eventually led to a 2-yard touchdown run by running back Andrew Stern (Jr. • Wisconsin Rapids).

Chaltry scored his second touchdown of the quarter on UW-Oshkosh's next series, which began when UW-Platteville's punter dropped the snap and had his punt blocked.

The Titans led 31-0 at halftime against a team that came into Saturday's game having given up 30 first-half points the entire season.

The final outcome could have been worse, but UW-Oshkosh had to settle for three Lucas Raschke (Fr. • Clintonville) field goals in the second half.

UW-Platteville came into the game averaging 281.4 passing yards per game, but UW-Oshkosh switched up its defense enough to confuse whichever Pioneer was under center at the time, UW-Platteville used three different quarterbacks, none of which had much success. Nelson was the worst offender, throwing five interceptions. He combined with Michael Schmidt and Ryan Munz to complete only 18 of 44 pass attempts for 156 yards and six total interceptions.

Meanwhile, UW-Oshkosh's offense was a model of efficiency. Wara threw for 139 yards and rushed for 74 more. Stern set a personal best with 164 rushing yards on 32 carries with two touchdowns.

As a team, UW-Oshkosh gained 559 yards compared to 226 for Platteville.

Meyer warned that now is no time to be overconfident. The Titans matched their victory total from last season, but that didn't concern the UW-Oshkosh head coach. The only thing that mattered to him was a 1 p.m. kickoff next Saturday (Oct. 23) at UW-Stevens Point.

"Our whole thing the whole year is taking it one game at a time," he said. "We've matched up pretty good over the years (with Point). I think we match up well, and it's going to be a heck of a game."