WHITEWATER, Wis.- The UW-Oshkosh football team scored the first points in its WIAC opening game at UW-Whitewater on Saturday (Oct. 5) before the Warhawks outscored the Titans 14-7 the rest of the way.
 
The Titans (2-2, 0-1 WIAC), ranked No. 17 in the nation by D3football.com and No. 18 by the American Football Coaches Association, scored in the first and fourth quarters, while the No. 11/11 Warhawks (3-1, 1-0 WIAC) took the lead in the second quarter with two touchdowns and added another score in the fourth, making the final score 21-14.
 
21,233 fans watched the game at Perkins Stadium on Saturday, an NCAA Division III record for attendance at a game hosted on a university campus. The top three attended games are 45,161 between SUNY Cortland and Ithaca College (N.Y.) at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey in 2019, 40,232 between Cortland and Ithaca at Yankee Stadium in New York in 2022 and 37,355 between St. Thomas University (Minn.) and St. John's University (Minn.) at Target Field in Minneapolis in 2017.
 
The Titans out passed the Warhawks 283 to 119 yards, averaging 8.6 yards per attempt and 14.9 yards per completion. In total offense Oshkosh averaged 5.8 yards per play to Whitewater's 4.5.
 
In his first career road start, quarterback Cole Warren (Fr. • Roscoe, Ill.) threw for 270 yards and two touchdowns, completing 18 of his 32 attempts.
 
Justice Lovelace (So. • Kenosha) had a total offensive day of 76 yards, totaling 44 yards on the ground on 10 attempts and catching a 32-yard touchdown. Trae Tetzlaff (Sr. • Waukesha) was Oshkosh's top receiver, catching seven passes for 82 yards and a touchdown.
 
Kyle Dietzen (Jr. • Omro) and Bryce Edwards (Sr. • Sparta) both tallied 10 tackles in the contest, with Dietzen having four solo tackles and Edwards having five. Curtis Jaskulke (Jr. • Stoughton) recorded a 7-yard sack and Jose Muñoz-Dominguez returned an interception for nine yards.
 
UW-Oshkosh received the opening kickoff and scored just five plays later. Warren threw to Dan Fynaardt (Sr. • Waukesha) for 33 yards which moved the ball to the Whitewater 41-yard line and two plays plater threw for another 33 yards to Tetzlaff in the endzone. While Oshkosh didn't score for the rest of the quarter, it also held Whitewater scoreless, forcing two straight punts.
 
In the second quarter, the Warhawks scored on two short rushing attempts, leading 14-7 by halftime.
 
Oshkosh and Whitewater both went scoreless in the third quarter. In the opening possession for Whitewater, an incomplete pass and 2-yard rush brought up 3rd and 8. Jaskulke then sacked Warhawk quarterback Jason Ceniti to force a punt. Muñoz-Dominguez then intercepted Ceniti on the third play of the Warhawks' following possession.
The Warhawks extended their lead to 21-7 in the fourth quarter as Tamie Thomas rushed 16 yards to the endzone. Oshkosh scored on the following drive, marching down the field 79 yards in 10 plays and eating up 4:18 of the game clock. The scoring play was Lovelace's only catch of the day, pulling the ball in at the Whitewater 19-yard line and running the rest of the way for a 32-yard touchdown.
 
Whitewater took the final possession with 4:41 left on the clock and reached their own 36-yard line before stalling out on 3rd and 1, giving the Titans a shot at getting the ball back after the 2-minute warning. Unfortunately, Whitewater was able to pick up three yards on the next play, kneeled the clock out and secured the win.
 
The Titans will return home next Saturday (Oct. 12) to face No. 3/5 UW-La Crosse at 1 p.m.