OSHKOSH, Wis.- The UW-Oshkosh football team picked up exactly where it left off in Week 10 of the 2023 season; by defeating a top-25 team in the nation.
 
Oshkosh, which capped off last season by defeating then-ranked No. 11 UW-River Falls 38-31 at home, beat No. 9 Wheaton College (Ill.) at J. J. Keller Field at Titan Stadium by a score of 21-14 on Saturday (Sept. 7). The Titans received votes in the preseason D3football.com poll.
 
The Titans rushed for 69 yards and passed for 270, totaling 339 yards of offense. They averaged 6.4 yards per play.
 
For the first time since 2018, the Titans have a player starting under center not named Kobe Berghammer, who graduated in the spring and now serves on the coaching staff at UW-Stout. Quentin Keene (Jr. • Waunakee) spent two years as Berghammer's understudy before earning the top spot at camp in August. He threw for 270 yards and a touchdown against the Thunder, completing 11 of his 22 attempts. His longest passes of the day were a pair 65- and 63-yard touchdowns to Jon Mathieu (Jr. • Sheboygan Falls) and Trae Tetzlaff (Sr. • Waukesha).
 
The top rusher for the Titans was Justice Lovelace (So. • Kenosha) with 54 yards and a touchdown on 15 attempts while Mathieu crossed the 100-yard threshold by compiling a career-high 140 receptions yards on four catches.
 
On defense, Bryce Edwards (Sr. • Sparta) tallied 11 tackles (three solo) and a tackle for a 3-yard loss. Kyle Dietzen (Jr. • Omro) also recorded 11 tackles with three solo. Thomas Coroneos (Fr. • Palatine, Ill.) was the third Titan with three solo tackles.
 
Neither team crossed the 50-yard line in the first quarter, trading punts. The Titans, who had possession at the end of the quarter, scored on the first play of the second on Tetzlaff's 63-yard score.
 
UW-Oshkosh forced a turnover on downs in the following Wheaton possession when Gordon stopped Thunder quarterback Mark Forcucci on a 4th and 1 opportunity. The Titans then punted the ball back to Wheaton, which marched from its own 7-yard line to tie the game up at 7-7 with 1:53 left in the first half.
 
Oshkosh only needed 58 seconds to score again and retake the lead. After Tetzlaff returned the kick to the Oshkosh 20-yard line, Keene threw a 14-yard pass to Clayton Schwalbe (Jr. • Waukesha), Doug Burson (Jr. • Yorkville, Ill.) rushed for a yard and Mathieu caught a pass down the middle at the Wheaton 27 then ran to the end zone. The extra-point kick was blocked, giving the Thunder an opportunity to take the lead by scoring a touchdown. Caleb Smith (Sr. • Kankakee, Ill.) had other ideas however, and intercepted Forcucci's hail mary at the Titans' 1-yard line as time expired on the half.
 
Wheaton received the kickoff at the beginning of the third quarter, eventually taking a 14-13 lead at the end of the 13 play drive.
 
Neither team scored again in the third quarter and the teams traded punts in the first two possessions of the fourth. The Titans took the ball back at their 25 with 4:21 remaining in the game. Mathieu caught passes of 26 and 30 yards to cross midfield and end up at the Wheaton 19-yard line. Lovelace rushed three times, pushing Oshkosh up to the 1-yard line and took the ball through the middle for Oshkosh's third touchdown of the day. Up 19-14, Oshkosh opted for the 2-point conversion and was successful as Keene competed a pass up the middle to Dan Fynaardt (Sr. • Waukesha).
 
Two plays into the Thunder's final drive that started with eight seconds remaining, Ben Wellhoefer (Jr. • Omro) secured Oshkosh's victory when he intercepted a deep pass by running back Giovanni Weeks who picked the ball up when Forcucci fumbled.
 
The Titans will remain at home for the remainder of their nonconference schedule to face No. 23/22 Linfield University (Ore.) (1-0) next week (Sept. 14) and NCAA Division II Michigan Tech (1-1) the following week (Sept. 21).