It’s hard to be disappointed with an 8-3 season because dozens of college football teams would be extremely happy with such a record.
In short, the Eagles had a good season, but they missed having a great one by a narrow margin.
“During the final five games, we proved what we could do,” said head coach Bill O’Boyle. “But all three of the games we lost were winnable. We had our opportunities in them, but we didn’t always capitalize.
“I like our team. We played hard and won some big games. We’ve got a lot of good players in the program and should have another strong team next season. We could be better, particularly on offense, because we’ll have more experience.”
The 2010 season marked the 15th time in the last 22 years the Eagles won at least eight games and it was the 55th winning season in CSC football history.
The Eagles outscored their opponents by 29.9 to 17 points a game and out-gained them by 407.3 to 239.8 yards.
The first loss was to Pittsburg State of Kansas 14-3 in the second game of the season. O’Boyle said the offense, which had eight new starters from the previous season, “couldn’t run or pass in that game.”
The 256 total net yards was a season low and it was the first time the Eagles failed to score a touchdown since midway in the 2002 season and just the second time since 1995.
The next setback was 33-30 in triple overtime at Colorado State-Pueblo, which finished with a 9-2 record. The Eagles had a second and goal at the ThunderWolves’ one yard line in the third overtime, but didn’t score what would have been the winning touchdown.
CSC’s third loss came the next week when Nebraska-Kearney took a 28-0 lead into the fourth quarter before the Eagles rallied for 21 points. The final score was 35-21 after the Lopers returned an interception 38 yards for a touchdown with 1:09 remaining. The Eagles managed just one yard rushing and turned the ball over seven times in the contest.
The Eagles’ big win was the 38-31 decision over Colorado Mines in the home finale on Nov. 6, when Glen Clinton’s 88-yard kickoff return with 63 seconds left provided the winning touchdown. Mines then edged Kearney 55-53 in triple overtime to tie the Lopers for the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference championship and received a bid to advance to the Division II playoffs.
O’Boyle, whose teams have won 54 games and lost 17 during his six years as head coach, noted that the defense played “lights out” all season. Although the unit had five new starters, including all three linebackers, at the beginning of the season, it held the opponents to 100 or fewer yards rushing in eight of the 11 games and led the RMAC in both passing and rushing defense as well as total defense, first downs and third-down conversions.
The Eagles also ranked fifth nationally in total defense with their 239.8-yard average and second in yielding third-down conversions—22 of 144 opportunities for just 22.9 percent. The total defense average is CSC’s second lowest since 1982, topped only by the 234.9-yard average in 2002.
Todd Auer, who has been the CSC defensive coordinator 17 seasons now, said he was pleased how defense played. His only complaint was lack of turnovers. The Eagles intercepted 13 passes and claimed eight fumbles.
Middle linebacker James Belville led the Eagles in tackles with 80, including a team-high seven sacks. Outside linebacker Kelen Kahrs with 61 tackles, safety Kevin Berg with 58 and outside linebacker Kevin Lindholm with 57 followed. Kahrs was credited with a team-best 12.5 tackles for losses. Berg led in interceptions with four and broke up seven more passes.
The offense was well-balanced. The Eagles rushed for 2,205 yards and passed for 2,275. The rushing total was up 580 yards from the previous season. Clinton, a redshirt freshman, gained 1,020 yards and transfer Dominic Morris ran for 803.
Clinton also caught 24 passes for 179 yards and Morris grabbed 20 for 220 yards and two TDs. Both scored eight touchdowns.
The Eagles completed 63.3 percent of their passes. Redshirt freshman Jonn McLain completed 170 of 271 attempts (62.7 percent) for 1,894 yards and 16 touchdowns. He was intercepted eight times. Senior Garrett Treffer hit on 29 of 42 passes (69 percent) for two TDs. He was picked off five times.
The all-new set of receivers did well. Jeff Alcorn caught 36 passes for 365 yards and Jeremy Sondrup 27 for 392 while starting most of the season at the inside positions. Both were juniors. On the outside, redshirt freshmen Nathan Ross with 34 catches for 455 yards and Travis Reeves with 17 for 264 led the way. The four totaled 114 receptions for 1,476 yards and 13 TDs.
One thing that helped the offense was having all five starters in the line available for all 11 games. They were Garrett Gilkey and Jake Finerty at the tackles, Tim Hiett and Shane Dennehy at the guards and Sean McGowan at center. Their continued availability was in sharp contrast to the previous year when injuries and illness forced O’Boyle to use several combinations up front.
As has become a CSC tradition, the special teams were special in 2010. Both Berg, who was the team’s punter for the fourth consecutive year and averaged a school-best 43.0 yards, and redshirt freshman Michael Ziola, who clicked on 18 of 22 field goal attempts and all 39 extra points that he kicked. Both were first-team all-conference and rank among the top five nationally.
Topped by Jed Herblan’s 13.5-yard average on 14 punt returns and Clinton’s 24.9-yard average on 19 kickoff returns, the Eagles also sparkled in those areas.
The Eagles started five seniors on defense this fall, including three members of the secondary. However, Auer is optimistic that the unit will be solid again because several redshirt freshmen and sophomores made some big plays while getting considerable action in the secondary. In addition, cornerback Talmaus Ewell, a starter is 2009, will return after missing the past season because of a dislocated knee cap he sustained prior to the opener.
“We can always use more defensive linemen,” Auer noted. “But we’ve got some young guys who look like they will develop there.”
The only seniors who started on offense this fall were Dennehy and Finerty on the right side of the line. O’Boyle said Brandon Ratcliff and Jake Blackburn are the heir apparents at those positions, but he added that the Eagles have some young linemen who will challenge the veterans for playing time next fall.
There also could be competition at quarterback next fall. Just prior to the start of the season, Brandon Gorsuch, a graduate of Rapid City Central, left the football team at the University of South Dakota and joined the Eagles. He was not eligible to play this fall, but was a member of the practice squad all season.
Gorsuch, who is 6-foot-1, 210 pounds, earned second-team all-region honors at Arizona Western College in Yuma in 2009, when he threw for 1,892 yards and 13 touchdowns while helping the Matadors finish with a 9-2 record. He transferred to South Dakota in the spring of 2010.
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