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COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. - This week's #TakeMeBackTuesday is the emotional game between No. 7 Saint John's and No. 3 St. Thomas on Oct. 13, 2018, in Clemens Stadium. The game was held six days after the Johnnies lost their legendary coach, John Gagliardi, who passed away at the age of 91.

SJU forced seven turnovers and rode a record-breaking passing attack to the 40-20 win in front of an announced crowd of 16,922 spectators in Collegeville.



Quarterback Jackson Erdmann '19 (below) set a then-school record with 470 passing yards, on 28 of 53 passing, and three touchdowns in the win. Fourteen of his completions were to wide receiver Will Gillach '19, who turned them into an SJU-record 256 receiving yards and two scores.

The Tommies were inches from making it a one-score game early in the fourth quarter, but linebacker Alex Sais '20 forced a fumble on the one-yard line and All-American safety Max Jackson '19 scooped it up for a 99-yard return for a touchdown.

The two teams combined for 1,148 yards of offense on 172 plays. The game's statistics were mind-bending, considering where both teams stood nationally prior to kickoff. UST made the trip to Collegeville ranked first in NCAA Division III in total defense (124.8 ypg.) and second in four other categories: passing defense (109.8 ypg.), pass-efficiency defense (73.5), scoring defense (5.6 ppg.) and scoring offense (61.2 ppg.). SJU, meanwhile, was third nationally in scoring defense (5.8 ppg.) and 14th in total defense (233.8 ypg.).

The Johnnies' victory snapped the Tommies' 31-game win streak against conference opponents (30-game regular season, one playoff). 

SJU intercepted UST's Jacques Perra (25 of 53 for 339 yards) five times and forced two fumbles in the win. The Tommies had committed five turnovers, total, through their first five games of the season. Safety Ryan LaCasse '19 recorded two of the five interceptions, while both of SJU's starting cornerbacks (Chris Harris '20 and Sam Westby '19) each had a pick. Even nose guard Kyle Borgeson '20 got in the action, recording SJU's first interception by a defensive lineman since 2014 (Blake Bellefeuille '15 vs. St. Scholastica).

St. Thomas posted 609 yards of offense, 256 of which came from running back Josh Parks (on 22 carries). Eerily enough, Parks and Gillach (right) were high-school teammates at Chisago Lakes. Parks transferred to SJU from Division I Minnesota in the fall of 2015 but left before classes started. He sprinted to a 92-yard touchdown on the Tommies' second offensive play and cut the Johnnies' lead to 19-14 with a 60-yard scamper on the first drive of the second half. Parks scored his third touchdown of the day, from one yard out on fourth-and-goal, late in the third quarter.

SJU converted nine of its 17 third-down attempts and held UST to just a 3-for-16 showing (4-for-9 on fourth down). The Tommies scored points on one of their four trips to the red zone. SJU was 0-for-11 on third down in 2017's 20-17 loss to UST at Target Field.