ST. PAUL – The Bulldogs had the ball on the St. Thomas one-yard line with less than 10 seconds remaining in the contest, but a Tommie goal line stand would seal the victory for St. Thomas allowing the home team to win their 29th-straight game at O'Shaughnessy Stadium. With the setback, Butler moves to 4-2 on the year and 2-1 in the PFL. St. Thomas improved to 4-2 on the season and remains perfect in the PFL (3-0).
 
Butler started their final drive on their own 25-yard line. Bret Bushka ran for a gain of 10 and two plays later found room up the middle for a rush of 17 yards. The Bulldogs went through the air as the game clock went under one minute to play. Bushka passed left to Ryan Lezon for a gain of 18 and Lezon would step out of bounds at the St. Thomas 35 to stop the clock.
 
Two plays later Bushka hit Luke Wooten for a gain of seven and a roughing the passer penalty would tack on 15 yards and put the Bulldogs at the five-yard line. Joey Suchy rushed for four on first down, but he was stuffed for no gain on second. After a BU timeout, Bushka kept it up the middle on third and goal, but the Tommie defense didn't give up any ground. Finally with three seconds remaining, Butler tried to go over the top to Lezon, but Luke Herzog broke up the pass and the Tommies would escape with the win.
 
Butler recorded six more first downs than St. Thomas, but the game was won on the ground for the Tommies. St. Thomas rushed the ball 44 times to gain 229 yards. They only attempted eight passes all day.
 
The Bulldogs rushed for 151 yards on 35 attempts. Bushka led BU with 63 rushing yards and Jyran Mitchell would be in the box score with 48 yards and a touchdown.
 
The St. Thomas defense came up with three sacks and limited BU to just 111 passing yards. Ryan Lezon and Luke Wooten were the top two targets on Saturday, catching four balls each. Lezon led BU with 35 receiving yards while Wooten added 31.
 
Butler's defense was led by Nick Bafia and his 10-tackle performance. Bafia also forced a fumble that Jack Burch was able to jump on.
 
St. Thomas got the ball first on Saturday and would score three points on their opening drive after using nine plays to travel 52 yards. Stephen Shagen trotted onto the field to connect from 35-yards out. Butler's opening drive was slowed down by a flag and a St. Thomas sack.
 
The Bulldog defense provided the team with a three-and-out on the next Tommie drive, but a fumble would quickly end Butler's second drive of the day and give the home team a 3-0 edge after the first quarter.
 
The only touchdown of the first half came on the opening play of the second quarter. Hope Adebayo punched the ball in the end zone from the two-yard line and the Tommies would enjoy a 10-0 advantage in St. Paul.
 
Momentum would swing midway through the second quarter as the Bulldog defense stopped St. Thomas on a fourth-and-five play from the Butler 35. BU took over on downs and would move the ball all the way down to the St. Thomas three-yard line. The Tommie defense stood strong on the goal line and Butler would settle for a 21-yard field goal from Luka Zurak on a 15-play drive that covered 55 yards in a span of 8:07.
 
Butler won the toss and would receive the football to start the second half. The used up five minutes of the game clock and would flip field position with a punt that backed St. Thomas up to their own 12-yard line.
 
St. Thomas used their run game to get away from their end zone and the home team was faced with a fourth-and-one decision on their own 34-yard line. Head Coach Glenn Caruso gambled with the play call and would go for it. The risk was rewarded as Shawn Shipman bounced to the left side for a gain of 11 and more importantly a first down. Just four plays later, St. Thomas would score off a 27-yard TD run from Adebayo.
 
The Bulldogs took advantage of great field position to score their first touchdown of the game near the midway point of the fourth quarter. Jyran Mitchell ran to the right side for a 10-yard TD, giving him eight total rushing touchdowns this season.
 
Butler's defense would do their job shortly after as Tyson Garrett and Carson Gulgin shared a sack on the next Tommie possession to give Butler the ball back with 5:36 in the fourth. BU gained one first down and then would face a fourth-and-three call near midfield. Bushka kept it for a gain of two and the Tommies would take the ball back with 3:40 remaining.
 
Two runs and an incomplete pass would zap the next St. Thomas possession in just 1:43. Butler's final drive of the fourth would start at the 25-yard line with just under two minutes to play, but the goal line stand cemented the win for St. Thomas.
 
Butler's first home game of October will land next weekend when the team hosts Davidson at 1 PM.