WAVERLY, Iowa-- The No. 3/3 Wartburg football team (13-0 overall) defeated No. 5/6 UW-Whitewater (11-2) 31-28 in an NCAA playoff quarterfinal Saturday afternoon. With the win, the Knights advance to the semifinals next Saturday, Dec. 9 against No. 1/1 North Central at noon. Game site is to be announced.
Top performers
Notes/streaks
- O'Neill's field goal was a career long
- First 40-yard plus field goal for Wartburg since Spencer Herzberg against Central on 9/20/08 (41 yards)
- O'Neill tied total PATs in a season (60 Michael Bohlke, 2014)
- This was Wartburg's largest comeback win since week four (9/28/19), where the Knights came back from a 17-0 deficit against Dubuque to win 42-25
- Nile McLaughlin set the single-season record with TD passes with 36
- previous record was 35 set by Matt Sacia in 2017
- McLaughlin set the single-season record in passing yardage at 3,243
- previous record was 3,221 set by Matt Scaia in 2017
- This was McLaughlin's sixth career 300-yard game
- This was McLaughlin's third 300-yard game in the playoffs
- McLaughlin has thrown for at least three touchdown passes in nine of the 13 games
- Hunter Clasen has tied the single-season record in rushing touchdowns at 22
- Previously set by Trevor Shannon in 1996
- Clasen has scored a touchdown in every playoff game in his career
- Clasen has scored a touchdown in 29 of the last 31 games, which dates back to the 2021 season
- This was Clasen's 12th career multi-touchdown game
- This was Clasen's seventh 100-yard game this season
- This was Clasen's 18th 100-yard game of his career
- Clasen tied the total touchdowns in a season record at 26
- Previously set by Trevor Shannon (21 rush, 5 rcv) in 1998
- The 82-yard scoring drive to start the second half was Wartburg's longest scoring drive of the season
- Parker Rochford career-high in tackles
- Kaleb Lamphier career high in tackles (seven)
- This was Preston Rochford's third interception of his career
- This was Preston Rochford's second INT in as many weeks
- Wartburg set the season team record with 68 PATs to date
- previous record was 67 set in 2019
- The Orange and Black set the season team record with 3,412 passing and receiving yards to date
- previous record was 3,329 set in 2014
- Wartburg set the season team record with 77 total TDs
- previous record was 76 in 2022
- Knights have won 26-straight home games
- The Knights have won nine-straight home playoff games
- The Orange and Black have gone 60 games without losing a game at home in regulation
- This was the first ever win against Wisconsin-Whitewater for Wartburg in the all-time series
- With today's victory, the Orange and Black have tied a single season record for 13 wins
- Nile McLaughlin is 26-1 as a starting quarterback
- Wartburg has had over 400 yards of total offense in 10 of its 13 games
- Wartburg has had over 400 yards of total offense in six-straight games
- This was the 20th NCAA Playoff win in program history
- Wartburg is now 15-8 all-time against Top 25 opponents
- This was the second time the quarterfinal game had been played in Waverly
- The Knights hosted Aurora last season (2022) and today's UW-Whitewater game
- Wartburg was awarded the bid in 1982, but the game was moved to the UNI Dome due to heavy snowfall
- The Knights tied the team season record for most playoff games won (3)
- Previously accomplished last season
- The Orange and Black tied the team season record for most consecutive games won (13)
- Previously accomplished last season
Radio call of final seconds
Press conferences
UW-Whitewater
Wartburg
Press Clippings
Recap
from the Waterloo Courier.
Recap
from the Waverly Newspaper.
Photos from D3photography.
Highlights
from KCRG.
Next event
The Knights will face No. 1/1 North Central next Saturday in an NCAA semifinal.
