After capturing an emotional 20-17 victory over St. John’s last week at Target Field, St. Thomas football will make the short trip to Augsburg University Sept. 30.

The Auggies’ (1-1 MIAC, 3-1 overall) quarterback Quinn Frisell leads the MIAC in passing yards, averaging 367 yards per game. Frisell has connected with his top receiving target, Nick Heenie, for 10 touchdowns through the first four games. The Auggie offense is averaging 41.3 points per game and has outscored its opponents 165-93.

St. Thomas (2-0 MIAC, 3-1 overall) has struggled defending the long ball this season, giving up four touchdowns of over 30 yards. Heenie has been targeted 30 times for 521 yards, which puts him at over 17 yards per catch. His season-long was a 73-yard touchdown against Carleton last week.

“We’re not really treating him any differently,” safety Isaac Seering said. “We’re just going to play our defense like we always play our defense. We’re pretty confident in our game plan.”

The defensive line will also need to play a role in stopping the passing attack of the Auggies. Last week, they held St. John’s to only a single rushing yard on 20 attempts. Tommie defensive linemen have sacked opposing quarterbacks nine times already this season.

“Their pass rush technique and how quickly they get to the quarterback definitely puts that in the back of the quarterback’s mind,” cornerback Mark Dowdle said. “It makes our job a lot easier.”

MIAC quarterbacks are passing with unusually high efficiency this season. Since 2010, only two teams were able to surpass an average of 300 passing yards per game. This year alone there are two teams that are averaging above 360 passing yards per game. Whether this is due to weaker non-conference opponents or a transition toward a passing league remains to be seen.

“This time of year the majority of stats are from non-conference competition,” coach Glenn Caruso said. “I think that probably plays into that pretty well. Early in the year (conference teams) often have inflated stats, and then usually there’s a regression to the mean.”

Caruso, who has never lost to Augsburg during his tenure at St. Thomas, hopes his team will slow the Auggie passing attack.

“They are so proficient,” Caruso said. “I don’t know if there is any way you can completely stop it, but hopefully we can do enough things to put the rhythm back in our favor.”

Brady Halbmaier can be reached at halb2084@stthomas.edu.