The Macalester football team lost 59-7 to the St. Olaf Oles last Saturday afternoon at Macalester Stadium. Despite the Scots best efforts, they were unable to stop the Ole attack all day long.

Mac scored on its first drive, after which St. Olaf retaliated with a touchdown of its own. The Oles attempted a two point conversion for the first time all year, catching the Mac defense off-guard and bringing the score to 8-7. St. Olaf scored again quickly to make it 15-7.

During the next drive, the Scots were able to move the ball, and quarterback Adam Denny ’05 completed a long pass to put the Scots in what looked like a good position to score. However, the play ended up being called back for holding and the Scots were forced to punt a couple plays later. It was one of the few penalties the team had all day, but it turned out to be a costly one. St. Olaf drove the length of the field to score again, and ran away with the game.

Marc Olson and Bobby Andrade led St. Olaf to 401 rushing yards, more than tripling the amount of rushing yards chalked up by Macalester. Despite a team-leading 13 tackles by Wide Receiver/Cornerback Tim Burns ’06, the Scots couldn’t stop the Oles from grabbing an overwhelming 26 first downs and racking up nearly 600 total offensive yards.

Although Macalester struggled, the team completed some impressive plays. Denny connected with several passes to tight end Andrew Connet ’06. Running back Nate Vernon ’06 broke through the Oles’ tight defense several times, pulling off the play of the day with an 84-yard catch and run. Burns caught a short pass from Denny to score Macalester’s only touchdown of the game and snagged an interception during the 4th quarter.

The loss to St. Olaf brings Macalester’s record to 0-3. Mac will look for its first win of the season next Saturday at home against Knox College.