UW-Oshkosh Ready for First Ever Playoff Appearance
By: Ryan Rodig
Updated: November 12, 2012
The UW-Oshkosh football team has waited a long time to have a celebration like they did Sunday at Sage Hall on campus.
"I was actually pretty nervous and I don't really know why," said junior running back Cole Myhra Sunday. We didn't know who we were going to play."
The Titans and a full house of supporters cheered on as Oshkosh found out live who they would play in their first-ever appearance in the NCAA Division III Playoffs in 118-years of football at the school.
The 10-0 Titans will host 8-2 St. Scholastica Saturday at noon.
"Once they put it up there," Head Coach Pat Cerroni said of seeing the bracket. "I just want to go back to the stadium and start working on football. To be able to coach football this late in the year, usually I am preparing to go deer hunting right now."
The hunting will have to wait, but there's no camouflaging what Oshkosh has accomplished this year. They won a conference championship for the first time since 1976. A big reason they've been so good is dual-threat senior quarterback Nate Wara. The senior signal caller has thrown 22 touchdowns and only one interception, and has rushed for more than 500 yards and seven more scores while never losing a fumble. Wara also became just the 4th player in WIAC history to surpass 10,000 total yards in a career.
Adding to the offense, junior Cole Myhra became just the 5th Titan to ever surpass 1,000 yards rushing in a season while also scoring 10 TDs. Cerroni says he hopes he's built an offense much like Mount Union and UW-Whitewater; where opposing defenses won't have enough time to prepare for all the firepower in a couple of days.
To a man, players and coaches are hesitant to talk about the history they've already made at UW-Oshkosh. They are hoping in the playoffs this team gives future generations many more reasons to remember these Titans.
