Austin Rush, right, and the rest of his wide receiver teammates are the frequent targets of quarterback Kaleb Blaha. Photo by Wade Gardner, d3photography.com

By Joe Sager
D3sports.com

Top Gun has made for top fun at UW-River Falls.

Tom Cruise is not flying a F-14 Tomcat fighter jet across the Wisconsin sky, but you will see quarterback Kaleb Blaha directing a potent offense on Saturdays.

It’s a unit that’s rocketed up the NCAA charts over the past five years and currently ranks first at 563.2 yards per game. More importantly, it’s helped UW-River Falls reach the NCAA quarterfinals for the second time in program history, and the first time since 1995.

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“This is a ton of fun. We love playing football. Playing on the offensive side of the ball, we love scoring touchdowns and we do that a lot,” Blaha said. “The more touchdowns we score, the more fun we’re having. We love how we run our offense. It’s an advantage to us. It helps us execute better. We’re putting up all kinds of stats and numbers and getting wins, so it’s a lot of fun.”

The squad’s offense is built around aggressiveness and speed while executing as many plays as possible during the course of a game (the Falcons average 86 snaps per tilt). So, think about the team trying to get the ball in play almost every 20 seconds it has possession of the pigskin.

“I love it,” Falcons receiver Austin Rush said. “I think our coaches do a good job of putting trust in us. Whatever decisions we make on each play, right or wrong, as long as we do it fast and play the right way, it’ll work out for us.”

As fast as the offense operates during games, it goes at an even dizzier speed in practice.

“I think it makes practice every day fun,” Falcons offensive coordinator Joe Matheson said. “We have such a high rate of tempo and speed that everybody is very focused. You have to be. Going so fast allows us to rotate more guys in and creates more opportunities to develop our depth.”

The offense, which ranks first in yards per game among all college teams at any level, has been a work in progress since Matheson introduced the philosophy in 2020 during the COVID-19 shutdown when the Falcons did not play any games. 

“Going back, this is a program that struggled for a long time. When I got the offensive coordinator job (in 2020), we hadn’t been .500 in almost 20 years,” he said. “One of the things I wanted to do was make college football fun when there were no games and practices were all we had.

“Psychologically, we needed a boost. We were 2-8 in 2019. I wanted us to have an identity of attacking and playing really fast. It’s less about dwelling on what just happened and it’s more about looking at the next play.”

As the players learned the system, the quick pace eliminated some second guessing and forced the Falcons to be precise. If not, that next snap is coming quickly.

“We are playing this fast, almost more for us and their focus, rather than the stress we put on the defense,” Matheson said.

“I look at it as a good thing,” Blaha added. “You don’t have time to think about what happened. Once a play is over, it’s onto the next one. It’s just all about the next play. Things usually end up going well for us when we’re not thinking too much and just reacting. The coaches do the thinking and we just play the game.”

Division III fans should certainly have heard Gagliardi Trophy semifinalist Kaleb Blaha's name a few dozen times this season. Photo by Wade Gardner, d3photography.com

Though the pace may be hectic and might not allow for a thorough review of the defense, these Falcons, similar to the Atlanta Falcons of the NFL in the early 1990s with their ‘Red Gun’ offense, are allowed some creative liberties. For instance, Blaha has passed for 3,753 yards, yet has carried the ball 198 times for 1,053 yards. Ten pass-catchers have double-digit reception totals, too.

“We’re not doing a lot of different things, so they have the ability to adjust based on what they see from the defense. We give them that freedom to read the defense,” Matheson said. “We want them to be able to use their athleticism and best traits as much as possible.”

So, was learning such a unique system difficult?

“When I first got here, it was definitely challenging,” Blaha admitted. “It’s just getting used to how fast you play – even getting used to how quickly practice runs. You’re trying to get lined up as quickly as you can and play the next play. It did take a while to get used to that. It took a couple years to get more comfortable with it. It was definitely something new, but I really enjoyed learning it.”

While the breakneck speed keeps the Falcons on task, it can be quite a challenge for an opposing defense since it poses unique challenges different from most foes.

“One of the things you can’t do is replicate in practice the tempo you’ll see in the game. So, they will have to sacrifice something to make up for it,” Matheson said. “It forces defenses to simplify things and allows us to open up a little more. Defenses can’t dictate the pace to us; we’re dictating the pace to these defenses.

“Communication is big, too. Teams struggle to communicate on defense when we’re going that fast. We’ve seen teams start arguing with each other over it. You wear them out, too. Teams simply get tired, so you’re really testing teams’ depth. We took on some great defenses that maybe didn’t have depth at certain positions and we attacked that.”

By the time the second half arrives, defenses really struggle to keep up with UW-River Falls.

“I think it’s a huge advantage for us. We can see it out there when we’re on the field and in the game,” Blaha said. “One thing with how fast we play is that it’s tough for defenses to get lined up and get their preferred play call. Some guys are getting pretty tired when they have to play so many snaps, too. You definitely notice that.”

“It’s fun seeing a defense wear down over the course of a game,” Rush added. “It makes you want to go faster.”

One negative aspect could be conceding the time of possession battle to the opponent. The Falcons’ defense doesn’t seem to mind if it has to get back on the field with short rest, though.

“We wouldn’t be putting up great numbers if we didn’t have a great defense,” Matheson said. “We sometimes put our defense in terrible positions because of how fast we play and how aggressive we are. They do such a great job in not worrying about their statistics or anything. It all works together as a team.”

The result is an 11-1 campaign and a home showdown with Wheaton (11-2) on Saturday.

“This crowd is electric here. It’s not an easy place to play. We love it,” Rush said. “We’re pretty happy right now. We’re scoring a lot of points, but there’s always room for improvement. We’re trying to get better every day and keep going for as long as we can.”

Blaha is soaking up every minute of this playoff run. After finishing 2023 as a Gagliardi Trophy semifinalist, he entered 2024 with big goals and loads of accolades. However, a hamstring injury limited him to just three games last fall.

“It was tough last year when I got hurt. It was supposed to be my senior year and I was expecting a big year,” he said. “After I got hurt, I thought I could do a little rehab and come back for the second part of the year. But, after talking with the coaches, we decided it’d be best if I took a med red (medical redshirt). I didn’t see myself playing six years in college, but it didn’t take long for me to decide to come back. Part of the reason I came back was that I saw how close we came to achieving our goals. I am kind of happy with the way it’s worked out.

“This season is a dream come true. We’re achieving all the goals we had coming into the season. We wanted to win the WIAC and we did that. We wanted to make playoffs and go on run. We did that. We still have a goal of a national championship. It’s been so much fun. We’re living a dream. We just want to keep it going.”