The UW-Eau Claire football team got handed a 49-19 loss
Thursday night at the Ralph  E. Davis Pioneer stadium on the campus of
UW-Platteville.
The Pioneers, who are ranked no. 16 in the country for Division III football, got out to a 21-0 lead before the Blugolds could put points up on the board.
Head coach Todd Glaser said the four turnovers
committed in the game were a huge factor in the loss.
“You cannot turn the ball over that many times and expect to win,” Glaser said. “We need to clean that up with league play coming up
next week.”
Down 35-7 at halftime, the Blugolds came out of the locker room and played their best quarter of football against the Pioneers.
The team held Platteville scoreless throughout the third quarter and scored six points themselves, something the team as a whole wants to build on
going forward.
Quaterback Austin Neu said that many things
were discussed in the locker room, including leaving everything out on the field in the second half.
“We had a talk in the locker room, we talked about that we had nothing to lose, no one was expecting anything out of us,” Neu said. “We came out and played really well … if we would have played like that the whole game, things would have
been different.”
The 30 point loss extends the Blugolds’ losing streak against the Pioneers to three consecutive years. However, the team is not dwelling on the loss and is instead focusing on UW-Stout on homecoming.
Junior running back Joel Sweeney says the team is ready for the
rivalry game.
“Oh, we’re jacked,” Sweeney said. This is homecoming versus (UW-) Stout, it will be a great atmosphere down at Carson. We’re going to get this win, because we need it really bad to start conference 1-0.
Even though Platteville is in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference with Eau Claire, the game on Thursday was not counted as a
conference game.
The Blugolds now have a record of 0-3, but are starting conference play with a clean slate, a concept that Neu thinks is a motivator for
the team.
“We’re putting that (Platteville) game behind us and we’re just focusing on Stout,” Neu said. “We’re at that 0-0 mentality now and conference is a new season for us, we’re really hoping to get back on track on Homecoming.”
A bright spot through the first three games has been the Blugold running attack bolstered
by Sweeney.
He has gained 386 yards in three games compared to his 201 yards in the first three games through the same amount of games last season.
His quarterback appreciates it
very much.
“I love Joel behind me, it’s awesome,” Neu said. “He’s a lot smarter this year and it’s great to have a back like him
behind me.”
The Homecoming game starts at 1 p.m. Saturday against the 2-1 Blue Devils of Stout at Carson Park.
Last season, the Blugolds beat the Blue Devils in Menomonie for Stout’s Homecoming game. The game, which also doubled as Stout’s 100-year anniversary celebration was
ruined by Eau Claire when the ‘golds beat them 24-10.