The St. Thomas Tommies were a visibly upset football team following Saturday’s 22-19 loss to Drake on homecoming at O’Shaughnessy Stadium, according to head coach Glenn Caruso, and it had everything to do with once again failing to meet expectations.

A win over the defending Pioneer Football League champion Bulldogs would have moved the Tommies into a tie for first place in the PFL with Drake. But an uneven performance marred by three special teams miscues all but ended the Tommies’ hopes of a second league title in three seasons.

“Wildly disappointed today,” Caruso said. “Not just with the outcome, but also the points we gave away throughout the game. Very discouraged to not have played well today.”

Down two games in the standings to undefeated Drake with two games to play, the Tommies (5-5, 4-2 PFL) have an outside chance to share the title, but it’s extremely unlikely. That scenario led to a spirited week of practice for the Tommies, but to no avail.

“We knew that with two highly competitive teams that every little thing matters,” said Tommies junior wide receiver Colin Chase, “and today we didn’t win inside the margins.”

Added junior cornerback Den Juette: “We knew how big this game was and how big of a legacy game it was for us. We just have to get better for next week. That’s all we can do.”

The outcome of the game, tied 10-10 at halftime, swung on a key play early in the third quarter. The Tommies took the second-half kickoff and moved into field-goal range. But Ben Hoiland’s 29-yard attempt was blocked and returned deep into St. Thomas territory.

A personal foul on the Tommies set the Bulldogs up at the St. Thomas 10, and the Bulldogs went on to score on a 5-yard touchdown pass for a 17-10 lead.

“Those two minutes of football were the most pivotal in the game,” Caruso said.

The Tommies were able to cut the deficit to 17-13 before the end of the third quarter, but disaster struck again early in the fourth. With the Tommies punting from their own 30, the snap flew over the head of punter Elliot Huether and into the end zone.

Huether picked up the ball and threw it, but he was called for intentional grounding in the end zone, resulting in a safety.

Trailing 22-13 late in the game the Tommies made one last effort to pull off a miraculous victory. Quarterback Tak Tateoka threw a 44-yard touchdown pass to Chase with 1 minute, 54 seconds to play.

But the extra point kick attempt failed due to a high snap, leaving it a 22-19 game.

A well-executed onside kick by the Tommies followed, but safety Ryan Calcagno couldn’t complete what could have been a successful recovery when the ball slipped through his hands at midfield, and the Bulldogs were able to run out the clock.

Caruso praised his defense, but along with the special teams gaffs, a lack of consistency on offense again proved costly.

“The offense’s inability — not just scoring — but to switch the field position when we needed it to keep us out of short fields on defense is something that needs to be corrected,” he said. “It’s difficult when a team comes in here and has 205 yards of offense and leaves with a win, and those are things that will have to be addressed.”