The Bearcats turned the ball over seven times in a 38-14 loss to Thiel College on the road.

Three Saint Vincent fumbles led to 17 first half points as Thiel opened up a 31-7 advantage midway through the game, and SVC was unable to recover.

Just over five minutes into the game, the Bearcats fumbled near midfield, but the defense stopped the Tomcats' drive at the 15, forcing John Madeline to hit a 33-yard field goal that put the hosts up 3-0.

Less than a minute into the second quarter, Thiel completed a 10-play, 86-yard drive with a pass from Willie Bova to Tyler Dejong from 27 yards out, making it 10-0.

The Bearcats fumbled the kickoff, and Thiel scored just four plays later to make it 17-0.

This time, the Saint Vincent offense struck quickly.  Chris Brown ran for 13 yards on first down, then Jake Smith hit Sheldon Loughner with a 42 yard pass to the Thiel five yard line.  On the next play, Hank Neurouter ran for the score and the gap was down to ten, 17-7.

However, Thiel put together another solid drive, moving the ball 65 yards on just seven plays, capped by another scoring pass by Bova, this time to Dan McKall from 11 yards out, and the Tomcats led 24-7.

Three plays later, Saint Vincent fumbled again, leading to another Thiel touchdown before the break.

The second half started on a better note for the Bearcats, as Smith hit Christian Sutton down the middle of the field with a 21-yard scoring strike on a fourth down play that made it 31-14.

After the defense stopped Thiel, Saint Vincent started another drive, but failed to convert fourth down play from the Thiel 10 and turned the ball over on downs.

In the fourth quarter, Saint Vincent quarterbacks were intercepted inside the ten yard line on three occasions, and Thiel cruised to a 38-14 victory.

Saint Vincent (0-9) was led on the ground by Jake Smith, who gained 69 yards on six carries.  Chris Brown had 7 carries for 33 yards.

Smith was 24-of-42 through the air for 219 yards on the day, while Caleb Gelsomino was 3-7 for 21 yards.

Sheldon Loughner caught five passes for 68 yards, while Christian Sutton also had five catches, good for 62 yards.   Jeremy Drischler likewise had 5 receptions on the day tallying 49 yards.

Defensively, SVC was led by David Ribero's 9.5 tackles.  Rob James and John Jackson each recorded six tackles on the day.

For Thiel (3-5), Bova passed for 373 yards on the day - 316 in the first half - and fell just one yard shy of the school's all-time single-game passing record.  He completed 27 of 42 attempts and had four touchdown throws.

Brendan Taylor caught 8 passes for 160 yards, while Ross Gargano led the ground game with 36 yards on 8 carries.

Saint Vincent has a bye week next Saturday, and will conclude the season at home against Bethany College on November 14.