ST. PETER, Minn. – The St. Olaf College football team dropped its regular-season finale by a 29-14 margin to Gustavus Adolphus College on Saturday afternoon at Hollingsworth Field.

St. Olaf (4-5, 3-4 MIAC) held a brief 7-6 lead in the second quarter after a five-yard touchdown run from first year Christian Graske. Gustavus (7-2, 5-2 MIAC) responded by scoring the game's next 23 points to build a 29-7 lead after three quarters and held on from there.

With the loss, the Oles ended the regular season as the No. 3 seed in the Northwoods Division and will visit Augsburg – the No. 3 seed in the Skyline Division – in the inaugural MIAC Championship Week on Saturday, Nov. 13 at 1 p.m. in Minneapolis. The Auggies doubled up the Oles, 56-28, in the regular-season meeting at Edor Nelson Field on Oct. 2.

First year quarterback Theo Doran was 17-for-38 for 262 yards – the highest total of his young career – with one touchdown and one interception. Doran's favorite target was senior Gabe Alada, who caught a career-high eight passes for a season-best 124 yards. First year Nour Tayara added three receptions for 49 yards, including a 33-yard touchdown catch in the fourth quarter.

The Gusties led 6-0 early in the second quarter after field goals of 32 and 42 yards by Andrew Abegglen before the Oles got on the board on Graske's second touchdown run of the season. The scoring drive covered 80 yards in eight plays, including a 30-yard pass down to the five-yard line from Doran to Alada.

Gustavus scored touchdowns on its next two drives, getting a six-yard pass from Brett Hufendick to Dalton Thelen and an eight-yard run by Rohee Konde to grab a 19-7 lead late in the second quarter. The Gusties tacked on a 23-yard field goal by Abegglen on the final play of the half to push its lead to 22-7.

St. Olaf marched down the field on its opening possession of the second half, including converting on a fourth-and-five pass from Derek Hansen to Noah Tack for 16 yards to keep the drive alive, before stalling at the nine-yard line. On the ensuing drive, the Gusties drove 91 yards in seven plays, capped by an 18-yard run by Kevin Durham Jr., for their fourth-straight scoring drive to take a 29-7 lead into the fourth.

A 33-yard connection from Doran to Tayara with 9:20 to go was the lone scoring of the fourth quarter on a drive that started with a 27-yard pass from Doran to Hansen. The touchdown was the second of Tayara's career.

Senior Brandon Foster had a game-high 11 tackles, including nine solo stops and a sack, while sophomore Mark Thrower recorded a career-high 10 tackles – all of the solo variety. Sophomore Ben Kettelhut added a fourth-quarter interception for the first pick of his young career.