The Green Knights’ second and fourth scores were the big ones in Saturday’s 42-28 victory that left them alone atop the Midwest Conference with a record of 5-0.

"It was a ball that he never should have had," Monmouth head coach Steve Bell said of Manlick. "It was thrown behind Bobby (Gibbs). If the ball was where it was supposed to be, Bobby would have been the only one who could have made a play on it."

Unfortunately, Tanney’s one turnover on his school-record 56 pass attempts turned into seven points for the other team. But he certainly put points on the Monmouth side of the scoreboard, as well, completing 30 passes for a record-tying 405 yards and three touchdowns. The 405 yards tied his older brother Mitch’s record from the 2005 Bronze Turkey game.

Bell was impressed that his team was able to rebound from the early 14-0 deficit, and a 26-yard pass from Tanney to Kyle Wantland tied the score at 21-21 with 11:26 left in the third quarter.

"Our kids battled," said Bell. "Give our kids a lot of credit. They laid it out there. You don’t accept losses, but you can be proud of your players when they give the effort, and they gave the effort."

But so did St. Norbert, which produced its other game-changing score right after Monmouth had forged the tie. Keyed by two pass plays of 30 or more yards, the Knights quickly marched down the field, taking just 1:27 to regain momentum. They followed that up with two more scoring drives, including a game-clinching 14-play, 80-yard possession midway through the fourth quarter.

"Our whole mindset going into the game was ‘We’re going to throw the ball,’" said Bell, explaining Tanney’s record performance. "That was the game plan going in. They put so many people in the box. You can either spread them out, or you can try to put a lot of people in the box, too, and try to block them all. We tried to pass, but I wish our completion percentage had been a little higher. We should’ve made some plays in our passing game that we didn’t make. They were plays that athletically we could have made, but we just didn’t."

The Scots’ receivers did make their share of plays in the passing game, especially Gibbs, who caught eight passes for 93 yards, and Nick Wright, who added seven catches for 102 yards and two scores. Monmouth’s successes, which also included Wantland’s 76 receiving yards and Marc Artozqui’s 18 tackles on defense, led Bell to believe that his Scots weren’t too far away from reversing the outcome.

"After playing the game and watching the film, I’m very confident that we could have won that game," said Bell. "I feel very good about our capabilities and about how good we can be."

Monmouth will get another opportunity to show its capabilities Saturday against a Ripon team that is also considered one of the best in the MWC. The Red Hawks are tied with Monmouth and Carroll for second place in the league with a 4-1 mark.

"Ripon’s a very tough team, and they have a drastically different offense than what we just saw," said Bell. "They’re going to run the triple option, and that means our defense is going to have be assignment-sound and be very organized and disciplined."

Leading the Red Hawks’ attack is quarterback Tygh Walters. The junior has rushed for 216 yards and passed for 696. A good example of his versatility came in a 48-17 victory over Illinois College last month. He threw for 173 yards and four TDs and added 120 yards rushing and two more scores.

All-MWC running back Scott Perkins is the team’s top rusher with 597 yards on 106 carries, and Andrew Fink has added 218 yards. Walters’ top receiver is Ted Bartels, who has 13 catches for 277 yards and five scores.

"They’re very athletic and are a very good-looking team," said Bell. "It’s going to be a stiff challenge for us. I expect a very physical football game."