The Buena Vista University (BVU) football team fell short of keeping their perfect record alive when they headed to Dubuque on Saturday to play the Loras Duhawks. Junior quarterback Cole Miller set a school record with 444 passing yards as the Beavers put together over 500 yards of total offense. However, Loras College scored 21 unanswered points in the first half to pull ahead in their pursuit to a 73-39 victory over BVU.

Miller broke Tory Beger’s record of 436 yards (also set against Loras in 2015), completing 26-of-50 attempts. He completed a 67-yard touchdown pass to freshman Tariq Thomas just minutes into the game, giving the Beavers a 7-0 lead. Miller now has a touchdown pass of at least 60 yards in each of the first three games of this football season. Halfway through the first quarter, TJ Lint brought in a 45-yard touchdown pass to put the Beavers back in the lead 14-7. Lint finished with a game-high nine catches for 153 yards and now has 109 catches on his career, moving into sixth on the program’s all-time receiving yards with 1,657 yards.

With minutes gone in the second quarter, the Duhawks had the lead 28-14 after scoring 21 consecutive points. The Beavers tried to stay close when quarterback, Cole Miller threw a 56-yard touchdown pass to freshman Eric Pacheco, giving him his first career touchdown catch. The Duhawks would then respond with back-to-back touchdowns, giving them a 42-21 lead at halftime. The momentum would stay with the Duhawks beginning the second half with two more touchdowns. The Beavers got back on the scoreboard when Colby Laughlin ran the ball in from 10 yards out giving him his first career touchdown.

Early in the fourth quarter, Ross Adamson caught a four-yard touchdown pass from Miller making the score 59-34, but it wasn’t enough to keep the Beavers from taking their first loss of the season.

Miller has thrown nine passing touchdowns on the year so far, with only three interceptions. Pacheco had a career-day, receiving five passes for 121 yards. Adamson also caught five passes for the Beavers.

“Even though we were down we stayed together as a team,” Miller said of the loss. “Nobody gave up on the game or each other and we had each other’s backs in a positive way. Now we just got to get back to work and prepare for the next game.”

Miller said he had mixed feelings about his record-setting day.

“It was bitter sweet. I was happy to hear that I had broke the record but wish we could have gotten the win,” he said.

The Beavers were held to only 61 rushing yards, while the Duhawks had 272. Miller had 34 yards on 10 carries, making him the team’s leading rusher for the contest.

Loras’ quarterback Bob Kelly threw for four touchdowns and 359 yards, completing 24-of-32 attempts.

Brady Illg had nine solo tackles to lead the Beavers on the defensive side. Three other teammates finished with six.

“I think we stuck together and kept fighting until the end, and that’s something that we’re going to continue to do,” Illg said after the game.

With the Homecoming game this weekend, Illg said the team is fired up and getting ready for that next contest.

“We’re all very excited for this Saturday,” he said. “We know that this past weekend wasn’t a true representation of this team and program so we’re ready to step up to the challenge. We’ve had great support from the student body and community all season so we’re excited to be back in front of the home crowd.”

The Beavers were out gained by the Duhawks in the contest, 631-512, both teams now sit 1-1 in the league.

Buena Vista (2-1, 1-1 IIAC) will look to rebound after the loss when it hosts Luther College (2-1, 1-1 IIAC) on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. for the 2017 Homecoming game. The Norse upset 25th-ranked Dubuque on Saturday, 21-17.