The St. Thomas Tommies begin their fourth season of Division I football on Thursday night at O’Shaughnessy Stadium in a matchup with Division II University of Sioux Falls.

The Tommies are expected to contend for the Pioneer Football League title, and, as usual, any talk of team strengths begins with the offensive line. But head coach Glenn Caruso believes his defensive line is playing as well as any he has had as he enters his 17th season leading the Tommies.

“We’re still going to have to see if the game reps display that,” Caruso said. “Last year we played very well; we weren’t very deep. The difference this year is that we’re tremendously deep. We’re only a three-man front, but we have seven guys who can play winning football for us.”

Graduate student C.J. Warren (6-foot-3, 275 pounds), graduate student Seth Hopkins (6-0, 271) and senior Noah Friedt (6-1, 280) are the starters, with Hopkins manning the nose tackle position.

“Emmanuel Olagbaju (6-2, 301) is playing like a legitimate starter (on the nose),” Caruso said. “It just so happens there’s another guy at the position.”

Evan Tyler (6-4, 252) and Kole Sneed (6-2, 246), who has been converted from outside linebacker, also are expected to see considerable playing time.

“There’s very little, if any, falloff when we put the other guys in,” Caruso said.

Defensive linemen in a 3-4 defense typically are not asked to make a lot of tackles. Instead, they often take on double-teams, freeing up linebackers and defensive backs to make the tackle. The fact that the group features technically sound, disciplined players, Caruso said, allows them to be difference-makers.

“They can move and they play with great base,” Caruso said. “They not only can accelerate, but they can decelerate really well, and that’s a quality a lot of people don’t pay attention to.

“I can make a strong case that a technically sound disruptor on the defensive line is more valuable than a defense lineman that has stats. Our track record proves that.”

The group, as a whole, is not blessed with great size, and there will be times this season when they will going up against offensive linemen who outweigh them by as much as 50 pounds or more. Caruso does not see that as an issue.

“Inherently, defensive linemen are not as big as offensive linemen in this scheme,” he said, “but they’re asked to do more athletic movements. Our guys are getting bigger. The weights may be similar, but the length is not.

“I’m happy that as transition from the old division to Division I that we have been able to retain those core beliefs and qualities, but we’ve gotten longer.”

And if things play out the way Caruso hopes they will, better. The answer to just how good this group can be begins to take shape Thursday night.

“A lot of things have to happen for you to say you have the best of anything,” Caruso said. “If I’m going to say this has the chance to be the best defensive line in our 17 years at St. Thomas, yes, it has to have to do with experience, but it also has to do with depth, it also has to do with coaching.

“It also has to do with each person getting a little bit better. If each person can get a little bit better than they were last year, that’s how culture raises the level of talent in your program.”

As for the offensive line, it will feature a pair of new starters at guard in James Morrison (6-6, 341), a junior from Cretin-Derham Hall, and sophomore Marcus Johnson (6-6, 311). Last year’s starters, seniors Shea Albrecht and Brock Stanek, are slated to see playing time at both guard and tackle.

Morrison and Johnson join tackles Jason Laliberte (6-8, 301) and Alec Rasmussen (6-7, 319) and center Langston Robinson (6-2, 301) as part of the Tommies’ massive offensive line.

With the offensive and defensive lines leading the way, Caruso likes the vibe of this team as the season unfolds.

“Last year was so patchy,” he said. “There were games we had to win 35-32, and then there were games you had to win 20-13 or 16-10. Last year what I did not see was the offense and the defense jibing and playing off one another.

“It doesn’t mean we weren’t able to find ways to win games, but we weren’t playing complementary football. This team seems to be a little more together. They seem to appreciate what the other side of the ball does a little bit better.”