There are a number of ways a running back can electrify an audience. Thanks to St. Thomas’ Hope Adebayo, they were all on display on Saturday afternoon at O’Shaughnessy Stadium. The senior from Inver Grove Heights juked, powered, hurdled and raced his way to 277 rushing yards and three touchdowns as the Tommies improved to 4-0 in the Pioneer Football League with a 34-14 win over the San Diego Toreros. Adebayo scored on touchdown runs of 42, 60 and 70 yards, and averaged 15.4 yards on his 18 carries. “That’s the best I’ve ever seen Hope run, and I’ve seen him a lot of years now,” said Tommies coach Glenn Caruso, who added he couldn’t remember a better performance by a Tommies running back since taking over as head coach in 2008. Adebayo’s afternoon marked the first time a Tommies running back has rushed for 200 or more yards in the Division I era. It also was the most rushing yards by a Tommies running back since a 256-yard effort by Josh Parks in a loss to St. John’s in October of 2018. Adebayo’s 60-yard touchdown run at the start of the third quarter — which gave the Tommies a 27-7 lead — was worthy of being at the top of any list of the day’s top plays in sports. Caruso did a good job of describing it postgame: “He leapt over a guy, did a pirouette and landed, and then cut back on another guy. And then beat them to the corner.” “We’ve watched about 40,000 plays of football out on that field over 20 years,” Caruso said, “and that was about as pretty as you’ll ever see.” After watching tape of the Toreros defense during the week, Adebayo had what amounted to a premonition. “Understanding that the safeties play really down (near the line of scrimmage), pregame I was like, ‘Huh, what about a hurdle?’” he said. “I took that out of my mind, and then it wound up happening.” Tommies safety Grif Wurtz had a big day of his own, intercepting a pass and completing a pass on a fake field goal. He marveled at what Adebayo was able to do on the day. “There were a couple times where I’m like, ‘Oh, nice, a nice 20-yard run here,’ and then it’s all of it,” he said. “It’s always a blessing for a defense to have a guy like that on the other side of the ball.” While speed is not normally a big part of the 5-foot-8, 201-pound Adebayo’s game, he showed plenty of it on Saturday. Once he broke through the line on his long touchdown runs, there was no chance anyone was going to catch him. Adebayo said it was the result of being completely healthy for the first time in a while. “It felt good,” he said. Offered Wurtz: “It looked good.” There was nothing different about the start of his day that would suggest what was to come, Adebayo said, but he did give credit to his head coach for providing a spark on Friday. “Coach had a conversation with us — just amazing words,” Adebayo said. “That helped a lot. But at the end of the day, it’s just the guys on the field. We just went out there and did what we needed to do.” The Tommies scored on their first possession of the game, with Adebayo running the ball in from 42 yards out. They took a 10-0 lead into the second quarter thanks to a 25-yard field goal by Ben Hoiland that was preceded by Wurtz’ pass on a fake field-goal attempt from 46 yards out. After the Toreros scored a touchdown early in the second quarter, Tommies quarterback Tak Tateoka connected with Jason Wildermuth on a 25-yard touchdown pass. The Tommies ended the first half with another field goal and a 20-7 lead that was set up by an interception by Den Juette. Adebayo’s 70-yard touchdown run capped off the scoring in the fourth. It was another strong performance by the Tommies as they continue to put a shaky nonconference portion of their schedule behind them. “We said a month and a half ago that we have the propensity of growing, and growing into a pretty decent team,” Caruso said. “What you’ve seen the past month and a half is that in action. “We are growing every week. We’re not where we need to be, but major steps in the right direction.” Related Articles College Sports | St. Thomas left tackle Rasmussen could be NFL draft pick after leading Tommies College Sports | Hope Adebayo rushes for 100 yards, two touchdowns in St. Thomas’ 42-14 win over Valparaiso College Sports | Tateoka accounts for 4 TDs as St. Thomas tops Marist College Sports | Guggemos hoping to follow family footsteps after transfer from Gophers to St. Thomas College Sports | Tommies return to Pioneer play by holding on to beat Stetson