2011 Saint Xavier Cougars football team

The 2011 Saint Xavier Cougars football team was an American football team that represented Saint Xavier University as a member of the Mideast League of the Mid-States Football Association (MSFA) during the 2011 NAIA football season. In their 13th season under head coach Mike Feminis, the Cougars compiled a 14–1 record and won the NAIA national championship, defeating Carroll (Montana), 24–20, in the NAIA National Championship Game.

2011 Saint Xavier Cougars football
NAIA national champion
NAIA National Championship Game, W 24–20 vs. Carroll (MT)
Conference	Mid-States Football Association
Division	Mideast League
Record	14–1 (4–1 MSFA)
Head coach	Mike Feminis (13th season)
Home stadium	Deaton Field

2011 Mid-States Football Association standings

	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
Mideast League
No. 3 Marian (IN) x^		5	–	0					12	–	1
No. 1 Saint Xavier ^		4	–	1					14	–	1
No. 7 Saint Francis (IN) ^		3	–	2					9	–	3
Taylor		2	–	3					5	–	5
Quincy		1	–	4					4	–	6
Concordia (MI)		0	–	5					0	–	11
Midwest League
No. 8 St. Francis (IL) x^		6	–	1					10	–	3
No. 18 Grand View x^		6	–	1					8	–	4
No. 15 William Penn		5	–	2					9	–	2
No. 22 St. Ambrose		5	–	2					7	–	3
Olivet Nazarene		3	–	4					5	–	6
Iowa Wesleyan		2	–	5					3	–	7
Trinity International		1	–	6					2	–	8
Waldorf		0	–	7					2	–	9
x – League champion/co-champions ^ – NAIA playoff participant Rankings from NAIA Coaches' Poll

The team ran a no-huddle spread offense that led the NAIA with an average of 45.9 points per game. The national championship was the first for a Chicago college team in nearly a century (dating to the 1913 Chicago Maroons football team).

Key players included quarterback Jimmy Coy, running back Nick Pesek, kicker Tom Lynch (two-time winner of the Fred Mitchell Outstanding Place Kicker Award), and brothers Ryan Fejedelem (linebacker) and Clayton Fejedelem (safety).

The Saint Xavier football program was established 18 years earlier in 1993. Coach Feminis played linebacker on the first Saint Francis team. The entire athletic budget for Saint Francis was $3.9 million with 24 scholarships shared among 88 players.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 3	6:00 p.m.	Olivet Nazarene*	No. 2	Deaton Field Chicago, IL	W 55–10	1,600
September 10	4:00 p.m.	at No. 24 St. Francis (IL)*	No. 2	Joliet Memorial Stadium Joliet, IL	W 34–20	3,000
September 17	6:00 p.m.	Walsh*	No. 1	Deaton Field Chicago, IL	W 55–30	2,300
September 24	6:00 p.m.	Trinity International*	No. 1	Deaton Field Chicago, IL	W 49–14	3,000
October 1	11:00 a.m.	at No. 2 Saint Francis (IN)	No. 1	Bishop John M. D'Arcy Stadium Fort Wayne, IN	W 42–31	4,000
October 8	3:00 p.m.	at Malone*	No. 1	Fawcett Stadium Canton, OH	W 52–10	2,200
October 15	1:00 p.m.	Quincy	No. 1	Deaton Field Chicago, IL	W 48–14	3,000
October 22	1:00 p.m.	Taylor	No. 1	Deaton Field Chicago, IL	W 75–33	2,700
October 29	12:00 p.m.	at Concordia (MI)	No. 1	River Bank Stadium Ann Arbor, MI	W 63–3	478
November 5	12:00 p.m.	at No. 2 Marian (IN)	No. 5	St.V Health Field Indianapolis, IN	L 9–27	5,175
November 12	12:00 p.m.	Jamestown*	No. 5	Deaton Field Chicago, IL	W 50–14	1,400
November 19	1:00 p.m.	No. 13 Bethel (TN)*	No. 5	Deaton Field Chicago, IL (NAIA First Round)	W 51–13	3,000
November 26	1:00 p.m.	at No. 4 MidAmerica Nazarene*	No. 5	Pioneer Stadium Olathe, KS (NAIA Quarterfinal)	W 29–14
December 3	12:00 p.m.	at No. 1 Marian (IN)*	No. 5	St. Vincent Health Field Indianapolis, IN (NAIA Semifinal)	W 30–27	4,270
December 17	3:30 p.m.	vs. No. 2 Carroll (MT)*	No. 5	Barron Stadium Rome, GA (NAIA Championship Game)	W 24–20	5,917
*Non-conference game Rankings from NAIA Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time