WAVERLY -- When the Wartburg College football team evaluates the tape today from Saturday's season-opening 44-20 victory over St. Norbert, there will be plenty of positives.

That said, Rick Willis and his coaching staff won't have trouble identifying mistakes, either.

In a season filled with lofty expectations, Wartburg passed its opening test, but the performance was far from flawless.

"It's a good start to hopefully something great," tailback Alex Boom said. "It could have been much better."

That was the sentiment shared by nearly everyone in the Knights' camp.

While quarterback Nick Yordi threw for a career-high 313 yards and four touchdowns and the defense compiled nine sacks and three interceptions, the running game labored for much of the afternoon.

Wartburg had a meager 17 yards on the ground in the first half against St. Norbert, which has been to the Division III playoffs seven of the past nine years.

"We definitely didn't play up to our full potential," Yordi said. "(St. Norbert) stacked up the run."

The Knights finished with 68 yards rushing, averaging fewer than two yards per carry.

"We were able to throw the ball well enough today to take advantage of the way they were playing us," Willis said. "We'd like to be more balanced in the end statistics, but we're going to take what they give us."

Yordi was in midseason form. The junior, who threw for 2,184 yards and 18 touchdowns in 2007, shredded the Green Knights' secondary, connecting with eight different receivers.

"(Yordi) is just a playmaker and a gamer," sophomore receiver Jason Roskam said. "He comes out here and knows what he's doing. He just feels comfortable on the field."

Roskam, who missed most of last season with injury, hauled in five receptions for 89 yards and a score. Marcus Hemesath, Ryan Hoerner and Boom also had touchdown receptions for the Knights, who tallied points on four of their first five possessions.

"It doesn't matter where I go with the ball," Yordi said. "I have confidence in every single one of those guys. Whether it's a jump ball or a dump off, they're going to make a play for me."

Thanks to three first-half interceptions, including two by linebacker Kyle Goodchild, the Knights built a 23-7 lead. They had an opportunity to pad the cushion before halftime, but Boom fumbled on the Green Knights' 5 and Scott Wuensch returned it 95 yards for a touchdown.

It was one of three turnovers for Wartburg.

"It's almost the perfect way we'd want a first game to go," Willis said. "We did a lot of great things that should give us confidence and build off, but there's plenty of things to get the guys' attention with, and mistakes in close games that will cost you."

It's those type of miscues that kept Wartburg out of the playoffs the past three seasons and must be corrected heading into road games at Augsburg and Central -- the two teams it lost to last year.

"We've got to build on this to win the Iowa Conference," Yordi said. "We're capable of putting up more than 44 (points)."

Still, Willis, who earned his 80th win at Wartburg, was pleased with his team's intensity -- something it lacked in a scrimmage last week at Wisconsin-Platteville.

"It was a big step in the right direction," he said. "We really talked a lot about that. They bought into that. We need to do that every week."

Contact Matt Coss at (319) 291-1468 or matt.coss@wcfcourier.com

St. Norbert 0 13 7 0 " 20

Wartburg 9 14 14 7 " 44

FIRST QUARTER

Wart " FG Spencer Herzberg 20, 4:23

Wart " Alex Boom 1 run (kick blocked), 2:03

SECOND QUARTER

Wart " Jason Roskam 25 pass from Nick Yordi (Herzberg kick), 13:51

SNC " Jeremy Gezella 29 pass from Rob Berger (Roger Nault kick), 8:42

Wart " Marcus Hemesath 3 pass from Yordi (Herzberg kick), 4:54

SNC " Scott Wuensch 95 fumble recovery (kick failed), 0:25

THIRD QUARTER

Wart " Ryan Hoerner 30 pass from Yordi (Herzberg kick), 11:31

Wart " Boom 30 pass from Yordi (Herzberg kick), 7:54

SNC " Gezella 17 pass from Bryan Stoppenbach (Nault kick), 0:07

FOURTH QUARTER

Wart " Boom 1 run (Herzberg kick), 10:39

TEAM STATISTICS

SN Wart.

First downs 12 20

Rushes-yards 39-115 40-68

Passing yards 114 313

Comp-Att-Int. 8-19-3 18-28-1

Return yards 135 108

Punts-avg. 8-30.8 5-44.8

Fumbles-lost 0-0 3-2

Penalties-yards 7-53 4-30

Time of possession 27:50 32:10

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing

ST. NORBERT " Todd Sheedy 4-47, Rob Berger 6-37, A.J. Phillips 11-28, Dante Sims 8-23, Bryan Stoppenbach 10-minus 20.

WARTBURG " Alex Boom 29-70, Tim Jones 9-5, Nick Yordi 2-minus 7.

Passing

ST. NORBERT " Stoppenbach 6-11-1, 70 yards; Berger 2-8-2, 44 yards.

WARTBURG " Yordi 18-28-1, 313 yards.

Receiving

ST. NORBERT " Jeremy Gezella 4-69, Phillips 1-18, Nick Gorski 1-14, Sheedy 2-13.

WARTBURG " Jason Roskam 5-89, Justin Vetter 4-65, Ryan Hoerner 3-65, Boom 1-30, Matt Gustafson 1-28, Jones 1-17, Dan Bauder 2-16, Marcus Hemesath 1-3.