DePauw football finding positives from 10-7 loss in season-opener

DePauw had no trouble punching the ball into the endzone during practice when it got into the redzone, but the team struggled with turnovers against Sewanee on Saturday. (Banner Graphic/GRANT WIEMAN)

It's hard to find any silver linings in a season-opening loss, but the DePauw University football team proved Saturday at Sewanee they're a vastly improved team from last season, despite being dropped 10-7.

With a few days to process the defeat, head coach Bill Lynch said he is "disappointed, but not discouraged" and he was pleased with a lot of things about the way his team played, particularly on defense. Sewanee runs a triple-option, the only time DPU will see it this year, and the defensive line and linebackers executed their schemes well.

"I thought the defensive staff did a great job of preparing our guys, because we were in position most of the day," Lynch said. "The defense played very well. ... With that triple-option stuff where lineman get chopped and cut (blocked) and other things they normally don't see, it's a very difficult offense to play against."

On offense, despite scoring just one time, the Tigers moved the ball fairly well. DPU mixed in several formations, including a pistol, and gained 88 yards on the ground.

It's not a great total, but the numbers don't tell the full story.

"Offensively we did some good things, we just broke down at the wrong times," Lynch said. "At times we ran the ball. We blocked them decent, but we just couldn't break loose. ... We showed some signs, but we just didn't have the consistency."

DPU probably did enough good things to get a win most weeks, but they didn't have any big plays and Sewanee did. The Tigers had three turnovers and zero takeaways, and gave up field position early in the game on sloppy penalties.

More of a problem, Lynch said, is that just thrice on offense the team had what he considers a "big play"-- a 12-yard rush or a 20-yard pass.

"It's the age-old thing: some guy has got to make a play," Lynch said. "It's a combination of (execution and play-calling). We had a few chances and didn't execute. We've got to make sure we have some things in the game plan that can create some big plays. ... In college football it's too hard to just drive the football all day long. You've got to get some big plays."

DePauw, with a bye this week, will have plenty of time to get that corrected, but their next opponent is one of the best on its schedule. Wittenberg has been a traditional football power and finished last year 10-2 after a loss in the second round of the playoffs.