DePauw grinds out win over Allegheny 23-7

Saturday, October 26, 2013
Senior receiver Jackson Kirtley reaches out to attempt a one-handed catch. (Banner Graphic/GRANT WIEMAN)

The DePauw University football team has come a long way in a short time this season, but during Saturday's game against Allegheny the Tigers faced a new foe: confidence.

Riding a two-game win streak, DPU (3-4, 3-3 NCAC) came out slow against the Gators and fell behind early. The Tigers held Allegheny scoreless for final 56 minutes of the game and grinded out a win 23-7.

"We're starting to get a little roll going," DePauw coach Bill Lynch said. "I thought the defense played great to today and the offense ... made the plays when we needed to."

Saturday's game was the best defensive performance of the Tigers all season, holding the Gators (0-8) to just 202 yards and eight first downs.

Senior linebacker Mitch Dwenger led the way for the Tigers, picking up seven tackles, one for a loss. Freshman Will Longthorne also had seven tackles for DPU.

Allegheny sophomore Nick Deichler broke open for a 46-yard touchdown just four minutes into the game to give his team a 7-0 lead, but the Tigers struck back two possessions later.

Longthorne intercepted a pass from Gators senior John Nigro and returned it to the DePauw 40. Five plays later freshman quarterback Matt Hunt connected with senior Barry Flynn for a 39-yard touchdown to level the score late in the first quarter.

Hunt, one of the top-rated freshmen in all of college football, finished the game 15-for-32 for 212 yards with two touchdowns and zero interceptions. Flynn had seven catches for 78 yards.

"You could tell early on that (Hunt) had the ability and he was ready to play," Lynch said. "He was well-trained in high school and a he's a confident guy, but he really can throw the ball and he can make all the different throws.

"A lot of freshmen aren't ready to make all the throws, but he is and he's getting better each week."

Flynn, a former basketball player, has at least six catches in every game and now has 54 for 600 yards and five touchdowns this season.

The Gators did everything they could to slow him down, including putting a defensive on him in man-to-man coverage at one point.

"It's not only because he's 6-5, it's because he's got tremendous ball skills," Lynch said. "Just like how he was a great rebounder, he can go up and get a ball. He does it about as well as anybody I've been around."

With the score tied, DePauw's defense got to work, forcing Allegheny to a three-and-out on each of its next four possessions.

After a slow start, the Tigers started playing like they'd expected to, dominating the Gators at the line of scrimmage. Senior running back Nikko Sansone carried the load for the Tigers. He had 29 rushes for 120 yards and was never brought down behind the line of scrimmage.

Sansone left the game briefly in the first half with, returned with wraps on his ribs and finished with 17 carries before the break. After converting from wide receiver earlier this season, Sansone has become a workhorse for the Tigers. He had 39 carries for 200 yards last week.

"When you carry the ball as much as he has you're going to beat up," Lynch said. "He's really helped us offensively since we moved him to tailback."

The Tigers moved the ball consistently between the 20s but stalled in the red zone, settling for field goals to expand their lead. Senior kicker Eric Malm, who had a game-winning kick with 0:04 left last week at Ohio Wesleyan, was 3-for-4 on field goal attempts Saturday.

Leading 10-7, a DePauw drive stalled on the Allegheny 38 with two minutes remaining in the first half. DPU punted and the Gators tried to run out the clock.

Knowing his team had three timeouts left and confident the defense could make a play, Lynch called a timeout. On third-and-1, Anthony Opet took the ball up the middle to try to finish off the half, but Dwenger got into the backfield and forced the Gators to punt.

The Tigers took over at the Allegheny 40 and got inside the 15 before a penalty forced them to settle for a field goal.

"I think he's done a good job with it and he's got some confidence now," Lynch said. "We thought about going for it (the previous drive). ... I was a little bit disappointed we didn't punch it in and get a touchdown there because I really felt like going up 10 at the half would have made a big difference but we'll take the field goal and it helped."

Taking a six-point lead into the second half, the Tigers set to work on clock. They finished with 28 carries in the second half against 10 pass attempts.

Hunt had 32 rush yards, junior H-back J.D. Robinson four carries for 25 yards, sophomore Amen Galley four carries for 22 yards and senior Armani Cato four carries for 18 yards.

After their first drive the Gators only got into DePauw territory three times, never closer than the 29-yard line.

The three-game win streak is DPU's longest since beating Ohio Wesleyan, Austin and Albion late in 2011.

The Tigers have a home game next week against Wooster (3-3, 3-2 NCAC) and have a favorable schedule that gives them a chance to enter the Monon Bell game with a winning record.

"When we went into (the season), our whole goal was that we wanted to get a little better each week," Lynch said. "I think we've done that. ... Overall, as a team, we're getting a little better each week and that's all you can ask for.

"Then, generally, the record is going to take care of itself. ... I'm really proud of the way the guys have kept working and we're getting a little confidence now, too."

DePauw will host Wooster on Saturday at 1 p.m.



At DePauw
Allegheny.........7 0 0 0 -- 7
DePauw............7 6 0 10 -- 23

Scoring summary
1st quarter
A 10:58 -- Deichler 46 yd run (Mong kick), 0-7
D 3:30 -- Flynn 39 yd pass from Hunt (Malm kick), 7-7

2nd quarter
D 8:39 -- Malm 31 yd field goal, 10-7
D 0:11 -- Malm 41 yd field goal, 13-7

4th quarter
D 9:41 -- Malm 22 yd field goal, 16-7
D 7:10 -- Robinson 22 yd pass from Hunt (Malm kick), 23-7

Team stats

*ACDPU
1st down218
Net yards202427
Rushing24-10248-215
Pass yards100212
Punt-yards7-2796-190
Int-return yard0-02-15
Kickoff-yards2-1096-356
Punt returns1-13-38
Kick returns5-1072-37
Third-down2-137-18
Fourth-down0-21-1
Sacks-yards0-01-7
Penalties1-55-55
Time of poss.22:0437:56

Individual stats
Allegheny
Rushing: Deichler 8-71; Opet 8-26; McLaughlin 4-12; Campbell 2-1; Nigro 1-(-7)
Passing: Nigro 14-27-2-65; McLaughlin 1-1-0-35
Receiving: Niklaus 6-23; Emigh 4-46; Deichler 2-16; Morton 1-8; Campbell 1-4; McFarland 1-3

DePauw
Rushing: Sansone 29-120; Hunt 4-32; Robinson 4-25; Galley 4-22; Cato 4-18; Kirchhoff 1-0
Passing: Hunt 15-32-0-212
Receiving: Flynn 7-78; Jeffers 4-68; Sansone 2-37; Robinson 1-22; McClamroch 1-7

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