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Countdown to Monon: The Team -- DePauw combines youth and experience
The DePauw football team began the season with an unaccomplished roster full of seniors who had been waiting three years for their chance to lead, sophomores who were thrown into a tough situation in their first year on campus and a new group of freshmen brought in by the new coaching staff.
The mix has started to blend as the season has gone along, with seniors Mitch Dwenger, Patrick Keller and Dennis Callicutt leading the defense at every level.
DPU has played several freshmen each of the past two seasons, but there were questions coming into the year of whether they played because of ability or necessity.
It's fairly clear now they're able.
Dwenger is third on the team in tackles with 49 and leads a linebacking group includes a pair of freshmen standouts, Will Longthorne and Tommy Gray, and sophomores Nick Freund and Justin Murray.
Safety Cody Baker, an instinctive freshman, leads the team 69 tackles. The young secondary has become more consistent play-to-play and game-to-game as the season has progressed, with Callicutt and sophomores Adam Folta and Hamm Hooper stepping up to become solid cogs.
The Tigers haven't forced a ton of turnovers as the team has just six interceptions, but they haven't given up a lot of big plays either.
The defensive line has dealt with injuries throughout the year, including Keller. That unit is among the most experienced on the team as seniors Tophel Secuskie, Michael McManis and Indi Lavarias have all seen time as starters. The best freshman in the group has been Michael Mitsch.
Offensively the Tigers have found much more balance this year than last. DPU had just one player with a 100-yard rushing game last year but the Tigers have done it four times this year, including three of the last four weeks.
Senior Nikko Sansone converted from wide receiver after the first week of the season and leads the team with 636 yards and five touchdowns. He's also added 243 receiving yards.
A pair of other running backs, senior Armani Cato and sophomore Amen Galley, have also seen time in the backfield. Cato had 105 rush yards in the win last week at Hiram and Galley has 187 yards this year.
The quarterback position was in flux last season and for the first few games, it appeared that might happen this year, too. Murray started the first three games -- he took every snap from center in the week one loss, the first time that had happened for a DePauw quarterback since early last year --but split snaps with freshman Matt Hunt in week two and three.
Hunt took over midway through the third game and has led the team since. Murray selflessly converted to linebacker midseason and Hunt has guided the team to a 4-2 record since becoming starter.
He's thrown for 1,701 and 14 touchdowns against just three interceptions. Hunt is poised and acceptably mobile, and he regularly pushes the ball down the field to give his receivers chances for big plays while avoiding putting it in spots the defense can take advantage.
The receivers include a single virtuoso and a deep, interchangeable group of complimentary players.
Sophomores Connor Jeffers and Billy McClamroch, juniors D.J. Steward and J.D. Robinson and senior Kevin Ude have all had games with multiple receptions and at least 35 yards, helping to spread the field for the Tigers not just end zone to end zone, but sideline to sideline.
The best of the group, and the best player on the team, has been their star, record-setting senior Barry Flynn.