Tigers open 128th season under the lights at Earlham

DePauw opens its 128th season of intercollegiate football with the only non-conference game on the slate when it travels to Richmond to face Earlham College tonight.

Kickoff at Darrell Beane Stadium is set for 7:30 p.m.

The teams meet for the 39th time with DePauw leading the all-time series, 33-4-1. The first game was in 1899 with the last meeting on Oct. 21, 1967. DePauw has won the last 25 encounters, with Earlham's last victory coming in 1912.

DePauw is coming off a 7-3 season and a 6-3 mark in its third North Coast Athletic Conference campaign. The Tigers' three-win improvement from 2013 ranked 14th in Division III last year.

Earlham, members of the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference, opened with a 74-13 loss at Olivet last week and is coming off an 0-10 season last year.

The game will be carried by DePauw's WGRE (91.5 FM) with Earlham providing live stats and video.

The Tigers made great strides in coach Bill Lynch's second year back at the helm in Greencastle, bettering their scoring average by more than 10 points to 31.8 per game in 2015.

Defensively, the Tigers barely gave up two touchdowns a game at 15.8 points.

The Tigers look to continue the resurgence in 2015 in an attempt to break into the elite level of the NCAC alongside perennial powers Wittenberg and arch rival Wabash.

It won't be easy, as both Wabash (No. 9) and Wittenberg (No. 17) are top 20 teams in the latest D3football.com coaches poll.

The Tigers were, however, picked to finish third in the NCAC in a preseason poll of the 10 conference head coaches.

Highlights of the coming season include the Tigers' home opener against Wooster on Sept. 19, an Old Gold Day date with Wittenberg on Oct. 10 and the annual Monon Bell Classic with Wabash, which DePauw hosts on Nov. 14.