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Hunt accounts for six as Tigers topple Wooster, 49-20
DePauw junior quarterback Matt Hunt threw for 264 yards and four scores and rushed for 61 yards and two more touchdowns to lead the Tigers to a 49-20 North Coast Athletic Conference win over visiting Wooster.
The Tigers improved to 2-0 overall and 1-0 in the NCAC, while the Fighting Scots slipped to 1-2 overall and 1-1 in the conference.
Hunt connected with Connor Jeffers for a 22-yard score with 7:51 left in the first and then scored himself on a four-yard run with 3:44 left in the stanza to make it 14-0.
Wooster drove to the DePauw 28 at the quarter break, but consecutive sacks by Kevin Kiyosaki and Will Longthorne pushed the Scots back another 12 yards and they were forced to punt. After the Tigers failed to connect on a 28-yard field goal, Wooster drove to just past midfield and Antonio Bailey scored on a 49-yard run to cut the lead to 14-6 with 7:42 left in the half.
DePauw came right back with an eight-play, 71-yard drive capped by Hunt's 11-yard scoring pass to Chase Sadler to extend the lead to 21-6 , but the Scots trimmed the lead to 21-13 on David Smith's 15-yard pass to Tyson Vogel.
After the ensuing kickoff, the Tigers started on their own 25 yard line with 50 seconds left in the half. Hunt completed three straight passes to Nolan Ayres to get DePauw to midfield. The Tigers drove to the Wooster 24 with 8.6 seconds left and Hunt was forced to run on second down and he scampered in and out of traffic for a touchdown as the horn sounded. The point-after gave the Tigers a 28-13 halftime lead.
Cody Baker intercepted Smith on Wooster's first series of the second half and on DePauw's second offensive play, Hunt connected with Jake Hagan for a 29-yard score. Hunt and Hagan again joined forces on a 62-yard scoring play to push the DePauw lead to 42-13 with 8:40 left in the third.
Early in the fourth DePauw's Jason Kirchhoff carried 10 straight times for 77 yards with the final seven pushing the Tigers' lead to 49-13. Wooster added a score on its next series as Gary Muntean scored from one yard out.
Hunt completed 18-of-25 and totaled 325 yards of offense on 32 plays. Kirchhoff finished with his second-straight 100 yard rushing effort as he totaled 111 on 18 carries. Hunt and Gruber each rushed for 61 yards. Hagan, Jeffers and Ayres each caught three passes with Hagan totaling 101 yards.
Russell Boston paced Wooster with 64 rushing yards and Bailey added 62. Smith completed 23-of-34 for 170 yards and Muntean finished with 8-of-13 for 52 yards. Tyson Vogel caught 15 passes for 104 yards.
Defensively, Philip Ganser led DePauw with 13 tackles, while Will Longthorne had 10 stops including a sack and four tackles for losses. He also added a forced fumble and a pass breakup.
Christian Golden paced Wooster with 12 tackles and Jake Vellucci had 10.
DePauw outgained Wooster, 529-391, and held a 30-27 edge in first downs. The Tigers had a balance of 265 rushing yards and 264 through the air. Wooster totaled 169 rushing yards and 222 in the air.
The Tigers return to action on Saturday, Sept. 26, when they travel to Hiram.