DePauw-Wabash game notes

Thursday, November 9, 2017

Saturday

Wabash (7-2, 6-2) at DePauw (8-1, 7-1)

Game time: 1:07 p.m. (gates open at 11:30 a.m.).

Location: Blackstock Stadium.

On the air: WGRE-FM 91.5 will broadcast the game. The game will be televised by Fox Sports Midwest, Fox Sports Indiana and FOX Sports College Central, as well as the FOX Sports Go app.

Series record: Wabash leads the all-time series 60-54-9, and leads 41-38-6 since the Monon Ball was introduced in 1932 as the traveling trophy.

NCAC impact: The winner will claim second place in the conference standings. DePauw’s only conference loss was 52-6 to Wittenberg, while Wabash lost 21-14 to Wittenberg and 16-13 to Ohio Wesleyan. Wittenberg is the only undefeated team the NCAC standings.

2016 meeting: DePauw broke a seven-game losing streak in the series with a tremendous fourth-quarter comeback.

DePauw quarterback Matt Hunt set numerous records and garnered many accolades over his four years, but one thing had eluded him was winning the Monon Bell game.

With 2:02 remaining, it looked like he and the Tigers would be returning to Greencastle without the 300-pound trophy. Wabash had just scored on Connor Rice’s 20-yard pass to Oliver Page to take a 34-30 lead.

Faced with 80 yards of turf ahead of him, Hunt was stopped at the line of scrimmage on first down but tossed an 18-yard pass to Ben Wilson on the next play. He then teamed with Ian Good for a 26-yard gain and picked up three on the ground on the next play to the Wabash 33. A 20-yard pass to Good followed before he connected with his brother, Andy, for a 13-yard score with 38 seconds left to make it 37-34.

The Tigers’ defense delivered the final blow as Chris Hawk sacked Rice on first down before Rice completed an 11-yard pass to Page. On third down, Nate Orrison forced Rice to fumble and then recovered it at the Wabash 41.

DePauw notes: The Tigers are 94-44 dating back to the beginning of the 2004 season and are 31-8 over the last four seasons ... this marks the 77th season of play at Blackstock Stadium where DePauw teams have posted a 212-141-5 record for a .599 winning percentage … prior to the construction of Blackstock Stadium in 1941, the Tigers played at the same location, then named Blackstock Field, beginning in 1921 … DePauw is 21st among Division III schools with 580 wins in 130 seasons.

DePauw enters the game ranked 16th in third-down conversions at 48.9% and led the nation after the second through fifth games.

Wabash notes: The Little Giants enter the game with one of the most potent rushing attacks in Division III as they average 264.4 yards on the ground per game and 5.1 yards per carry.

Ike James, who transferred from St. Joseph’s College, leads the way with 1,232 yards for an average of 136.9 yards per game while chewing up 5.2 yards per carry and crossing the goal line 17 times. Isaac Avant follows with 59.7 yards per game and 6.0 per attempt.

Quarterback Weston Murphy has completed 54.1 percent of his passes for 1,210 yards with eight touchdowns and six interceptions for a 113.9 efficiency rating. His top target is Dylan Buresh who’s caught 21 passes including a team-high three touchdowns. Kirby Cox follows with 17 grabs.

Evan Hansen leads the defensive unit with 68 tackles, while Byshup Rhodes follows with 34.

Rhodes has team-highs of 9.5 tackles for loss and 8.5 sacks. Brock Heffron has intercepted a team-best two passes.

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