DePauw to play in 122nd Monon Bell

DePauw wraps up the 2015 regular season with the renewal of one of college football's oldest and most colorful rivalries as the Tigers host Wabash College in the Monon Bell game.

Kickoff for the 122nd gridiron meeting be- tween the two schools is set for 1:07 p.m. on Saturday. The teams are meeting for the 84th time since the Monon Bell was introduced into the series in 1932. The rivalry started in 1890 and this marks the 105th consecutive year the schools are squaring off dating back to 1911.

DePauw enters the contest with an 8-1 overall record and a 7-1 mark in North Coast Athletic Conference play after last Saturday's 53-0 home win over Oberlin. The Tigers are ranked 25th in the latest coaches' poll and are receiving votes in the D3football.com rankings.

Wabash, ranked seventh by D3football.com and in the latest coaches' poll, is 9-0 overall and 8-0 in conference play following Saturday's 38-7 home win over Denison. The Little Giants clinched a share of the NCAC title with the win.

The Little Giants have won the last six meetings which is the longest streak in the rivalry since Wabash won six straight from 1949-54.

AT STAKE

With a win, DePauw would share the NCAC title with the Little Giants and would earn the conference's automatic qualification into the NCAA Division III Championship.

A Wabash win would give the Little Giants the outright NCAC championship and the conference's automatic qualification into the NCAA Division III Championship.

DEPAUW UPDATE

The Tigers are coming off a 53-0 win over Oberlin in which the offense totaled 598 yards and the defense recorded the third shutout of the season.

Balance has been the key on offense as the Tigers have scored 25 touchdowns each on the ground and through the air. Of its 498.7 yards of offense per game, 234.6 are on the ground and 264.1 through the air.

Junior quarterback Matt Hunt directs the offense

and has completed 67.1 percent of his passes for 2,169 yards with 24 touchdowns and three interceptions for a 174.85 efficiency rating.

In all, 19 different players have caught passes with Andy Hunt (Matt's brother) leading the way with 35 receptions for team-highs of 616 yards and six touchdowns. Jake Hagan follows with 29 grabs for 443 yards and five scores, while Connor Jeffers has hauled in 18 for 332 yards and four touchdowns. Ian Good, who moved from quarter- back, has caught nine passes, but four have been for scores.

Following the loss of Amen Galley due to injury, Jason Kirchhoff and Jack Gruber have taken on the bulk of the carries. Kirchhoff averages 92.4 yards per game and 6.2 yards per carry and has scored nine rushing touchdowns. He's topped the 100-yard plateau four times this year. Gruber averages 41.6 yards per outing with five touchdowns. Matt Hunt averages 51.9 rushing yards per game for an average of 5.3 per carry with four scores.

Defensively, the Tigers are limiting the oppostion to just 14.3 points and 69.7 rushing yards per game which ranks seventh in Division III.

Will Longthorne leads the defense with 86 tackles including 6.2 solos per game. Philip Ganser follows with 70 stops with Thomas Gray and Cody Baker each chipping in 46.

Longthorne paces the squad with 14.0 tackles for loss with Nate Orrison adding 11.5. Orrison is the team leader with 7.5 sacks and Chris Hawk follows with 6.0. Eight different players have combined for nine interceptions with Adam Folta leading the way with two. Longthorne also leads with six pass breakups.

Kicker Marko Adams is the team's leading scorer with 64 points as he's connected on 43- of-48 extra-points and 7-of-16 field goals. Adams booted a career-long 49 yarder at Denison and his 42-yarder with 2.5 seconds left in that game gave the Tigers the win. Adams has also booted 19 of his 68 kickoffs for touchbacks.

Paul Simon missed the first four games due to injury, but has returned to average 40.9 yards per punt with four landing inside the opponent's 20 and seven traveling 50 or more yards.

Since moving into a kickoff return spot in the Denison game, Andy Hunt has averaged 28.5 yards per return. Kirchhoff follows with 23.3 and Jeffers 21.1. Kirchhoff is the top punt returner with 8.4 per return.

SCOUTING WABASH

For the second time in the last five years, Wabash enters the game with a 9-0 record after cruising through its schedule. The Little Giants trailed only after the first possession of their opening game at Hampden-Sydney and they've won every game by at least 24 points.

Senior running back Mason Zurek has been the key on offense, averaging 128 rushing yards per game and 6.5 yards per carry. He's scored 15 touchdowns on the ground. Shamir Johnson follows with 59.2 yards per game, while averaging 5.7 per carry. As a team, Wabash averages 254.7 yards per contest and 5.2 per carry.

Quarterback Connor Rice directs the offense and has completed 56.3 percent of his passes for 1,751 yards with 14 touchdowns and four interceptions for a 136.49 efficiency rating.

Drake Christen tops the receivers with 49 catches totaling 427 yards and a team-high five touchdowns, while Sammy Adams follows with 19 grabs for 346 yards.

The Wabash defense has again put up some impressive numbers as it has recorded three shutouts and held seven opponents to 10 or fewer points. The Little Giants lead the nation in rushing defense (38.9 yards/game) and are third in total defense (189.4). The 6.6 points they allow per game rank third in Division III.

Austin Brown paces the defense with 57 total tackles, while Connor Ludwig follows with 53. Tyler McCullen lead wtih 15.5 tackles for loss including a team-high 8.5 sacks, while Connor Karns follows with 14.5 tackles for loss of which 8.0 are sacks.

Brown and Brian Parks have each intercepted four passes, while the unit has totaled 17 interceptions and returned three for touchdowns.

Andrew Tutsie has been solid by booting 49- of-51 extra-points and connecting on 8-of-10 field goals. His long field goal of the year is 39 yards and two of his 59 kickoffs have gone for touch- backs. Derek Fox has handled the punting chores and averages 36.8 with 13 inside the opponent's 20 and two of 50 or more yards.

With the defense putting up the numbers it has, the Little Giants have only had 12 kickoff returns. Matthew Dickerson, Jr., has returned five for an average of 23.4 yards. The punt return duties have been shared by Justin Woods, Kirby Cox and Christen with Christen leading with 10.0 yards per returning including one for a touchdown.

REVIEWING LAST YEAR'S GAME

Host Wabash scored on four of its first five of- fensive possessions in the opening half and retained possession of the Monon Bell with a 27-3 win over DePauw.

The Tigers finished the season with a 7-3 re- cord and in third place in the North Coast Athletic Conference with a 6-3 league mark, while the 17th-ranked Little Giants improved to 9-1 overall and 8-1 in NCAC play.

Wabash took its opening drive to the DePauw 44, but three straight incomplete passes forced the Little Giants to punt and Derek Fox landed it at the Tigers' 15.

DePauw punted it back after a three-and-out, but Justin Woods returned Paul Simon's punt 17 yards to the DePauw 37. Wabash picked up a pair of first downs before the DePauw defense held and Andrew Tutsie came on to boot a 31-yard field goal with 9:43 left to make it 3-0.

The Tigers converted a third-and-14 with quar- terback Matt Hunt running for 15. Amen Galley added eight on the next play, but DePauw was again forced to punt. Starting at their own 11, the Little Giants brought in Connor Rice to direct the offense. The Little Giants advanced into DePauw territory after Rice connected with Houston Hodges for a 46-yard gain on the fourth play.

Rice teamed with Drake Christen for a 9-yard score on a third-down play that gave the Little Gi- ants a 10-0 lead with 2:17 left in the quarter.

On the ensuing possession, Hunt picked up five on a first-down run and then found tight end Jay D. Robinson open over the middle and Robinson appeared to be headed for a score before he fell down at the Wabash 5 for a 74-yard gain.

A pair of Jack Gruber runs each lost one yard and Hunt's third-down pass to Robinson in the back of the end zone fell incomplete. Marko Adams came on and nailed a 24-yard field goal just nine seconds into the second quarter.

Wabash then extended the lead to 17-3 after driving 75 yards in 11 plays with Mason Zurek scoring on a 3-yard run.

The Little Giants' defensive pressure on De- Pauw's next series forced Hunt into losses on three straight plays back to the Tigers' 13. A short punt gave Wabash a short field again as they started at the DePauw 42.

DePauw's defense limited the damage and held Wabash to a 19-yard field goal from Tutsie with 2:37 left in the half.

The Tigers drove to the Wabash 30 on their final series of the half, but Adams was short on a 48-yard field goal attempt.

Wabash controlled the ball for most of the third quarter, but DePauw's Clark Costello blocked Tutsie's 36-yard field goal try and Tutsie missed from 44 after the Little Giants covered 62 yards in 16 plays over a span of 7:37.

The game's final points came when Connor Ludwig blocked a Simon punt and recovered it in the end zone with 9:30 left in the contest.

DePauw's offense totaled just 151 yards and six first downs, while gaining only 40 rushing yards. Wabash totaled 397 yards, but just 134 on the ground after averaging over 256 per game. Galley paced DePauw with 52 yards on 12 carries, while Holmes had 76 in 24 attempts for the Little Giants and Zurek added 49.

Hunt completed 6-15 passes for 111 yards, while Michael Putko was 20-31 for 183 yards and Rice completed 6-8 for 80 yards and a score. Jake Hagan caught three passes for 27 yards for DePauw, while Christen had 13 grabs for 103 yards and Sammy Adams added six for 56.

Will Longthorne led the DePauw defense with 14 tackles with Thomas Gray and Garrett Rice each chipping in 12. Costello and Peter Nelson shared a sack.

Cody Buresh, Austin Brown and Ethan Buresh each totaled seven tackles in the win. Cody Buresh also added three of Wabash's five sacks and totaled 4.5 tackles for losses of 26 yards and forced a fumble. The Little Giants totaled 10 tackles for losses of 51 yards.