Last year, Wabash football matched history by keeping the Monon Bell ringing through the streets of Crawfordsville for the seventh consecutive year. 2016 has undoubtedly been a year of extraordinary, historic happenings: the Cowboys are 7-1, the Cubs won the World Series, America has mourned the loss of a beloved gorilla for the past six months, and Donald Trump will soon be the Chief Executive of the United States. We will soon be able to add another record-breaking historic moment to that list: Wabash’s eighth straight Monon Bell win.
Next week, a sound that current DePauw students have only heard from across a football field will bellow throughout the brick paths and sidewalks of Wabash College for yet another year. All next week, the bell will move around campus with students rocking that 300-pound behemoth back and forth.
It is not just because I am a proud student of Wabash College that I think history will be made on Saturday. Wabash is currently tied with Wittenberg for first in the NCAC with a record of 8-1. While DePauw is not far behind with a record of 7-2, the loss of a very winnable game to the Ohio Wesleyan Battling Bishops raises eyebrows. With that loss, DePauw is essentially out of conference championship contention. Wabash on the other hand, even with their early season defeat to Wittenberg, still has a shot at a conference championship and a berth in postseason play. This is a must-win game for the Little Giants, as another loss would put the team out of contention for postseason play. The Little Giants don’t want to end their season on Saturday, especially at the hands of DePauw.
In last year’s matchup, Wabash bested DePauw in nearly every aspect of the game. Heading into this year’s Monon Bell, Wabash and DePauw currently sit at one and two in the conference in highest-scoring offense, but have been very different this season on the offensive side of the ball. Wabash has had to rely on different parts of the offense to exploit weaknesses in the opposing defense, which will help them heading into this weekend. DePauw, on the other hand, has a predominantly ground and pound style of offense and leads the NCAC in rushing offense with Wabash sitting just behind them in second. When it comes to the passing game, Connor Rice ’17, behind Wabash’s experienced all-conference offensive line, has been able to shred opposing defense by throwing for over 1,400 passing yards and 14 touchdowns this season. With Rice at the helm and powerful set of running backs to support him, Wabash’s offense will go to work on Saturday and put up big points against the sixth ranked defense in the NCAC. DePauw’s powerful running game just won’t be enough to match Connor Ludwig ’17, Ethan Buresh ’17, Austin Brown ’17 and the rest of the best defense in the NCAC.
This year will surely be another exciting Monon Bell experience for the Wabash faithful and the few DePauw fans who decide to make the drive. At last year’s game, Wabash students, faculty, and alumni outnumbered DePauw fans both in numbers and in noise. Without the Tiger logo on the center of the field, one might have mistaken the contest as a Wabash home game. Well, it will likely be the same old story this year, as the DePauw football team travels to Crawfordsville with few supporters behind them.
Wabash’s Hollett Little Giant Stadium has a wonderful visiting section that will most likely be pretty empty or filled with scarlet and white, so to any DePauw students and fans that decide to go out of their way 35 minutes, we’ll keep the gates open and a few seats empty for you.
Wabash makes history. Bell rings in Crawfordsville (again).
Wabash wins 34-20.