Following last week's scrimmage against Franklin College, the Tiger football team will look for improvement in its usually strong defense.
While no score was kept during the game, head coach Robbie Long identified the run defense as the team's one major concern.
"On defense we have to stop the run better," Long said on WGRE's Tiger Talk on Wednesday. "That was the biggest thing. We weren't as efficient at stopping the run as we should've been."
Tomorrow, the Tigers will face the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, where the Fightin' Engineers' main strength on offense comes from junior all-region running back, Kyle Kovach.
Last season, Kovach rushed for 1,056 yards and led the team with 11 touchdowns. The key for the Tiger defense will be stopping Kovach, Rose-Hulman's No. 1 offensive threat.
"They're going to get the ball in his hands maybe 70 percent of the time," Long said. "The issue is that we don't know where he is going to touch it. You have to keep him contained, and you cannot allow him to gain momentum."
This week's training schedule has been different from the one to which the Tigers have become accustomed in years past. Usually, after their first scrimmage of the year, they would have another week of practice time to work on their weaknesses before their first regular season game.
After 31 players graduated with the class of 2011, Long said he expected it would be difficult to insert new players but is confident that his team will now be ready to take on the competition.
"We've had a great camp and guys are competing for those holes that are open," Long said. "Any time you're going into the opener and there are some unknowns, you have to rely on who you are and that's what we're doing this week."
One of those gaping holes is in the quarterback position. Senior Ethan Schweir drew mixed results from Coach Long in last weekend's scrimmage.
"He's getting better every day," Long said. "We are in the unfortunate situation to have a one-year guy come in to be our starter, but we're confident in the things that Ethan has done to this point."
Junior wide receiver Taylor Wagner, who has been taking practice repetitions with Schweir on the second and third team drills since his freshman year, is confident in his quarterback to step up and show the Tiger offense something they haven't seen in a QB in some time.
"One thing that people don't know is that he's an athletic quarterback," said Wagner on Tiger Talk. "He can get out of the pocket and make plays on the run which is something we haven't had in the past."
For Wagner, standing at 5'8" and joining a wide-receiving crew generally consisting of smaller and quicker guys, a mobile quarterback will be important in extending the play when they are matched up with taller cornerbacks and safeties.
"This year we're much smaller," Wagner said. "We can make more plays after the catch than the years past, and we're hoping to make a lot of plays there."
Wagner and the rest of the wide outs will be trying to replace the incredible production of two-time all-American wide receiver Alex Koors and his partner Brayden Dahlstrom. Those two players led DePauw to the only two post-season appearances in school history and created excitement for this year's team to continue the tradition.
While the team spends this season as an independent school, not a part of a conference, they still hope to capture an outright bid to the NCAA Div. III playoffs.
"You don't win championships by looking to the national championship at day one," Long said. "You have to take care of business every week, and if you do that you're going to be in a very good position."
The Tigers will take that game-by-game mindset into tomorrow's game against Rose-Hulman and look to start off the season with energy.
"Last year, we didn't come out firing from the first kickoff," Wagner said. "We need to come out ready to go, focused and really excited. As long as we're playing and having fun, that can accomplish a lot."