DePauw University’s Amen Galley attempts to recover a ball
fumbled by teammate Matt Hunt during
the Monon Bell Game at Wabash College.
SAM CARAVANA / THE DEPAUW
It’s funny how much weight one game can hold in a team’s season. There’s no doubt that DePauw University’s final game against Wabash College was a disappointment, but the Monon Classic does not define the Tigers’ entire season.
This was the Tigers’ year in so many ways. For starters, this was the team’s first winning season since 2010, which is perhaps the biggest indicator of how much the program has progressed.
“The program has come a long way in the past four years,” senior tight end J.D. Robinson said. “Coach Lynch and his staff have done a great job of getting guys to buy into the system, which has been crucial in turning around the program.”
After helping the Tigers bring back the bell in 2004 during his one-year stint as head coach, Lynch returned last season and has succeeded in bringing the Tigers out of a stretch where they went a combined 10-19 over the previous three years.
“Our goal is always going to be to win the conference championship, there’s no question about that,” Lynch said. “Coming off a 4-6 year… the goal was to separate ourselves.”
The team did just that, finishing the season third in the North Coast Athletic Conference standings with an impressive 7-3 record. The Tigers took down Sewanee: The University of the South, Denison University, and the College of Wooster, all teams who defeated DePauw last season.
“We beat some very good football teams and made huge strides in establishing a competitive spot within our conference,” Robinson said.
The Tigers finished only behind Wittenberg University (9-1, 9-0) and Wabash (9-1, 8-1), who accounted for two of DePauw’s three losses this season.
“The Wittenberg game was disappointing because we didn’t give ourselves a chance because of all the turnovers,” Lynch said. “We had 11 turnovers for the season, and seven of them came in [that] game.”
That loss seemed to spark a fire in the Tigers, as they went on a three-game win streak before dropping their second game of the season to Ohio Wesleyan University, a game that, according to Lynch, wasn’t “played with the energy it takes to win a game.”
Nevertheless, like what was seen after Wittenberg, the disappointing loss to Ohio Wesleyan drove the Tigers toward another three-game win streak, leaving only the Monon Classic left to play.
Considering that the Monon game always closes out DePauw’s regular season, it’s hard to forget it, especially after recognizing its importance.
“As a coach, you look at the totality of the season,” Lynch said. “There’s a lot of big games along the way, but for the foreseeable future, if you’re going to win this championship, you’re going to have to beat Wabash. That’s what Wittenberg’s been able to do… We have to get ourselves in that mix.”
The same can be said for Tiger players, who will head into the offseason more determined than ever to get back at Wabash next fall.
“It’s definitely motivation,” sophomore quarterback Matt Hunt said. “We will carry that feeling we had after the game with us all offseason.”
Junior wide receiver Connor Jeffers agreed.
“I think more than anything the Bell Game showed us where our team needs to be next year,” Jeffers said. “Another year of experience and work in the weight room for everyone will go a long way in getting us closer to where we want to be as a team.”
With Lynch at the helm and players like Hunt and Jeffers returning at key positions, this could be the beginning of DePauw’s return to the elite of the NCAC.