Following their first loss of the season last week, the Tigers were in need of a solid performance on Saturday against Denison to reestablish themselves as one of the top teams in the conference.
DePauw got just that in what proved to be a hard-fought nail-bitter that resulted in a 31-29 Tigers victory.
“It was a competitive football game, which was what we thought going into it,” said head coach Bill Lynch. “They’re 6-1, we’re 6-1. We were both playing for the same thing in that the winner kind of eliminated the other one in the conference race.”
In the first quarter, the Tigers were able to capitalize early on with a four play, 70 yard opening drive, highlighted by a 56 yard pass from junior quarterback Matt Hunt to senior tight end Tyler Leising on the first play of the game.
Sophomore running back Jack Gruber was able to punch the ball in on a one-yard run to give the Tigers the early 7-0 lead.
Denison’s first drive proved futile. However, a great punt pinned the Tigers deep at their own one-yard line and allowed Big Red to force a safety to cut the lead to 7-2.
Not wasting any time, on their very next possession, Denison reclaimed the lead on a 53-yard pass play.
Trailing 7-9, the remainder of the first quarter belonged to the Tigers as junior kicker Marko Adams put up a pair of field goals to reclaim a very slim 13-9 lead.
The second quarter was fairly uneventful on offense until the very end.
With just 32 seconds remaining, Denison scored on a one-yard rush, sending the Tigers into the half trailing 13-16.
The second half opened up strong for DePauw, as they were able to force a safety early and capitalize on the following offensive drive with a 15-yard touchdown pass from Hunt to senior wide receiver Connor Jeffers.
Denison was able to reclaim the lead with a field goal with three minutes remaining in the third but it did not last long as first-year wide receiver Andy Hunt hauled in a 15-yard touchdown pass with 32 seconds remaining in the quarter.
With that touchdown, the Tigers led Denison 28-19 heading into the fourth quarter.
But the Big Red was not going to go out without a fight in front of their home crowd.
With little time remaining in the game, they were able to string together two scoring drives to take a 28-29 lead lead with just over a minute and a half to go.
But the Tigers responded to the pressure with a 56-yard drive in the final minute and a half to set up a game-winning 42 field goal from Marko Adams.
“You practice [these final drives] preseason camp, you practice [them] every week,” said Lynch. “The biggest thing is you don’t have to do anything special, you just have to do your job.”
The dramatic 31-29 victory was very relieving for a Tigers team that was in danger of losing two games in a row.
Matt’s only major concern following this game was red zone efficiency.
“We need to focus on getting points on the board when we are in the red zone. There were a couple of times on Saturday when we were in the red zone and didn't score,” said Matt. “That can be a huge momentum swing in a game and something that could catch up with us in the coming weeks.”
The overall consensus from players was that Marko Adams was the player of the game.
“[He] was at his best all year,” Hunt claimed.
Matt played very efficiently, completing 24 of 36 passes for 308 yards, throwing two touchdowns and zero interceptions in the process. Hunt also led the team in the rushing attack with 75 yards on the ground.
Andy led the team in receiving with 10 catches for 124 yards and a touchdown. Jeffers also hauled in five catches for 61 yards and a touchdown.
"It was a great team win,” said Matt. “I have a lot of respect for Denison. They are a good team, and I’m happy we pulled out a win and played a full 60 minute game.”
The victory on Saturday should propel the Tigers along as they head into their final two regular season games.
Their next matchup will be against Oberlin on Saturday, Nov. 7, at 1 p.m. at Blackstock Stadium.