The Tigers football program defeated the visiting Oberlin College Yeomen, 45-11 on Saturday.
The team displayed its dominance in front of a crowd of 2,003 including University staff, students, faculty and alumni. Former coach and Indiana Football Hall of Famer Nick Mourouzis was also present, who the team's new football field is now named after. Mourouzis was joined at halftime by 40 alumni who captained teams led by the iconic coach.
The win was DePauw's first in 350 days. It was also the first victory under head coach Bill Lynch and his new starting quarterback, first-year Matt Hunt. Hunt, who was personally recruited by Lynch from Heritage Christian School in Indianapolis, Ind., first came off the bench at the Tigers' Sept. 28 game at Kenyon College. Since then, the quarterback has gotten the nod to start in games at Denison University and this past weekend's Old Gold competition against Oberlin. Considering his performance thus far, Hunt is expected to start for the rest of the 2013 season.
Hunt ended the game with 321 yards passing and three touchdowns. He maintained a 72 percent completion rate, converting on 13 of 18 pass attempts. He also did damage on the ground, rushing a touchdown early in the second quarter. Hunt has now accumulated 858 yards passing and seven touchdowns in less than three full games.
A big reason for Hunt's success is 6-foot-5-inch senior wide out Barry Flynn. This weekend, Flynn grabbed nine catches for 156 yards, including two touchdown receptions. Flynn was one touchdown short of tying the school record for touchdown receptions in a single game. The former basketball players' size proved to be a mismatch for the Oberlin secondary. Senior tight end Kevin Ude had two receptions for 82 yards. In the second quarter, facing second down and nine yards to first, Hunt and Ude connected for a 71-yard pass. The drive ended in a 7-yard touchdown from Hunt to Flynn.
Senior starting fullback Andrew Cusumano also tacked in a rushing touchdown in the final minute of the first half. He noted that Hunt's level of play at quarterback is the best they have seen in years.
"Hunt has been so consistent," Cusumano said. "That's something that has been our Achilles heel at that position for years. We now have someone to command the offense, and he's producing."
Producing is an understatement for the first-year quarterback. On Saturday afternoon, Hunt's 321 passing yards was double that of Oberlin quarterback Lucas Poggiali, who threw for 159. Even more impressively, Hunt had six less passing attempts than his Oberlin competitor.
On the defensive side of the ball, junior linebacker Garrett Rice had his best game yet as a Tiger last Saturday afternoon. Rice had two interceptions in the game, returning one for 19 yards. The defense totaled four turnovers, with first-year defensive back Cody Baker getting the third interception for the game. Before the second half, already possessing a 28-3 lead, Rice said he reminded the team of the need to maintain their intensity.
"There was an emphasis on this game because it was honoring coach Nick [Mourouzis]," Rice said. "We wanted to make everyone proud and let them know it can only go up from here. I told [the team] we have them on the ropes, we just need to knock them out. Usually we go flat second half, but we kept rolling."
The 1-4 Tigers were the first to score in the second half, coming on a one-yard pass from Hunt to Flynn with seven minutes to go in the third quarter.
The Yeomen's lone touchdown came with 4 minutes left in the third quarter, with the Tigers already up 32 points.
Rice, a Mason, Texas native is confident the team will benefit from the winning momentum this Saturday, when they travel to take on Ohio Wesleyan University.
"With a new coach, everyone seems to be buying in to the system," he said. "It was all about getting that first win and getting the monkey off your back. I think were going to keep that momentum."
This weekend's matchup at Ohio Wesleyan will begin at 1 p.m. CST and can be streamed on line.