Coach Bill Lynch, DePauw University
TDP: How do you prepare your players for the Monon Bell game?
Lynch: It’s a challenge because the guys were ready to play when they got off the bus after Oberlin last week. It’s a game that they wait the entire year for. I think the biggest challenge is harnessing their energy, so you have a good week of preparation so that you are sound in what you’re doing with your game plan and the different phases of the game. When the kickoff occurs on Saturday, that’s when we’re ready to go. It’s a fun game, it’s a great challenge, but it’s one that we look forward to all year.
TDP: What are your team’s biggest strengths and weaknesses?
Lynch: I think offensively we’ve been pretty explosive and we’ve had balance with the run and the pass. Obviously Matt Hunt is one of the top players in total offense in the conference. And he’s the leading rusher, besides being a really good passer, so he’s had a great senior year. But really, throughout the offense, we’ve taken care of the ball pretty well, and have been pretty efficient. I think our defense has played pretty well, and has been exceptional against the run a
nd our kicking game has been really solid as well as our special teams protection and coverage. We’ve been a really consistent team across all phases.
TDP: Have you had a signature win this season?
Lynch: I think Denison would be our signature win, especially coming after the loss to Ohio Wesleyan. Denison came into here ranked, and undefeated. And I thought that was a really good effort, and I thought we played a really good football game.
TDP: What role does the senior class play on this team?
Lynch: It’s been a great group. It was the first group we recruited with our current staff. There are 22 seniors and they’ve really done a great job. They lost the first four games they played when they were freshman, and since that time, they’ve won 26 games. And as seniors, they’ve been great leaders. They earned the respect of the football program early on, and from top to bottom it’s a really good senior class
TDP: How do you think the away crowd will affect the game?
Lynch: I think both sides have a lot of people at the game. It’s such a rivalry game, and it’s an easy bus trip, and I don’t think that the crowd is generally a factor in this game. It’s not like going a long distance away where your fans can’t get there and there’s definitely a difference in the crowd.
TDP: What are your expectations for the Monon Bell game?
Lynch: I think it’s going to be a really good football game. The last couple of years, we haven’t gotten off to very good starts, and they have. And they’ve jumped on us and taken leads. We had some turnover issues early in the game last year. You have got to give yourself a chance, and we really haven’t done that the last couple of years. But I think we’re a more mature football team, led by our seniors. They’ve been in this game, many of them since they were freshmen, so I think we’re going to go up there and play a really good football game.
Coach Don Morel, Wabash College
TDP: How do you prepare your players for the Monon Bell game?
Morel: You just have to build up to it. Monday needs to be quieter than Tuesday, Wednesday needs to be louder than Tuesday, and you build up to it. We’re fortunate we have a lot of players who have played a lot and they take the lead on how to prepare for the game. The game doesn’t get played until Saturday, not during the week.
TDP: What are your team’s biggest strengths and weaknesses?
Morel: We have a lot of good players returning for us, including Ethan Buresh, Connor Ludwig, Austin Brown, and Delon Pettiford. These are all guys that have been all-conference players, so we’re very fortunate to have a seasoned veteran defense. And on offense, Connor Rice, the quarterback, as well as offensive line, have been around for awhile too. I think the overall strength of our football team is the number of veterans returning because this game is unlike any of the others we play. On the other hand, we do have some young guys playing for us who have never been in this game, so that will be quite a shocker to them when they get out there and the crowd is so big.
TDP: Have you had a signature win this season?
Morel: I think beating Denison last week was a big win for us. The week before that we beat Ohio Wesleyan, and we beat both those teams on the road. In this conference, the home team clearly has the advantage.
TDP: What role does the senior class play on this team?
Morel: There are two guys in specific; Ethan Buresh and Connor Rice. I feel like they’ve been here nine years, and between them they’ve started in seven Monon Bell games. They’ve played in a ton of these games.
TDP: How do you think the home crowd will affect the game?
Morel: Obviously the Wabash fans are famous for being loud, so I expect it to be loud. I also worry because DePauw has got some great players on their side. Certainly Matt Hunt is, I think, the best offensive player in the conference, so we’re going to have our hands full trying to contain that guy.
TDP: What are your expectations for the Monon Bell game?
Morel: I just think it is really cool that two schools like Wabash and DePauw, only 30 miles from each other, have this game every year. Certainly we’ve held the upper hand the last few years, but this is a really cool division three rivalry. I think it’s awesome, I really do, and I hope that students from both sides recognize that this is a really cool thing. You are a part of history, whether you’re playing in it or watching it.