Scouting the enemy

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Scouting Report: Earlham College Quakers

DePauw (0-0) at Earlham (0-1), Saturday Sept. 12, 7:30 p.m., Darrell Beane Stadium, Richmond, Ind.

Earlham Scope

The Quakers will come into Saturday’s game after getting drubbed by Olivet College 74-13 in their season-opener a week ago.

While the difference in score was bad, the disparity in the rushing yards the two teams put up was even worse. The Quakers ran for -22 yards last weekend compared to the 347 yards on the ground that Olivet put up.

Earlham went with a two quarterback system, with Treylon Anderson and Wesley Hundley splitting time under center. Anderson was the more effective of the two signal-callers, going 12-21 for 166 yards and two touchdowns, while Hundley struggled.

Defensively, things didn’t go the Quakers way either. In addition to the bad rush defense, Earlham failed to force a turnover, and allowed a score on each of Olivet’s drives except the last one in which they ran out the clock. Earlham did only give up 153 yards through the air, but Olivet was 13-16 passing with four touchdowns in a game in which they kept most of the offense on the ground.

Key Players

Treylon Anderson, QB, Fr.: If we learned anything from DePauw football last season, it’s that they won’t struggle to score. In that case, Earlham’s first-year quarterback will probably have to put up good numbers to keep the Quakers in the game. Anderson looked much better than sophomore Wesley Hundley, who was 3-for-9 passing with two interceptions, so I’m guessing it will be Anderson with the majority of the snaps.

Jalen Kenner, WR, Sr.: Kenner was the Quakers’ favorite target through the air last Saturday. His seven catches for 72 yards led the way for Earlham and he’ll likely have to do better than that on Saturday if the Quakers are going to win. It will be interesting to see how Kenner matches up with an experienced DePauw secondary.

The Defense: One tackle for loss, zero turnovers, 500 yards of offense and 74 points didn’t give the Quakers any defensive standouts last weekend. As a whole, this unit has to majorly step up its game if Earlham is going to avoid falling to 0-2.

Matchup to Watch: DePauw RBs vs. the Earlham front seven

If Saturday’s game goes as expected, the Tigers could be up big early. In that case, DePauw’s healthy stable of running backs could get a lot of work. We know that Amen Galley is a proven number one, but we may find out who the primary backup will be. Jack Gruber surprised us all with a really solid freshman season, leading the Tigers in rushing touchdowns, but is a sophomore slump awaiting him? And then don’t forget about Junior Jason Kirchhoff who also put up impressive numbers (306 yards, four touchdowns) last season.

DePauw wins if…

They don’t overlook the Quakers. There’s definitely something to be said for Earlham having a leg up on the Tigers because they’ve already played a game. The Tigers also could look ahead to their conference and home opener the following weekend against The College of Wooster. That being said, I think the Tigers are the better team and, if their heads are in the right place, they should win.

Predictions:

I see the Tigers rolling all over the Quakers on Saturday. Junior quarterback Matt Hunt and Galley will put up big numbers early, giving head coach Bill Lynch a chance to get the young guys in before too long. On defense, DePauw shouldn’t have much trouble containing the Quakers either. The game experience the Quakers got last week means their defense will improve, but not enough to make much of a difference against the Tigers.

Final Score

DePauw 52, Earlham 16.