The DePauw Tigers kicked off Old Gold Weekend with a total domination of their conference opponent, the Oberlin Yeomen, 75-0.
Last week, the Tigers hit the road and delivered a dominant 28-0 shutout over Wittenberg, entering the matchup against Oberlin ranked No. 13 in the AFCA Division III Coaches Poll. With the win over Oberlin, the Tigers move to an undefeated 5-0 record, tie the NCAC conference for total wins this season, and move up to the No. 10 spot.
Oberlin won the coin toss to begin the first quarter and elected to receive the ball first during kickoff. The coin toss would be Oberlin’s only glimmer of triumph, as the Tigers offense was able to score 42 points on the board by the end of the first quarter. DePauw's defense was also sensational throughout the first half, with Oberlin’s offense giving up nine fumbles and six punts. To start the opening drive of the first quarter, Oberlin’s quarterback was sacked by defensive lineman Luke Nolan ‘26. As the quarterback went down, the ball popped out, and nose tackle Chris Green ‘28 was able to recover the ball and return it for a touchdown. Quarterback Scott Ballentine ‘28 passed for 145 yards and threw three touchdowns before being substituted out for Anthony Garzolini ‘27 at the end of the second quarter. In the receiving game, wide receiver Robby Ballentine ‘26 had nine receptions, 145 receiving yards, and three receiving touchdowns. The Tigers' rushing offense dominated the first half, with a total of 105 rushing yards, an average of 7.9 yards per carry, and three rushing touchdowns. At halftime, the score was 61-0.
With the 61-point shutout, most of the starters were benched by halftime. As time went on in the second half, DePauw’s passing scheme transitioned into a run-heavy offense, with Head
Coach Brett Dietz prioritizing running out the clock to make the game end quicker. The Tigers' offense rushed for 144 yards in the second half, averaging 5.5 yards per carry, with running backs Kaiden Bond ‘28 and Luke Russo ‘26 each scoring a touchdown to make the final score 75-0.
Following the victory over Oberlin, the DePauw football team set a new record for most points scored in the modern era, surpassing the previous record of 72 points when DePauw played Oberlin last year. Coach Deitz was impressed with how quickly his team got things started, “Last year, it took us a little while to get things going,” he said in an interview, “So I challenged them to start fast and then we started with two defensive touchdowns right away in the first quarter.” The Tigers get a well-deserved break next week, and look forward to playing John Caroll on Oct. 18.
