It is an unbelievable box score.
Anyone can look at a 45-7 final score and think that there must have been a ton of offense from that winning team.
Nope.
In the 118th Monon Bell Classic, the No. 9 team in the nation, the Wabash College Little Giants, won purely because of the turnover margin. Wabash forced five turnovers, while DePauw had zero. Wabash totaled just 180 yards in the game and compiled only nine first downs.
As Coach Nick Mourouzis, head coach of the Tigers from 1981 to 2003, said last week, "the team who wins the turnover margin wins the game."
How else does a team put up 45 points on just 180 yards of offense and nine first downs? Well, two interception returns and a punt return for touchdowns would do it.
Chase Belton, the quarterback for the Little Giants, threw just two completions for 21 yards. The bulk of the offense came from 159 yards gained on the ground led by Vann Hunt with 59 yards, the game high.
So what happened? It all starts from the talented Little Giants defense forcing mistakes from senior quarterback Will King.
Keeping in mind that Wabash fields an incredible defensive team led by All-American linebacker CJ Gum, King tried his best in just his second collegiate start to find open wide receivers. But there just wasn't anyone open. His three interceptions all occurred deep within DePauw territory, putting the defense in very tough situations.
The first turnover occurred when the Tiger offense was at midfield and a low snap was mishandled by King in the shotgun. The ball rolled all the way down to the 33 yard line where running back Van Hunt tore through the DePauw defense for the first touchdown of the day. That was the start of a long game for King under center. Thrust into the starting role after three quarterbacks in front of him went down to injury and ineffective play, miscues were expected, but the Tigers couldn't claw themselves out of a 31-0 deficit at half time. A team doesn't go through that many quarterback switches and run plays smoothly. But the DePauw defense was expected to be strong and did its job, keeping points off the board.
Of the 45 total Wabash points, only 17 were scored with the Tiger defense on the field. 28 extra points for the Little Giants were scored with the Tiger offense on the field and on special teams.
The picture I have painted of the offense looks bleak, but consider that King was the fourth string quarterback and actually performed much better than the stats may suggest. Freshman quarterback Drew Seaman was injured against Albion in the third to last game of the season. Seaman showed promise in the pocket as a passer and will likely retain the starting position next year.
Overall, it was another tough Monon Bell Classic for Tiger fans. The lopsided score meant in the past two seasons, Wabash has outscored DePauw 92-7. But the outlook is positive. Trust me. The Tigers can lean upon the fact that defensive coordinator Scott Srnka in his first year here has made a smooth transition to DePauw after 17 years at Rhodes College. If DePauw can find answers at quarterback with Seaman and develop young wide receivers in freshman DJ Steward and sophomore Jordan Hickam, the offense can finally produce points and complement the defense on the other side of the ball. It will be an uphill battle again next year, but the Tigers have pieces in place to have success in the future.
The third straight Monon Bell loss was not an issue of talent, but execution. A team doesn't graduate 33 seniors, including 17 starters, and not struggle to fill holes. To go through this many injuries and come out with four wins is impressive. Congratulations, Tiger football. You all deserve praise from alumni and fans.
—Appelgate is a junior from Kent, Wash. majoring in communications. He is sports editor for The DePauw.
sports@thedepauw.com