This Week: Wabash College (7-2, 7-1 NCAC) and DePauw University (5-4, 5-3 NCAC) meet in the 126
th Monon Bell Classic this Saturday, November 16 at Blackstock Stadium in Greencastle, Indiana.
Game Information: Kickoff is at 1:07 p.m. Tickets for the Wabash College seating area in Blackstock Stadium are available at
https://www.depauwtigers.com/sports/fball/monon_bell/2019tickets. Tickets are $25 each plus tax and services fees. Gameday parking information can be found at
https://sports.wabash.edu/mononbellinfo. Parking areas will open to the public at 9 a.m. The gates at Blackstock Stadium will open at 11:30 a.m.
Broadcast Information: FOX Sports Indiana and FOX Sports Midwest will once again televise the Monon Bell Classic. This marks the third consecutive year viewers around the nation will be able to see the action on FSI. This year the game will also be televised nationally on FOX College Sports Atlantic and streamed on
FOX Sports GO and the FOX Sports app.
Series History: Wabash has won nine of the past ten Monon Bell games and owns a 62-54-9 advantage in the all-time series. The Little Giants are 43-38-6 since the Monon Bell was added to the rivalry in 1932. Wabash is 6-1 versus DePauw since the Tigers joined the NCAC in 2012 and hold a 29-26-4 edge in games played in Greencastle. The Little Giants won the 125th meeting between the two schools 24-17 after Wabash raced out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter and held a 24-14 edge at halftime. A history of the rivalry is available at
https://sports.wabash.edu/mononbell.
Among The Best: Wabash is the fifth-winningest program in NCAA Division III history with a record of 696-390-59. The top-five programs in all-time victories among DIII teams are Mount Union (807), Wittenberg (779), Washington and Jefferson (750), Widener (709), and Wabash (696). DePauw is 21
st on the Division III all-time victories list with 590 wins over 132 seasons.
Scouting DePauw: The Tigers shut out Oberlin last Saturday 34-0 to improve to 3-1 at home for the season and 5-4 overall. DePauw lost a 17-10 home contest to Wittenberg on September 28 before earning three consecutive home wins against Wooster (31-26), Allegheny (8-6), and Oberlin. Junior quarterback Chase Andries returned to the lineup for the Tigers in the win over Oberlin after missing two consecutive games. He completed 18-of-24 passes for 182 yards and three TDs against the Yeomen. Andries has thrown for 1,032 yards and eight touchdowns in six games this season on 91-of-147 passing with four interceptions. He ranks second in the NCAC and 37th among Division III players with a .637 completion percentage. Andries threw for 183 yards and two touchdowns in last year's Monon Bell Classic. Sophomore Collin Knecht has played in five games at quarterback for DePauw including starts against Allegheny and Denison. The local North Montgomery High School product has completed 54-of-96 passes for 456 yards with two touchdowns with one interception.
Ethan Hudson leads the receiving corps for DePauw with 28 catches for 395 yards and one touchdown. Will Harris averages 9.8 yards a catch with a total of 26 receptions for 255 yards and one score. James Deaton has converted three of his eight receptions into touchdowns for the Tigers this season. Noah Jones averages 51.8 rushing yards in five games this season for DePauw. He has run for 259 yards and five TDs in 74 attempts. Jarrod Stiver has rushed for 232 yards on 58 carries with one TD.
Jake Labus leads the Tigers' defensive unit with 56 total tackles. Connor Perkins ranks second on the team with 55 tackles, followed by Nathan Seifert with 54. Brody Gude and Anthony Sansone share the team lead with 2-1/2 sacks apiece. Adam Pozzobon has made 6-1/2 tackles for losses totaling 19 yards for the Tigers. Perkins and Dylan Hyatt have each made two interceptions this season.
Avant Sits In Sixth: Senior running back
Isaac Avant ran for 112 yards and one touchdown Saturday in the Little Giants' 24-0 victory over Hiram. Avant is currently ranked sixth in career rushing yards with 2,843. He trails Tyler Holmes '14 in fifth place on the Wabash career rushing list with 2,958 yards. Fellow senior
Ike James is 12th on the all-time rushing list with 2,150 yards and ranks sixth in career rushing touchdowns with 27.
First-Timer: Quarterback
Liam Thompson will be the first freshman to start a Monon Bell game since Jake Knott '03 started in the 1999 contest. Knott threw for 439 yards and one touchdown in a 21-7 loss to DePauw that year, completing 28-of-46 pass attempts with three interceptions.
Thompson has thrown for 1,868 yards in nine games this season, third-best among Wabash freshmen quarterbacks in school history. Knott finished his freshman year with 2,612 passing yards to head the list. Chris Ings '96 is second on the list with a total of 1,993 passing yards in his freshman season in 1992. Thompson has already surpassed Dave Broecker '83 who threw for 1,311 yards as a freshman in 1979.
Raking In The Rookie Receptions: Freshman wide receiver
Cooper Sullivan was named the North Coast Athletic Conference Offensive Football Player of the Week for his efforts in the Little Giants' 24-0 victory over Hiram on Saturday. Sullivan accounted for 118 all-purpose yards and scored two touchdowns in the win. He caught a game-high six passes for 57 yards including a five-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter to give the Little Giants a 14-0 lead. Sullivan rushed for 39 yards on two carries with one going for a 14-yard touchdown.
Sullivan has been a go-to receiver for the Little Giants the entire season. The freshman has caught 34 passes overall with 29 resulting in either a first down or a touchdown. He ranks second in the conference in touchdown receptions with five and is fourth in receiving yards with 525.
Sullivan is tied with Wes Chamblee '12 for third in receptions by a freshman receiver with 34. Chris Wiesehan '94, currently an assistant football coach at Georgia Tech, holds the Wabash freshman record with 46 during the 1990 season. Teammate Eric Snively '94 caught 38 passes as a freshman that same year.
Keep On Kicking: Wabash is ranked eighth among Division III teams in net punting yards with an average of 37.06 per game. Sophomore
Joey Annee ranks 10th in the nation and leads the conference with a season average of 41.7 yards per punt.
Next Week: Wabash will be one of 32 teams to advance to the 2019 NCAA Division III Playoffs. The Little Giants will find out their opponent and the location of their game when the tournament bracket is announced on Sunday, November 16 at 5:30 p.m at
www.ncaa.com. The first round of the DIII tournament begins November 23 at noon.
