Wabash College returns to Little Giant Stadium on Saturday for a North Coast Athletic Conference matchup against the College of Wooster. Wabash is 2-0 in NCAC games after a 31-13 victory last weekend at Ohio Wesleyan. The visiting Fighting Scots were off last week, own a 2-2 overall record, and are 1-1 in conference games.
Game Info: Wabash College (3-1, 2-0 NCAC) vs. The College of Wooster (2-2, 1-1 NCAC)
Location: Little Giant Stadium (3,350) in Crawfordsville, IN
Game time: Saturday, October 7, 2023 at 2 p.m.
Wabash joins DePauw (5-0, 3-0 NCAC) and Wittenberg (3-1, 2-0 NCAC) as the only remaining unbeaten teams in the NCAC standings this season. Denison University, the Little Giants' next opponent, is a game back with a 2-1 conference record. Wooster is in fifth place in the conference standings.
The Little Giant defense limited Ohio Wesleyan to 100 total yards of offense through three quarters last Saturday in a 31-13 Wabash victory in Delaware, Ohio. Wabash intercepted three passes and recovered a fumble to go with three sacks and seven tackles for losses.
Gavin Ruppert and
Mike Holsclaw led the Little Giant defense with seven tackles apiece.
Brody Frey made a career-high six tackles and has two tackles for losses totaling 11 yards and a team-best 1-1/2 sacks.
Jake Pasch,
Brock Robertson, and
Avery Epstein each intercepted passes, and
Joe Rios recovered a fumble for Wabash.
Liam Thompson paced the Little Giants on offense with 87 rushing yards and produced three touchdowns, two passing, and one rushing. He completed 12-of-22 passes for 164 yards with two interceptions.
Jacob Riddle and
Penn Stoller collected the touchdown throws from Thompson.
Donovan Snyder led the team with four catches for 41 yards.
Series: Wabash owns a 22-4 record versus the College of Wooster and an 18-4 advantage in NCAC matchups against the Fighting Scots. The Little Giants are 11-2O in home matchups against Wooster, including a 44-41 loss in Crawfordsville in 2021. Wabash defeated Wooster 48-14 last year in Ohio. The Little Giants amassed 627 yards of total offense behind a 435-yard, four-touchdown passing effort by
Liam Thompson.
Donovan Snyder ran for 68 yards and two touchdowns. Derek Allen, Jr.,
Cooper Sullivan, and
Penn Stoller each caught TD passes in the victory.
Thompson On The Brink Of NCAC Total Offense Record: Thompson is poised to become the all-time leader in total offense yards in North Coast Athletic Conference history in Saturday's game against Wooster. The senior quarterback ranks second with 10,745 career yards of total offense and trails all-time conference leader Mason Espinosa's total of 10,839 yards.
Thompson also enters the week tied with former DePauw quarterback Matt Hunt for second on the NCAC all-time touchdown passing list with 85. Thompson trails all-time conference leader Jake Knott '03, who threw 97 touchdown passes in his final three seasons at Wabash as a member of the NCAC.
Campbell Trophy Watch: Thompson was one of a record 201 college football players named as semifinalists for the 2023 William V. Campbell Trophy presented by the National Football Foundation to the nation's premier scholar-athlete. Thompson was one of 48 NCAA Division III players named to the semifinalist list. Included on that list is Wooster kicker Lake Barrett. The NFF will announce 12-14 finalists on October 25, and each will receive an $18,000 postgraduate scholarship as a member of the 2023 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Class presented by Fidelity Investments.
Scouting Wooster:
Wooster enters today's game with a 2-2 overall record and a 1-1 NCAC mark after an off week. The Fighting Scots cruised to a 70-21 win over Kenyon College in their last game two weeks ago.
Wooster has scored three defensive touchdowns this season to lead the conference and rank fifth in the nation in defensive scores. Senior defensive end Neil Clayton returned an interception 25 yards for a touchdown, and first-year safety Wyatt Wilke recovered a fumble in the end zone two weeks ago versus Kenyon for a pair of defensive scores. Junior linebacker Liam Regan added a 37-yard fumble return for a touchdown in the Scots' season-opening loss to Wilmington. Outside linebacker Jon Banal leads the defense with 24 tackles, including 6-1/2 tackles for loss totaling 19 yards. Wooster has recorded three sacks for 17 yards, led by Domenic DeMuth with one sack for seven yards as part of his 27 total tackles. The Scots have intercepted five passes through four games. Sophomore safety Brock Sivon has picked off two passes for Wooster.
Sophomore quarterback Chanden Lee has completed 61.5 percent of his passes in his first four games as the Wooster starter. He has thrown for 1,160 yards on 83-of-135 passing with 11 touchdowns versus five interceptions. Brazos Gadler is the top receiver for the Scots. The junior wide receiver has 19 receptions for 373 yards and two scores for a 93.3 yards-per-game average. Andrew Hammer, another junior wideout, is tied for seventh in the conference in touchdown receptions with three. Hammer has caught 22 passes for 257 yards. Five Wooster receivers have more than 100 receiving yards entering Saturday's game against Wabash. Sophomore running back Jarvis Mims, Jr. averages 80.8 yards per game on the ground. Mims, Jr. has 68 carries for 323 yards and three TDs in four games. Lee averages 30 rushing yards a game and has one rushing touchdown this season. Kieran Klingsberg, a first-year cornerback, has one touchdown on an 88-yard kickoff return versus Wilmington.
