You can't get much closer to a victory without getting one as the Bulldogs (2-4) were one yard away from the go-ahead touchdown on Saturday afternoon at unbeaten DePauw University (6-0) with 12 seconds left on the clock. The Bulldogs handed the ball off to Jeremy Southworth on third and fourth down from the one-yard line but he could not break the goal line in a 23-19 defeat.
Adrian began the fourth quarter down 17-10 and DePauw increased their lead to 23-10 at the 14:15 mark of the fourth quarter as Alex Koors caught his second touchdown of the game from Michael Engle from two yards out. The extra point was then blocked by the Bulldogs.
Adrian drove the ball on their next possession to the DePauw 29-yard line but misfired on four straight passes to hand the ball over to the Tigers with 11:39 remaining. The Bulldog defense forced a three-and-out and gave the ball back to the offense at the AC 39-yard line. It took the Bulldogs just three plays to find the end zone as Mike McGee completed a three-yard pass to D'ante Thompson and then a 15-yard pass to Justin Hemm down to the DePauw 43. McGee followed that with a 43-yard touchdown strike to Jared Edwards which cut the deficit to 23-17 with nine minutes left.
The Tigers looked like they were going to make it a two-possession game on their next drive as they marched 41 yards in nine plays down to the Adrian 13. Eric Malm attempted a 31-yard field goal which hit the left upright giving Adrian the ball at the 20-yard line with 4:31 to go.
The Bulldogs put themselves into position to possibly take the lead on their next drive as McGee completed three passes to move the ball to the Tiger 40. Edwards carried the ball for 23 yards down to the 17 inside the red zone. On the next play, Adrian turned it over for the only time in the game as Hemm caught a pass at the line of scrimmage and fumbled on a hit from Ryan Preuss which was recovered by DePauw's Ryan Huffman with 2:59 on the clock.
DePauw had a penalty for a personal foul after the fumble and then started their drive at their own 11. The Bulldog defense yielded just one yard and DePauw was forced to punt. The Tigers took a safety to make the score 23-19. On the free kick, Edwards returned it 23 yards to the Adrian 47 to start the final drive at 2:24.
McGee found Hemm twice on the drive for 12 and 22 yards getting the ball down to the DU 9. Edwards carried for five yards down to the four and the Bulldogs called their last timeout with 37 ticks left. Southworth then carried for no gain on third down and got inches away on fourth down.
Adrian outgained DePauw, 360-321, in total offense as McGee completed 22-of-38 for 265 yards and two scores. Edwards led the ground game with 22 carries for 80 yards. Hemm caught eight passes for 93 yards. Engle was 28-of-39 for 260 yards and two scores for the Tigers. Koors caught eight passes for 96 yards and both touchdowns through the air. AC was 9-of-18 on third down but 0-of-3 on fourth down. Logan Mitseff connected on a 45-yard field goal in the second quarter. Danny Taylor led the defense with 12 tackles while Chris Cook added 11 stops from his safety position.