Greencastle, Ind. - DePauw totaled 524 yards of offense and held visiting Wittenberg to just 208 on the way to a 44-10 North Coast Athletic Conference win. The host Tigers, ranked eighth in the latest coaches' poll and 12th by D3football.com, improved to 7-0 overall and 5-0 in the NCAC, while Wittenberg dropped to 3-3 overall and 2-2 in NCAC play.
Robby Ballentine put DePauw on the board with 6:54 left in the opening period on an 11-yard pass from Nathan McCahill before Frankie Ricciardi scored on an 18-yard pass from McCahill with 15 seconds remaining in the quarter.
Early in the second, Wittenberg wasn't able to successfully get off a punt and the Tigers took over on the guest's 5-yard line. Wittenberg's defense tightened and Matthew Berry came on to boot a 23-yard field goal.
A three-and-out by the DePauw defense set up a five-play, 86-yard drive capped by McCahill's 27-yard pass to Ballentine to make it 24-0 with 8:12 left in the half.
Wittenberg's first points came on its next series as Lucas Swierk kicked a 37-yard field goal with 4:39 remaining in the half.
DePauw pushed the lead to 31-3 as McCahill tossed a 12-yard pass to Lleyton Lukowski with just 22 seconds left in the period.
Berry extended the DePauw lead to 34-3 after a 32-yard field goal on the Tigers' opening series of the second half.
Wittenberg's lone touchdown of the contest came on the next drive when the guests covered 86 yards in nine plays with quarterback Jayden Miller scoring on a 15-yard run to make it 34-10 with 6:14 remaining in the third.
DePauw scored on its next two possessions as Carson Johnson reached paydirt on a 6-yard run and Berry nailed a 26-yard field goal.
Caden Whitehead rushed for 75 yards on 18 carries as part of DePauw's 214-yard rushing attack. McCahill completed 23-of-37 passes for 294 yards with four touchdowns. Gabe Quigley caught seven for 99 yards, while Ballentine finished with six receptions totaling 103 yards.
Miller completed 12-of-19 passes for 192 yards with Earl Pope catching four for 61 yards and Eric Rasheed hauling in three for 80. DePauw held Wittenberg to just 15 rushing yards with Miller totaling 14.
Matthew Coons paced DePauw's defense with eight tackles with Nolan Tully totaling seven.DePauw had four sacks with Joey Roland leading the way with 1.5.
Lucas Jackson led Wittenberg with 18 tackles and Cameron Snurr finished with 10.
The Tigers held a 29-9 advantage in first downs and were 10-of-16 on third-down conversions and 2-of-2 on fourth down. Wittenberg converted 2-of-11 third-down situations and failed on both fourth-down tries.
DePauw travels to Kenyon on Saturday, Nov. 2, for a 1 p.m. NCAC contest.
NOTES
- The win was DePauw's 21st straight regular season victory and the Tigers have now won 35 of their last 37
- DePauw has won 11 straight home games and 17 consecutive conference contests
- The Tigers' seniors moved their four-year record to 35-6 which extends the record win total
- Robby Ballentine has caught at least one touchdown pass in 12 straight games
- Ballentine's 13 TD catches this year are tied for third in program history and his 31 career scores are fourth
- Nathan McCahill's 29 TD passes this season rank third in program history behind the 30 thrown by Michael Engle in 2010 and McCahill last year
- McCahill's 70 career passing touchdowns rank third in program history
- DePauw's has allowed just 86 points (12.3/game) and only 31 in the first half