Greencastle, IN – The Oberlin College offense struggled to find traction as the Yeomen fell, 26-10, at DePauw University on Saturday afternoon at Blackstock Stadium.
 
Oberlin mustered just 164 yards of total offense, averaging 2.9 yards per play while earning just 11 first downs in the setback. Going against the backup quarterback duo of Jake Lasky and Cam Haynes, the Yeomen defense did slow down the Tigers' high-powered offense, holding them to season-lows in points (26) and yards (292).
 
After missing the Yeomen's last game, quarterback Zach Taylor returned under center and was put under pressure by the Tigers' defense all game long as he finished just 12-of-25 for 117 yards to go along with one touchdown and one interception.
 
Robby Reinheimer, Trace McConnell, and Corey Fussinger each caught two passes and combined for 98 yards. Senior Chuck Williams led the ground attack with 11 carries for 49 yards.
 
On the game's first drive, Taylor was picked off by Conner Mullin and he would return it to the Oberlin 22-yardline, but the Yeomen defense stood tall and made the Tigers settle for a 28-yard Jake Tanner field goal.
 
After a quick three-and-out by the Yeomen, Andy Hunt would return Bryant Walker's punt 58 yards for a touchdown to make it a 10-0 Tigers' lead less than six minutes into the game.
 
The first quarter would end on an interception by the Yeomen's Devin White and the offense would take advantage with an 11-play scoring drive. A 30-yard run by Williams on 3^rd-and-24 kept the drive alive and got the ball to the 50-yardline. One play later, a 32-yard connection from Taylor to McConnell put Oberlin in the red zone. Oberlin ultimately a had 1^st-and-goal to go from the seven, but an offensive pass interference call on third down effectively ended the touchdown chance, as they had to settle for a 37-yard Michael Leshchyshyn field goal.
 
Both team's offensives would sputter for the remainder of the first half as the Tigers took their 10-3 advantage into the locker room.
 
DePauw would increase its lead on its first drive of the second half as Lasky found Hunt in the back of the end zone for a 37-yard scoring strike to make it 17-3. Later in the quarter, Taylor was stripped-sacked in the end zone and the ball rolled out of bounds for a Tigers' safety.
 
Trailing 19-3 entering the final quarter, Oberlin still had an opportunity to make something happen, but DePauw essentially played keep-away as Oberlin had the ball for just 1:42 in the period.
 
The Tigers started the final frame by capping off a 10-play, 58-yard drive with a 1-yard TD toss from Hayes to Jake Hagan to make it a 26-3 game with just 11:12 left to play.
 
Following a DePauw personal foul, Oberlin got great field position on the ensuing possession and quickly cashed in its lone touchdown of the game as Taylor found Fussinger in the back corner of the end zone to complete a tidy 5-play, 35-yard jaunt in just 1:33 to make it 26-10 with 9:39 to go.
 
Little did anyone know that Oberlin wouldn't see the ball again until just nine seconds remained in the game as the Tigers covered 70 yards on 16 plays and took 9:30 off the clock to put the game away.
 
Sophomore Von Wooding led the Yeomen defense with a season-high 13 tackles, while Anthony Allen and Jonathon Smith added nine each.
 
Oberlin dropped back to 2-3 overall and 1-3 in the NCAC. The Tigers remained unblemished at 5-0 and 4-0 in league play.
 
The Yeomen conclude their four-game road swing next Saturday at Wooster. The opening kickoff is set for 3 p.m.