Oberlin, Ohio – Oberlin College racked up 505 yards of total offense, but the visiting Denison University Big Red were just as potent as they pulled away to defeat the Yeomen 52-27 on Saturday afternoon at the Austin E. Knowlton Athletics Complex.
Senior wide receiver
Ryan Gleeson had a career day, snagging four passes for 238 yards and three touchdowns. His performance ranks third all-time in school history, trailing only Justin Cruz's 242-yard effort vs. Allegheny in 2014, and Ricky Valenzuela's 239-yard day against Wabash in 2001. Gleeson exploited the Big Red defense for two 75-yard touchdowns and a third for 69 yards.
Quarterback
Zach Taylor threw for 341 yards, completing 12-of-20 passes with all three touchdowns going to Gleeson. He moved into fourth all-time in Oberlin history with 36 career TD tosses as he passed Heisman Club Hall of Famer Kevney O'Connor who threw 34 touchdowns between 1948-50.
Junior running back
Melvin Briggs made the most of his eight attempts as he rushed for a career-high 118 yards, which included a 78-yard touchdown run.
The Big Red led 14-0, scoring on their first two drives of the game. However, the Yeomen answered back in a big way as Taylor blew the top off the defense with a 75-yard scoring strike to Gleeson to make it 14-7 after one quarter.
Denison would take a 17-7 cushion into the intermission, but the lead was short-lived after the Yeomen scored twice on their first three plays of the third quarter. The first play of the second half featured the second 75-yard bomb to Gleeson. Following a three-and-out by the Big Red, Briggs would go off tackle on the right side and blow by the Denison defense for a career-long 78-yard TD to put the Yeomen out in front 20-17.
A 10-play, 55-yard response drive was capped off by a 6-yard TD run by Denison quarterback Canaan Gebele to put them back on top, 24-20.
An Oberlin turnover at midfield set the Big Red up with a short field and they would capitalize with an Alex Minton 4-yard TD run.
The Oberlin defense, which was on the field for 38:36, ran out of gas late as the Big Red built up a 45-20 lead with 9:54 left to play in the game. The Yeomen answered back one play later with another long-range strike as Gleeson streaked down the home sideline for a 69-yard score, but the Yeomen would get no closer the rest of the way.
Von Wooding led the Yeomen defense with 12 tackles, including 10 solos.
Devin Wilkins, who had an interception, matched Luck Buck with 10 stops.
Oberlin is idle next week, but will be back in action on October 6 as it welcomes DePauw University for a homecoming kickoff at 1 p.m.
