“The thing about DePauw is they’re very physical, they play hard and they execute,” Wittenberg coach Jim Collins said Wednesday. “They’re not a team that makes a lot of mistakes. You’ve got to do a great job of matching that intensity and that physicality. You’ve got to be sound in every aspect.”
After losing 30-7 at home to Wittenberg in 2022, DePauw won its last four conference games that season and then finished 10-0 in 2023 and 2024. It beat Rose Hulman 40-0 and Centre 35-14 in non-conference play this season and then opened league play last weekend with a 35-14 victory at home against Kenyon (0-3, 0-1).
DePauw is still 10 NCAC victories away from matching Wittenberg’s record 31-game NCAC winning streak, which stretched from 1997-2002.
DePauw has won four straight NCAC championships in all (2021-24) since Denison, Wittenberg and Wabash tied for first in 2019. There was no NCAC season in 2020 because of the pandemic.
Wittenberg is the only NCAC program to win or share the championship five years in a row (1997-2001).
“(DePauw) is quite the challenge,” Collins said, “and I think, more than anything, it’s a great opportunity for our guys. It’s another big game. ... I like the fact that we’re gaining some momentum. That’s always good when you’re going into a game like this.”
After beating DePauw in 2022, Wittenberg blew a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter and lost 41-35 at home to DePauw in 2023. Last season, Wittenberg suffered its most lopsided loss in 11 years, falling 44-10 at DePauw.
“Last year, we let that game get away from us,” Collins said, “and they were outstanding all season long. We’re going to have to play much better.”
Wittenberg beat Washington and Lee 24-21 in Springfield in its last home game on Sept. 13 and then won 55-17 at Ohio Wesleyan last weekend.
“We had a complete game in all three phases really,” Collins said. “The special teams were really good. Defensively, I thought we had a great plan to stop them and limit their opportunities. And then offensively, we kind of picked up where we left off in the second half of the Washington and Lee game. We executed and made big plays. JJ (Miller) did a good job of running the football, protecting the football and being really accurate in the passing game.”
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