Wittenberg (2-2, 1-1) had not been shut out since a 13-0 loss at home to Capital in the first game of the 2007 season. It had not suffered a shutout loss in North Coast Athletic Conference play since a 38-0 defeat at Allegheny in 1990.
“The defense played great,” Wittenberg coach Jim Collins said. “They just ran out of gas. They were on the field a long time. We couldn’t establish anything offensively.”
Wittenberg lost starting quarterback JJ Miller after a hard hit in the second quarter. Miller fumbled on the play while trying to gain a first down. That turnover ended Wittenberg’s most promising drive in the first half.
“We’re hoping he’s OK,” Collins said. “There was a point there where he wanted to go back in, but he took a pretty big shot.”
Wittenberg first turned to freshman Ryan Counts to replace Miller. He completed 2 of 2 passes for 15 yards on his one drive.
Sophomore Stephen Lauterbach replaced Counts on the next drive and played the rest of the game. He completed 6 of 11 passes for 42 yards.
“You’ve still got to be able to respond when your quarterback goes down,” Collins said, “and we didn’t do it. So we’ve got a lot of work to do this week, and we’ve got to bounce back from this because that’s good football team just beat us.”
Earlier in the first half, Wittenberg’s defense stopped DePauw on six straight plays from the Wittenberg 1-yard line. A defensive holding penalty on 4th-and-1 extended the DePauw drive. Wittenberg still got the stop when DePauw fumbled on 3rd-and-1.
The game was scoreless at halftime, but DePauw dominated the second half, scoring touchdowns on its first four drives.
Scott Ballentine completed 20 of 33 passes for 172 yards with two touchdowns.
DePauw outgained Wittenberg 338-104 and held Wittenberg to minus-24 rushing yards.
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