Defense comes up big in 24-10 win at DePauw
Centre stayed perfect and ran its record to 4-0 on the year after picking up a 24-10 road win over former Southern Collegiate Athletic Confernce rival DePauw University on Saturday in Greencastle, Ind.
Senior quarterback Tyler Osterman (Monroe, Ohio) threw for a touchdown and ran for another, but it was the Colonels' defense that keyed the victory by keeping DePauw out of the end zone for 59 minutes and forcing four turnovers, including two fumbles deep in DePauw territory.
After Centre failed to score early on from first and goal at the 5-yard-line, the first of those fumbles set up the Colonels' first touchdown when Jared Ferguson (Monroe, Ohio) recovered a fumble at the DePauw 7-yard–line. Osterman ran in from five yards out two plays later.
Centre went on to extend the lead with a 30-yard field goal by Jordan Gay (Danville, Ky.) as time ran out before the half, and push it out to 17-0 when Osterman hit Rob Melillo (Louisville, Ky.) on a 45-yard touchdown strike on the first play of the second half.
The defense took it from there, limiting DePauw to just a 31-yard field goal by Eric Malm on the ensuing possession after Melillo's score and a late touchdown with the game out of reach. Though DePauw had favorable field position twice in the third quarter, starting one series at Centre's 35-yard-line after a fumble and another at the Colonels' 46, the defense was able to force 3-and-outs both times, the first coming after a third down sack by Paul Megilligan (Danville, Ky.).
With Centre holding onto a 17-3 lead early in the fourth quarter, senior defensive back Les Bolden scooped up a DePauw fumble at the Tigers' 20-yard-line, and ran it in for a touchdown to put the game out of reach. As time ran down, DePauw tacked on a touchdown when Bryan Coleman scored on a 1-yard run with 41 seconds to play.
Osterman finished the day going 15-of-25 for 192 yards and a touchdown through the air while also picking up 41 yards and another score on the ground. Jonathan Pinque led the Colonels on the ground with 19 carries for 74 yards while Melillo was the top receiver with five catches for 74 yards and a touchdown.
For DePauw, Jackson Kirtley connected on 15 of 32 passes for 141 yards, and added 95 yards rushing. Brody Schoen caught seven balls for 78 yards.
With the win, Centre moves to 4-0 on the season, and will have a week off before returning to SCAC play at Birmingham Southern on Oct. 15. DePauw falls to 1-3 on the year.
