Beat DePauw!

For the first time since 1922, the Monon Bell Classic will be played somewhere other than Crawfordsville or Greencastle. When Wabash and DePauw meet Nov. 14 at Ball State’s Scheumann Stadium for the 132nd edition of the rivalry, the backdrop will be unfamiliar. The question facing the Little Giants is a familiar one: can anyone in the North Coast Athletic Conference slow DePauw down? Look past the records, and Wabash has more of the answer than it might seem.

The Tigers have held the Bell for four straight years, their first such run since 2000, and they have scored at least 33 points in each of the last five meetings, something no team in the series had done before. Last November’s 41–20 win in Crawfordsville cut Wabash’s all-time lead to 63–59–9. In games played for the Bell since 1932, Wabash’s edge is down to 44–43–6. Another DePauw win would even the Bell-era series at 44–44–6.

The two programs arrive in Muncie on opposite trajectories. Wabash is 4–4 overall and 3–4 in the NCAC after losing four straight. DePauw is 7–1 and 6–1, riding a six-game winning streak and ranked No. 25 nationally entering its Oct. 31 win over then-No. 14 John Carroll.

Wabash’s season has been a tale of two halves. Through four games, the Little Giants looked like a team ready to fulfill their third-place preseason ranking in the NCAC coaches’ poll. They beat Hampden-Sydney 29–20, shut out Wittenberg 31–0, and handled Oberlin and Wooster by identical 34–7 scores. Over that stretch, Wabash outscored opponents 128–34, an average of 32–8.5.

Then came October. A 24–23 loss at Denison was followed by a 24–17 loss at John Carroll, a 27–17 home loss to then-unbeaten and eighth-ranked Washington University, and a 35–28 loss at Ohio Wesleyan, the Battling Bishops’ first win in the series since 2021. Over those four games, Wabash has scored 21.3 points per game and allowed 27.5. But Wabash has not been pushed around. Three of the four losses came by a touchdown or less, and the Denison game was decided by a single point. This is a team that has been a play or two away in almost every game, from the same program that won nine games and a bowl a year ago.

The clearest sign of the decline is on the ground. In its first four games, Wabash ran for 194 yards per game, including 252 against Wittenberg and 296 against Wooster. In the last four, that number has been cut in half to 95 yards per game. Against WashU, the Little Giants carried 45 times for just 74 net yards, 1.6 per attempt. At Ohio Wesleyan, they managed 71.

“We’ve been banged up on the offensive line,” said head coach Jake Gilbert ’98. “But the bigger issue is that we played better teams and those teams had more time to scout our new offense and play us accordingly.”

Cole Dickerson ’28 has been the constant. He leads the team with 898 yards and 12 touchdowns on 182 carries, nearly 4.9 yards per attempt. The rest of the backfield has averaged far less, with no other Wabash rusher totaling over 156 yards. If Dickerson is bottled up, the Little Giants have rarely found a second option on the ground.

That has put more weight on the passing game, where Wabash has used two quarterbacks. Brand Campbell ’27 has completed 79 of 149 passes for 1,203 yards with four touchdowns and six interceptions. Jackson Gilbert ’28 has gone 57 of 94 for 725 yards, six touchdowns and five interceptions. Combined, they have produced 220.5 passing yards per game, but also 10 interceptions, double the five DePauw’s quarterbacks have thrown.

Luke Adams ’28 is the top target with 41 catches for 527 yards. Nick Witte ’28 is the big-play threat, averaging 23.3 yards on 18 receptions for 419 yards, including a 58-yard touchdown from Campbell during Wabash’s fourth-quarter rally at Ohio Wesleyan. Keith Jackson ’29 adds 18 catches for 281 yards.

The Ohio Wesleyan game captured Wabash’s season in one afternoon. The Little Giants outgained the Bishops 408–394, picked up 24 first downs to OWU’s 23 and converted 9 of 17 third downs. They also committed four turnovers to none for Ohio Wesleyan and fell behind 35–7 before scoring three straight fourth-quarter touchdowns. Wabash is minus-four in turnover margin on the year, with 15 giveaways and 11 takeaways.

There is a lot Wabash does well. The Little Giants convert 49.6 percent of their third downs (60 of 121), and they hold the ball an average of 32:04 per game. Their defense has been solid all year, even through the losing streak. Wabash allows 79 rushing yards per game and 2.7 yards per carry, along with 254.8 total yards per game and 18 points per game. Opponents have converted just 32.7 percent of their third downs.

Linebackers Carson Foxen ’28 (51 tackles) and William Harris ’28 (46) lead that unit. Camden Singer ’28 has a team-high nine tackles for loss, Dakota Johnson ’28 leads with five sacks, and Gage Gulley ’28 has two of the team’s five interceptions. The main weakness has been in the red zone. Opponents have reached it only 19 times all season but scored touchdowns on 15 of those trips. On the other side, Wabash has turned 39 red-zone trips into just 22 touchdowns, and kicker Tyler Church ’28 is 8 of 14 on field goals.

“Defensively we have to maintain confidence and continue to improve,” said Harris. “The biggest thing for us is that we have not been taking the ball away on a level that we should be, so it’s something that we will continue to emphasize in practice.”

Put those numbers next to DePauw’s, and Wabash holds a few real edges. The Little Giants’ run defense allows 2.7 yards per carry, slightly better than DePauw’s 2.8. Their 49.6 percent third-down rate tops the Tigers’ 41.2 percent, and their 32:04 average time of possession beats DePauw’s 30:35. Those are the stats that win rivalry games in November: stop the run, stay on the field and keep the other offense on the sideline.

DePauw, meanwhile, has done almost everything well. Since a 37–27 loss at WashU in week two, the Tigers have beaten Ohio Wesleyan 56–21, Kenyon 31–3, Oberlin 68–7, Denison 62–14, Wittenberg 31–0 and John Carroll 35–7. That is an average winning margin of 38.5 points over six games, and the defense has allowed just 52 points in that span.

On the season, DePauw is scoring 42.6 points per game and allowing 14.0. Through seven games, the Tigers averaged 463.9 yards per game and 7.4 yards per play while holding opponents to 257.4 yards and 4.0 yards per play.

The offense is balanced and efficient. DePauw runs for 210 yards per game at 6.3 yards per carry, and throws for 253.9 yards per game at 8.6 yards per attempt. Jack Kazmierczak has been outstanding, completing 90 of 127 passes (70.9 percent) for 1,267 yards, 14 touchdowns and just one interception. Scott Ballentine, whose 328 passing yards in last year’s Bell game were the most by a DePauw quarterback in the game since 2009, has added 646 yards and five touchdowns.

Carson Johnson leads the ground game with 708 yards and seven touchdowns on 119 carries, and he is a threat as a receiver too, with 13 catches for 240 yards. Logan Shoffner has 393 yards at 7.3 per carry, and AJ Jobe has turned only 11 carries into 260 yards. Carter Foran (32 catches, 455 yards, five touchdowns) and Luke Dockery (30, 443, four) give the Tigers two reliable receivers. DePauw converts 41.2 percent of its third downs and has scored 26 touchdowns in 38 red-zone trips.

The defense may be even better. Opponents are converting only 25 percent of their third downs against DePauw, and they have reached the red zone just 17 times all year. Through seven games, the Tigers held opponents to 92.3 rushing yards per game and 2.8 yards per carry. They have 20 sacks, led by Nehemiah Dau’s 4.5, and linebacker Robert Pasinato leads the team in both tackles (41) and tackles for loss (7.5). Chris Green has seven tackles for loss, and Harry Pratt and Jackson Cain have two interceptions each.

“We have played great up front to keep that rushing average under 3 yards,” said Gilbert. “Depauw has run the ball well every year so they will be a challenge. They graduated a great back but have a very experienced back and offensive line returning. We’ll need to fit our gaps correctly and win one on one blocks across the Defensive Line.”

Most importantly, DePauw takes the ball away. The Tigers have forced 18 turnovers, 10 fumbles and eight interceptions, while giving it away only nine times. That plus-nine margin is 13 better than Wabash’s. Against John Carroll, DePauw was outgained 378–346 and still won by 28, sealed by a pick-six with 1:30 left.

The common opponents tell a split story. Against the best team on either schedule, the two were identical: both lost to WashU by 10. Both also shut out Wittenberg 31–0. Elsewhere, DePauw’s margins have been bigger. Wabash beat Oberlin by 27, while DePauw won by 61. Wabash lost to Denison by one, while DePauw won by 48. Wabash lost at John Carroll by seven, while DePauw beat the Blue Streaks by 28. Wabash lost at Ohio Wesleyan by seven, while DePauw beat the Bishops by 35.

Bigger margins against the middle of the league do not decide Bell games, though. The one time DePauw faced an elite opponent, it lost. And in its latest win, John Carroll outgained the Tigers 378–346. DePauw has dominated the scoreboard, but it has not dominated every snap, and a defense like Wabash’s is built to make an opponent earn every yard.

Wabash’s path to the Bell is clear, and most of it is in its own hands. It starts with turnovers.

The Little Giants’ biggest problem this season has not been talent but ball security. Take away the four giveaways at Ohio Wesleyan, and a Wabash team that outgained the Bishops could easily have won. A clean game against DePauw’s takeaway-hungry defense changes everything.

Second is the matchup at the line of scrimmage. Wabash’s run defense, allowing 2.7 yards per carry, is the one unit on either side that compares with DePauw’s. If the Little Giants can make the Tigers one-dimensional and force Kazmierczak into third-and-long, they have the third-down defense to get off the field. If Johnson and Shoffner average six yards a carry, there is little anyone can do.

Third is time of possession. Wabash’s best path is a slow game: long drives, third-down conversions and fewer possessions for an offense that averages 7.4 yards per play. That approach depends on reviving a run game that has averaged 95 yards a game in October, against a defense that has given up three rushing touchdowns all season.

Finally, Wabash has to finish drives. Settling for field goals, or missing them, will not be enough against a team that has scored at least 33 points in five straight Bell games.

DePauw will be the favorite, and the Tigers have earned that by winning four straight Bell games. But favorites have walked out of this rivalry empty-handed many times, and this Wabash team carries the profile of a classic upset: a top-tier run defense, a ball-control offense that wins on third down and a roster that has played close games all season. The Little Giants showed in the fourth quarter at Ohio Wesleyan, with 21 straight points, that they will keep fighting. On a neutral field, with a full week to sharpen the ground game and clean up the turnovers, Wabash has every reason to believe this is the year the Bell comes back to Crawfordsville.