Shawn Bowman

With three games remaining in the 2013 season, The College of Wooster sits alone in third-place in the North Coast Athletic Conference. In order to stay in that position, which would be a five-spot improvement over last year's eighth-place finish, Wooster may have to win out, starting with a trip to DePauw University (3-4, 3-3 NCAC) for a match-up in Greencastle, Ind., on Saturday afternoon, Nov. 2. The Tigers are riding a three-game winning streak. With DePauw having joined the NCAC in football just last year, this marks the Fighting Scots' first conference game at DePauw. Kickoff on Nick Mourouzis Field at 3,350-seat Blackstock Stadium is set for 1 p.m. EDT.

On the Air: Wooster's football games can be heard live each week in the Wooster area on WKVX 960 AM or on the radio station's website at http://wkvx.com/.

DePauw will be providing live video at http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/depauw.portal#.

All-Time Series: This is just the fourth time DePauw and Wooster have played each other. Prior to last season's 27-16 win for the Tigers, they hadn't met since the mid-1970s. In the 1975 season opener (Sept. 13), DePauw prevailed in Greencastle, Ind., by a 28-8 score, and the Scots responded two years later, also a season opener (Sept. 17, 1977), with a 31-0 shutout win. The 1977 game featured Wooster sophomore center Blake Moore, who went on to play for the NFL's Cincinnati Bengals and Green Bay Packers.

Last Week: On Oct. 26, Wooster jumped out to a 29-0 halftime lead, behind a record-setting performance by wide receiver Darrian Owens (Wooster, Ohio / Wooster), then the Scots never allowed Denison University to get any closer than 22 points in the second half, securing a 43-21 win in the NCAC rivals' annual Old Red Lantern Trophy game at John P. Papp Stadium.

Owens had a school-record 230 receiving yards in the first half alone, eclipsing Chris Cabot's mark of 200 yards against Kenyon College Sept. 22, 2001, and Owens's total came on four catches, three of which went for touchdowns. For good measure, he also threw a touchdown pass.

Less than a minute into the action, quarterback Richard Barnes (Painesville, Ohio / Harvey) escaped heavy pressure from Denison, kept his eyes downfield, and found Owens streaking open down the left sideline for a 73-yard touchdown pass.

Later in the first quarter, Wooster marched 58 yards in just four plays, a drive that started with a Justin Rice (Concord, Ohio / Harvey) 39-yard rush on a reverse. On 2nd-and-goal from the two, Barnes rushed right, then handed off to Owens, who threw a strike to running back Sean Hackel (Farmington, N.Y. / Victor) in the left side of the end zone for the score. The extra point was blocked, as the score stood 13-0 after one.

The next time the Scots touched the ball, Owens got behind his defender for the second time and Barnes hit him in stride, this time down the right sideline, for a 51-yard touchdown and a 19-0 lead (the extra point was missed).

On the ensuing possession, Wooster's defense came up with its first of four takeaways, as Mitchell Czerniak (Newton Falls, Ohio / Newton Falls) forced a fumble that was recovered by Shawn Bowman (Mineral City, Ohio / Tuscarawas Valley). Then, Barnes went right back to Owens down the right sideline for a 50-yard gain to the 11. After a series of penalties, the Scots settled for a 25-yard Tyler Gerwig (Doylestown, Ohio / Archbishop Hoban) field goal.

Wooster made it 29-0 when Barnes connected with Owens again and the freshman wideout bounced off one would-be tackler and avoided another in sprinting to a 56-yard touchdown.

The Big Red's offense moved the ball late in the half, but the Scots kept them scoreless when Brandon James (Barberton, Ohio / Barberton) intercepted a pass at the goal line on the second-to-last play before halftime.

Denison started the third quarter with possession and an eight-play, 66-yard touchdown march, only to see Wooster push it back to a 29-point margin a few series later, with Hackel doing most of the work on a seven-play, 58-yard drive. He accounted for 54 of the yards, including breaking off a 29-yard touchdown rush.

The Big Red responded with a 10-play, 80-yard touchdown march near the end of the third (36-14), and was pushing to make it a two-score game early in the fourth quarter, however, Tyson Vogel (Ashland, Ohio / Ashland) intercepted a pass for the second time and nearly returned it for a touchdown, getting tracked down at the two-yard line. On the very next snap, Hackel bounced it to the outside and scored his third touchdown of the game to effectively seal the outcome as Wooster went ahead 43-14.

The Scots went over 500 yards of total offense for the third time this season, finishing with 540 on just 59 plays for an average of 9.2 yards, while the Big Red ran 91 offensive plays for 449 yards (4.9 average).

Barnes threw just 17 passes, completing eight for 279 yards (34.9 average), with all but 50 of those going to Owens, and Hackel notched his fourth 100-yard rushing game with 119 on 21 carries.

This and That: Wooster is tied for eighth in the NCAA Div. III statistics in turnover margin (+1.7 per game), as the Scots have 20 takeaways (11 interceptions, 9 fumble recoveries) and just eight giveaways ... Senior quarterback Richard Barnes (Painesville, Ohio / Harvey) is on pace to break school records for passing yards (1,690) and total offense (2,170), both currently held by Austin Holter, who had 2,106 passing yards and 2,873 yards of total offense during the 2009 season ... Offensively, Wooster is averaging 79.1 plays, up 9.8 over last year (69.3).