Ethan Nichol

For the third time in just seven games this season, The College of Wooster will test itself against a nationally-ranked opponent, as undefeated North Coast Athletic Conference foe Wabash College (6-0, 5-0 NCAC) – No. 9 in both the American Football Coaches Association and D3football.com weekly top-25 polls – visits John P. Papp Stadium this Saturday, Oct. 24. Wooster previously faced then-No. 24 Wittenberg University two games ago and fell 24-0 after being within 10-0 entering the fourth quarter, and lost to then-No. 15 Washington & Jefferson College 56-10 on Sept. 5 when the Presidents went on a 28-0 scoring outburst during the last 20:22. Wabash and its top-rated defense – the Little Giants are first in NCAA Div. III in rushing defense (26.3 ypg) and second in both scoring defense (5.8 ppg) and total defense (177.3 ypg) – are coming off of a 35-0 blanking of Kenyon College. Saturday's kickoff is set for 1 p.m. EDT.

On the Air: Wooster's football games are broadcast each week by commercial radio station WKVX 960 AM and are streamed live on wkvx.com.

Also, for all five home games, the audio and video from local cable provider MCTV, Inc., will be broadcast live over the web at http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/wooster.portal#.

All-Time Series: While the games have been competitive for the most part, Wooster has only won twice in 19 meetings with Wabash. Since the six-time NCAC-champion Little Giants became a full conference member in 2000, they hold a 13-2 advantage, with the Scots' victories coming back-to-back in 2003 at Wooster (23-7) and in 2004 at Wabash (33-30).

Last Week: Wooster had a pair of possessions to tie or take the lead in the closing moments, but fell just short as Oberlin College upended the Scots 28-23 in an exciting NCAC contest, held on a cold night at John P. Papp Stadium.

After the Yeomen gained a 28-21 lead, Wooster appeared to have tied it right back up on the next play from scrimmage, but a 51-yard touchdown on a screen pass was wiped away due to a downfield holding penalty. The Scots followed with a 24-yard pass play to set up a 1st-and-goal, only to be denied on fourth down from the 10-yard line with just 1:45 left.

Wooster was still not done. With :15 remaining, the Yeomen punter was pushed out of the back of the end zone for a safety, and the Scots got the ball back at midfield after the ensuing free kick was kicked out-of-bounds. David Smith (Upper Arlington, Ohio / Upper Arlington) completed two quick passes to Alex Woods (Spring, Texas / Spring) on each sideline – one for 11 yards and the second for nine – but on the latter it was ruled that he was tackled before getting out and the last couple of seconds ran off, thus preventing Wooster one last chance from the 30-yard line.

The Scots had been ahead after the first, second, and third quarters. Tyson Vogel (Ashland, Ohio / Ashland) found a wide open Dan Gorzynski (Kendall Park, N.J. / South Brunswick) down the right side for a 21-yard touchdown pass, as they took a 7-6 lead at the 3:24 mark of the first.

Wooster gained further momentum when Smith hit Russell Boston (Renton, Wash. / Liberty) for a four-yard slant in the end zone, capping a 13-play, 51-yard drive early in the second quarter as it went ahead 14-6.

Oberlin responded with a time-consuming possession, taking 10:33 off the clock while grinding out a 16-play, 58-yard series that featured a combined six penalties. The key penalty was a defensive pass interference on a 3rd-and-22 play that gave the Yeomen a first down at the Wooster 30. From there, they eventually scored a one-yard touchdown run that made it 14-12.

Oberlin also took the second-half kickoff and marched 70 yards in 10 plays for a go-ahead touchdown, this time on a three-yard rush.

Later in the third, Gorzynski got behind the Yeomen defense and Smith connected with him for a 57-yard touchdown as Wooster retook the lead at 21-20 and set up an exciting fourth quarter.

The final statistics were as close as the game. Each team ran 70 offensive plays, with Oberlin producing 373 yards and the Scots 367. Wooster had four more first downs, 24-20, and neither offense turned the ball over.

The Scots used two quarterbacks, with Smith completing 17-of-30 for 208 yards and Vogel rushing for a team-high 51 yards plus going 2-for-4 through the air for 45 yards. Boston collected seven receptions for 72 yards.

This and That: Wooster has been snakebitten by a series of injuries this year. The Scots have 37 games lost to injury (and counting), defined as games missed by projected starters, with the most significant being season-ending injuries to linebacker Troy Brown, left guard Paul Kelbly, strong safety Keith Lemke, and tight end David Wolshire ... Wooster's senior defensive end, Stephen McKinney (Lampasas, Texas / Lampasas), is climbing the school's career sacks' list, as he is just 2.0 away from the top-10 in that category. He currently has 12.5.