GAMEDAY CENTRAL - Defiance at Earlham - Game Five
DEFIANCE, Ohio - Defiance will take to the road for the second time of the young season, when it heads to Earlham for a 2:00 pm start on Saturday, September 29. The Jackets will look to keep the Quakers winless in league play and extend EC’s current losing skid to 25-straight defeats. [Game Notes]
DEFIANCE, Ohio - Defiance will take to the road for the second time of the young season, when it heads to Earlham for a 2:00 pm start on Saturday, September 29. The Jackets will look to keep the Quakers winless in league play and extend EC's current losing skid to 25-straight defeats. [Game Notes]
SCOUTING DEFIANCE - DC's sophomore running back, Trevon Burrell, has gradually gained a higher workload in the Yellow Jackets' ground game this season. In the last two contests against Rose-Hulman and Anderson, Burrell has served as the primary rusher for Defiance, averaging 82 yards per game on a clip of 5.9 yards per carry.
SCOUTING EARLHAM - The Quakers' pass-first offense has averaged over 20 completions and 226.5 yards per game through the air, but has also hoisted up 16 interceptions in four outings. Marcus Coby and Jalen Kenner are doing most of the damage for EC, joining for 57 total receptions and 156.0 receiving yards per game.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP - Defiance will attempt to use its run-heavy offensive attack to exploit the league's worst rush defense when it plays at Earlham on Saturday. The Jackets are averaging 48 running plays per game, while EC has allowed an HCAC-worst 301.2 yards on the ground per outing.
LAST MEETING - Defiance averaged 6.5 yards per carry en route to racking up 281 yards on the ground in a 26-10 victory over the Quakers on October 15, 2011. Earlham mustered only 105 total yards of offense in the game and had a pair of passes intercepted by DC's Tony Sierra and Brad Sealey.
SERIES HISTORY - DC holds a 13-6 edge in the all-time series against the Quakers and has won both showdowns with Earlham since EC joined the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference prior to the 2010 campaign. The Jackets have not faced a deficit in those two outings and have outscored Earlham by a 59-10 margin, while averaging 296.0 rushing yards per game.
LAST TIME OUT - Defiance bolted to a 10-0 lead over Anderson and then scored the final 20 points of the contest to cruise past the Ravens by a 30-7 margin. The Jackets turned in a dominating performance on the defensive side of the ball, holding AU to 19 yards rushing and 139 total yards of offense. DC also piled up five sacks, 10 quarterback hurries and 12 tackles for lost yardage on the afternoon.
AROUND THE HCAC - With the 2012 season nearing its midway point, things remain crowded at the top of the league. Bluffton (2-0), Franklin (2-0), Rose-Hulman (2-0) and Hanover (1-0) are all unbeaten, with DC (1-1) hoping to keep pace.
SAUNDERS PICKING UP THE HONORS - DC's Spencer Saunders hit field goals from 33, 28 and 22 yards out and converted all three point-after attempts in Defiance's 30-7 win over Anderson on September 22. The 12-point showing earned a spot for Saunders as the HCAC and OhioCollegeFootball.com Special Teams Player of the Week.
BRIGHAM HIGHLIGHTED BY D3FOOTBALL.COM - Defiance's D.J. Brigham anchored a dominant performance from the Yellow Jacket front line against Anderson one week ago, picking up a pair of sacks, seven solo stops and 3.5 hits for lost yardage. Brigham's outing netted him a spot on the D3Football.com National Team of the Week.
D-D-D-DEFIANCE - The Yellow Jackets have lowered the number of yards they have allowed in each of their four outings and currently sit atop the HCAC in total defense with only 314.8 total yards of offense allowed per contest.
A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS - Fans can choose from over 10,000 high-resolution photos of their favorite Yellow Jackets in action by visiting DC's online photo store at www.DefianceAthletics.com/galleries. Prices have recently been dropped by 30 percent on all products and the proceeds from the site help to support Defiance College.
ONLINE WEBCASTS AND REPLAYS - Defiance College would like to thank Hubbard Company, Mark Moats Ford and The Plaza Motel for their support of the Yellow Jacket Sports Network in 2012. Each of DC's five home football games in 2012, along with the road games at Adrian and Bluffton will be broadcast live at www.DefianceAthletics.com/video. Past broadcasts will also be archived and available at that link. Broadcasts will also be replayed all season long by DCTV5 on Tuesday's and Friday's at 9:00 pm and by Bryan City Cable channel 3 on Tuesday and Thursday's at 9:00 pm.