Game Notes
Coach Doup Radio Show - Week 8

WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The Otterbein football team hits the road for a tough test Saturday afternoon, traveling to take on undefeated and No. 1-ranked University of Mount Union in Alliance, Ohio. Kickoff is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.

The Cardinals, sitting at 4-3 overall and 4-2 within Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) play, will look for a bounce-back effort after a disappointing 55-21 loss to Baldwin Wallace last Saturday at Memorial Stadium.

"We just didn't play well," Otterbein head coach Tim Doup said promptly. "Everything that went right for us the past few weeks went wrong in that game. When you add in Baldwin Wallace doing a lot of things right, that's the result you get. We had some good moments within the game, but it obviously wasn't very good from an overall standpoint. We need to clean up some penalties and other areas, and then go from there."

Mount Union (7-0, 6-0 OAC), taking over the top spot in the national polls a few weeks back after UW-Whitewater had its 36-game winning streak snapped, won its 100th-straight regular-season game last Saturday with a 69-0 rout at Wilmington. The Purple Raiders are 235-2 in regular-season contests since the start of 1992, capturing 23-straight OAC titles in the process.

"The biggest thing is to not do anything crazy and just stay focused on what we do as a team," Doup said of playing Mount Union. "We need to take care of ourselves, worry about our approach and just try to do the little things well."

The Raiders, under the direction of third-year head coach Vince Kehres, are churning out a league-best 573 yards per game of offense. Handling the reigns is senior Taurice Scott, a quarterback turned wide receiver and now back to quarterback in his final campaign. He had over 1,000 yards and 12 touchdowns last year as a wide-out.

Running back Logan Nemeth leads the conference with 15 rushing touchdowns while wide receiver Roman Namdar ranks top-four in receiving scores and yards per game. The Mount Union defense is as strong as ever, boasting eight seniors and yielding just 4.4 points per game on the year.

Otterbein had scored 28 or more points in five-straight games until the loss to BW. Slot receiver Julian Lowe ranks third nationally in receiving touchdowns (12), eighth in catches (58) and 30th in receiving yards (711). Running back John Pyles eclipsed 100 yards rushing against BW and is averaging 6.6 yards per carry this fall, while quarterback Kevan Green sits fourth in the OAC with 213 yards per game and 14 TD's.

The Cardinal defense, led by OAC-leading tackler Drew Ervin (12.7/gm), will look for a better performance this week after struggling to get off the field against Baldwin Wallace. Otterbein has dealt with adversity through injuries on both sides of the ball, but Doup knows it's part of the game and helps provides some good lessons.

"This can teach you why it's important to always be prepared and to have that next-man up mentality," Doup explained. "We are playing college football and nobody is going to feel sorry for you, so it's about staying focused and finding ways to win. You just never know when you're going to be called on."

Fans can follow the game through live stats, live audio and live video (pay per view). Replays of the game will also be shown on SportsTimeOhio on Sunday, Nov. 1 at 6 a.m. and Monday, Nov. 2 at noon.