Springfield, Ohio - DePauw and Wittenberg fought through a scoreless first half before the visiting Tigers scored on their first four drives of the second half and blanked the hosts, 28-0. DePauw, ranked 13th in the latest coaches' poll and 14th by D3football.com, improved to 4-0 overall and 2-0 in the North Coast Athletic Conference, while Wittenberg dropped to 2-2 overall and 1-1 in the NCAC. The win was DePauw's 28th straight regular season victory
After stopping Wittenberg on the opening drive of the game, DePauw drove to the Wittenberg 8 and picked up seven yards on first down before being stopped for no gain on second and third down. A Wittenberg holding penalty on fourth down gave the Tigers another first down.
Caden Whitehead lost a yard on first down and gained a yard on second, but quarterback Scott Ballentine fumbled on third down and Wittenberg recovered.
A three-and-out by the DePauw defense followed and DePauw took over on the Wittenberg 41. Ballentine's fourth down pass from the Wittenberg 30 was picked off and the threat ended.
Each team punted at the start of the second before Wittenberg drove to the DePauw 36. Quarterback JJ Miller was hit and fumbled on a third down play and DePauw recovered at its own 27. Miller was hurt on the play and didn't return.
The teams again exchanged punts and the half ended in a 0-0 deadlock.
DePauw's opening drive of the second half included Wittenberg pass interference penalties on back-to-back plays to take the ball to the Wittenberg 12.
The guests got on the board five plays later as Scott Ballentine connected with Robby Ballentine for a 2-yard touchdown with 9:57 left in the third. That touchdown catch was the 43rd of Ballentine's career and broke the DePauw program record of 42 held by Alex Koors (2007-10).
Wittenberg fumbled on the punt on its next possession and DePauw recovered at the hosts' 9-yard line. Whitehead's 1-yard run on third down pushed the Tigers' lead to 14-0 with 5:42 left in the third.
Wittenberg drove to the DePauw 36, but the DePauw defense stopped the hosts on fourth down and regained possession.
Scott Ballentine's 14-yard scoring pass to Palmer Samuels made it 21-0 with 12:36 remaining in the fourth. The Tigers made it 28-0 after Carson Johnson rambled for a 46-yard score with 9:49 left.
DePauw's defense followed with a three-and-out and the Tigers' offense held on to the ball for the final 7:58 to end the game.
Scott Ballentine completed 20-of-33 passes for 172 yards with six going to Robby Ballentine for 51 yards. Johnson rushed for 38 yards on three carries and Whitehead finished with 47 yards on 16 attempts.
Miller completed 7-of-11 passes for 71 yards for Wittenberg and Stephen Lauterbach was 6-of-11 for 42 yards. Jaheim Hudson rushed for 30 yards on eight tries, while Nikhai Daniel caught four for 44 yards.
Dominic Seibal led the Tigers with six tackles and, along with Nehemiah Dau and Donavan Baker, had one sack each. Tyre Smith led Wittenberg with 16 tackles.
The Tigers held a 24-13 edge in first downs and outgained Wittenberg, 338-104. DePauw, which leads all NCAA divisions in rushing defense limited the hosts to just minus-24 yards on the ground.
DePauw hosts Oberlin on Saturday, Oct. 4, at Noon.