BOURBONNAIS, Ill. - No. 7 Indiana Wesleyan football dominated for a 69-0 victory at Olivet Nazarene on Saturday afternoon to improve to 3-1. Arjun Lothe made the most of his first start at quarterback and set a program record with 374 passing yards. He also tied the program record with 5 touchdowns set three weeks ago by teammate Kyle Antoine.

 

THE ESSENTIALS

• Location: Bourbonnais, Ill. | Ward Field
• Records: IWU - 3-1 | ONU - 2-2
• NAIA Top-25 Ranking: IWU - #7 | ONU- Unranked

FIRST QUARTER

• The Wildcats went 85 yards on their opening drive, punched in by Ryan Whitwell from 2-yards out.
• Clayton Mosher stalled the Tigers' response with a sack for a 7 yard loss.
• The very next drive was capped off by a 66-yard catch and run from Isaac Smith to go up 13-0.
• Robert Hunter got his turn in the backfield with a 9-yard sack to end another short drive by ONU.
• Lothe found Levi Tidwell on the next drive for a 31-yard touchdown pass as IWU extended their lead to 20-0.
• Anthony Cheesebourough recorded the third sack of the quarter as ONU tried to convert on 4th down.
• Myles Cox closed out the quarter with a 45-yard touchdown catch to put the Wildcats up 27-0 at the end of the quarter.

SECOND QUARTER

• The IWU defense collected their 4th sack of the day from Caleb Williams as ONU punted on their 4th drive.
• IWU went 80 yards on 11 plays as Lothe connected with Tidwell for the second time to make it 34-0. 
• Elijah Gibbs found the endzone a few drives later from 15 yards out as the lead grew to 41-0.
• Preston Sykes swiped an interception on the first play of the following drive.
• After one of the few stalled IWU drives, Da'Veon Turner got the ball back to Indiana Wesleyan with an interception.
• Lothe tossed his fifth touchdown of the half to Smith to put the Wildcats up 48-0.
• Clayton Mosher picked off the Tigers and returned it to the house for a 40-yard touchdown.
• IWU went into the locker room with a 55-0 lead at halftime.

THIRD QUARTER

• Drake Deshetsky and Neil Campbell combined for a sack on the opening drive of the third quarter.
• Da'Veon Turner secured his second INT and returned it back for the second defensive touchdown of the day for the Wildcats.

FOURTH QUARTER

• Vince Solano got in on the action defensively with IWU's fifth interception on the game. He returned it 63 yards for a touchdown to push the Wildcat lead to 69-0.
• The Wildcats ran the ball and milked the clock throughout the second half as IWU secured their third victory of the season and move to 5-1 against Olivet Nazarene.

OFFENSIVE LEADERS

• Arjun Lothe completed 20-of-29 passes for a program record 374 yards with 5 touchdowns. 
• Issac Smith surpassed the century mark for the second game this year with 162 yards and two touchdowns. Levi Tidwell also had two touchdowns on 4 receptions for 89 yards.
• Ryan Whitwell led the ground attack with 78 yards and a touchdown on 15 attempts. Elijah Gibbs earned 51 yards on 9 rushes with a touchdown.

DEFENSIVE LEADERS

• Clayton Mosher led the way with 6 total tackles with one sack and an interception for a touchdown.
• Da'Veon Turner registered two interceptions and returned one for a touchdown.
• Vince Solano tallied the team's third pick to the endzone.
• Overall, the defense had five interceptions. Preston was the fourth Wildcat to earn a takeaway.
• Six different IWU players accounted for five team sacks.

SPECIAL TEAMS STANDOUTS

• Josh Clifton did not attempt a field goal, but went 9 for 10 on extra-point attempts.
• Jaden Downs had three punts for 123 yards with a long of 50. He placed one inside the 20-yard line.
• Myles Cox returned one punt for 15 yards and one kickoff for 9yards.

STATS COMPARISON

• IWU posted 23 first downs compared to 16 for ONU. IWU held the advantage through the air with 383 passing yards and just 148 for the Tigers.
• IWU totaled five interceptions with three being for touchdowns.
• Indiana Wesleyan registered five sacks, compared to none for Olivet Nazarene.

WHAT THE WIN MEANS

• The victory means IWU will be 3-1 when the squad takes on their first ranked opponent next week.
• The win pushes the Wildcats to 5-1 against Olivet Nazarene in the all-time series. 

RODE PERSPECTIVE

• "The team had a very focused week of practice and all three phases came out ready to play today," said Andrew Rode, Head Football Coach. "Our defense played great football with three interceptions returned for touchdowns. Arjun has been improving every week and played a great game. He drove the offense forward today with his accuracy and great decision making."

LOOKING FORWARD

• No. 7 Indiana Wesleyan plays the final game of their three-week road trip against No. 25 Saint Francis (Ill.) on Saturday, Sept. 28 at 2:00PM Eastern.
• Links for video and stats will be available at IWUWildcats.com.

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