Sep. 2—Rose-Hulman went into the halftime locker room with momentum and the lead Saturday night at Cook Stadium.

But visiting DePauw had the ball for 23 of the 30 second-half minutes — every Rose-Hulman student has already figured out that percentage in his or her head — and held the Engineers scoreless the rest of the way in a nonconference college football game, winning 33-21 for the Tigers' seventh straight victory in the series with Rose-Hulman.

"I'm really proud of how we responded [to an early 13-0 deficit]," coach Jeff Sokol of the Engineers said afterward, "but I'm disappointed we were not able to sustain that in the second half."

Rose went three-and-out on its first two offensive possessions, and DePauw scored both times: a missed tackle on the sideline allowing Jaylon Smith to turn a short pass into a 45-yard touchdown reception, and a wide, wide, wide-open Gabe Quigley catching the ball in the middle of the field and completing a 55-yard scoring play.

"We had a blown coverage there," Sokol said afterward. "DePauw is a good team, and if you give them a chance they'll take advantage."

The Engineers finally got their up-tempo attack in sync on their fourth possession, however, and the rest of the half they had the Tiger defenders on their heels and struggling in the heat.

An 85-yard drive in 13 plays got Rose-Hulman on the board, Miguel Robertson finding Jailen Hobbs in the corner of the end zone to cut the lead to 13-7.

DePauw answered with a 53-yard drive of its own to make it 20-7, but Rose was just getting started. Robertson led the team 75 yards in 12 plays, Hobbs catching another touchdown pass, and an interception by Adam Field four plays later set up another scoring drive. Robertson found Chase Wilkinson with a 39-yard pass with 49 seconds left in the second quarter, and Kyle Rehberg's third extra point gave Rose-Hulman its first lead of the game.

DePauw ran the ball 32 times in the second half, however, and completed just one pass in the 59-yard scoring drive that opened the third quarter and gave the visitors the lead.

An interception by DePauw freshman Jadon Miller at the 12-yard line stopped Rose-Hulman's answering drive, and the Tigers kept the ball for five minutes before the Rose defenders got a stop. Then the Engineers went three and out.

A 54-yard punt by Andrew Tolen pinned DePauw deep in its territory, however, and although the Tigers picked up two first downs, a high snap from center created a scramble near the goal line, Rose-Hulman's Jack LeCrone coming up with the recovery at the 8-yard line.

Instead of taking the lead, however, an interception on their first play — Miller again — cost the Engineers their chance. "We had a miscommunication," Sokol said, "and disaster ensued."

DePauw then marched 95 yards in 14 plays and almost seven minutes to all but clinch the game.

"We struggled with our conditioning today," Sokol said. "DePauw was the better conditioned team . . . that's a hallmark of our program, and I was disappointed we weren't the best conditioned team." Hobbs, for example, had no second-half stats after his two touchdown receptions.

Despite his disappointment, Sokol remains confident about his team's chances the rest of the way.

"We're good enough to win every game we play," the coach said. "We just have to recover and get better."

DePauw 33, Rose-Hulman 21

DePauw 13 7 6 7 — 33

Rose-Hulman 0 21 0 0 — 21

D — Jaylon Smith 45 pass from Nathan McCahill (kick blocked), 12:17 1st

D — Gabe Quigley 55 pass from McCahill (Joseph Sullivan kick), 8:31 1st

RH — Jailen Hobbs 11 pass from Miguel Robertson (Kyle Rehberg kick), 10:53 2nd

D — Gus Baumgartner 1 run (Sullivan kick), 6:43 2nd

RH — Hobbs 3 pass from Robertson (Rehberg kick), 3:01 2nd

RH — Chase Wilkinson 39 pass from Robertson (Rehberg kick), 0:49 2nd

D — Baumgartner 5 run (kick failed), 11:47 3rd

D — Robby Ballentine 21 pass from McCahill (Matthew Berry kick), 7:30 4th

D RH

First downs 30 16

Rushes-yards 56-234 20-66

Passing yards 276 202

Comp-Att-Int 17-30-1 25-37-2

Return yards 3 21

Fumbles-lost 1-1 0-0

Punts-avg 1-38 5-45.8

Penalties-yards 7-70 3-45

Possession time 40:19 19:32

Individual leaders

Rushing — DePauw: Baumgartner 25-122, Caden Whitehead 12-83, Seth Mencer 7-29, McCahill 7-15. RH: Grant Ripperda 12-45, Jay Smith 5-13, Hobbs 1-6, Robertson 1-2.

Passing — DePauw: McCahill 17-30-1, 276 yards. RH: Robertson 25-37-2, 202.

Receiving — DePauw: Quigley 4-85, Whitehead 4-39, Ballentine 3-71, Smith 2-61. RH: Daniel Huery 13-85, Hobbs 6-32, Wilkinson 4-68, Brxandon Green 1-10.

Next — Rose-Hulman (0-1) plays next Saturday at Trine. DePauw (1-0) hosts Anderson.