McDaniel allowed 42 points Saturday, but the defense wasn?t entirely to blame.
The Green Terror (1-6 overall, 1-4 Centennial Conference) offense struggled to find the end zone but its passing attack had no trouble finding the Ursinus (6-1, 4-1) defense in a 42-10 loss at Scott S. Bair Stadium.
Ursinus jumped out to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter and out-gained McDaniel, 313-185. On four of its five touchdown drives, Ursinus began inside McDaniel territory.
“Its hard to do that week after week,” corner Travis Wenrich said. “You?re holding them defensively, but they?re still putting points on the board.”
Ursinus quarterbacks Nicholas Dye and Erich Wolfe ? a former McDaniel reserve ? combined to go 16-for-19 for 160 yards and four touchdowns.
McDaniel, meanwhile, used three quarterbacks ? none of which began the season on the two-deep chart ? and amassed just 10 yards through the air. They threw four interceptions as the team turned the ball over five times.
“We gave them the ball in terrible field position at times,” McDaniel coach Tim Keating said. “We knew we were going to take some lumps today. We thought we?d be more competitive, though.”
With starter Brad Baer (leg) and reserve Tom Wenrich (concussion) unavailable, the Green Terror turned to sophomore Zach Swope, who began the season battling among five quarterbacks for the third-string spot.
Swope went 1-for-9 for 6 yards and three interceptions, while the team found its best offensive success under left-hander Joe Lapkowicz, who threw for just four yards and one interception on 3-for-7 passing, but rushed for 47 yards on 12 carries.
“I think Joe did a real fine job,” Keating said. “I was real pleased with his running, but he has some trouble throwing the ball.”
Keating is hopeful Tom Wenrich ? who was able to punt Saturday ? will return to start Saturday?s homecoming game against Franklin & Marshall (1-6, 1-4).
Jay Leonard booted a 28-yard field goal with 3:53 remaining in the third to spoil the Bears shutout. With 12:06 leftin the fourth, sophomore Travis Wenrich fielded a punt and saw eight white jerseys bearing down on him. But a huge block from Chris Monteil sprung enough of an opening for Wenrich to rumble 76 yards to the end zone.
McDaniel still holds the all-time series advantage, 24-7-1, but has yielded to Ursinus in each of the past two meetings.
