Halftime Lead Doesn't Hold Up As Dayton Flies Past Visiting Wittenberg

DAYTON, Ohio — If only senior tailback Tristan Murray could play defense and special teams. The way he was going on Saturday against the University of Dayton, it's possible that the Wittenberg Tigers could have pulled off a most improbable of victories.

Murray ran for a 96-yard touchdown on the game's first play from scrimmage, a school-record 181 yards in the first quarter and 239 yards and two touchdowns by game's end. However, Dayton, an NCAA Division I-AA non-scholarship program, had all the answers, scoring on a 65-yard pass play on its first play from scrimmage and reeling off 28 points in a second-half comeback that netted the Flyers a hard-fought 41-23 victory.

The two Miami Valley rivals were renewing acquaintances for the first time since 1989, and the long-anticipated game got off to a hot start with Murray's score, the second-longest run in Wittenberg history, and UD's quick-strike response as quarterback Kevin Hoyng and wide receiver Jack O'Dell hooked up. Murray added a touchdown on the second play of the second quarter and his back-up, sophomore Derrick Braziel, chipped in with a nine-yard scoring jaunt late in the half that put Wittenberg ahead 20-13 at halftime.

Wittenberg's defense played a solid first half, but in the second half UD found some holes and exploited them, first on a 61-yard end around by wide receiver Ryan Wrobleski less than a minute into the third quarter. Just four minutes after tying the game, the Flyers knifed through the Tiger defense for a five-play, 67-yard touchdown drive that gave them the lead for good.

As good as UD's offense was in piling up 554 total yards and 41 points, it was a defensive stand that turned the game for good. After missing most of the second quarter and almost half of the third stanza with exhaustion, Murray accumulated 50 yards on a long drive after an interception by Tiger safety Mitch Fonseca. But the Tigers were stopped on the seven yard line, forcing a Mark Porter field goal and preserving a still tenuous four-point UD lead.

The fourth quarter was all Dayton. The Flyers tacked on a pair of insurance touchdowns to push the score to a deceiving 18-point margin.

Murray's 239 yards was 10 short of his career best of 249 set a year ago in the season finale against Allegheny, and it was the highest total against Dayton since 1977, when the Flyers moved into the non-scholarship ranks. Freshman quarterback Matt Brumfield showed great poise in his first career start, filling in for the injured Ryan Holmes with 14 completions in 19 attempts for 104 yards. Braziel added 24 yards on seven carries and a team-best 42 yards on three receptions.

Defensively, Fonseca again led the Tigers in tackles, this time accumulating 10 stops after finishing with a career-high 18 the previous week against Capital. Senior defensive tackle Matt Stechschulte was also outstanding, recording nine tackles, including a sack that cost Dayton 13 yards.

The road gets no easier for Wittenberg, which is off to its first 0-2 start in more than 50 years. Next week, the Tigers head to Alma, one of the preseason favorites in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association and an NCAA Division III Tournament team in 2004. After an off week, the Tigers then head into North Coast Athletic Conference action with a Parents Weekend date opposite Denison back home in Edwards-Maurer Field.