Defiance Blanked by Albion in Season Opener
DEFIANCE, Ohio – The Yellow Jackets ran into a buzz saw in Saturday's season-opening clash with Albion College, as the defending Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Champions ruined the debut of head coach Brian Sheehan with a 55-0 defeat of DC inside Justin F. Coressel Stadium.
The Britons set the tone early, piling up 148 total yards of offense and three touchdowns in the opening quarter to bolt to the 21-0 lead. Defiance possessed the ball for over half of the opening 15 minutes of action but could only muster 36 yards and one first down against the AC defense.
The Albion attack continued to roll up the points with touchdowns on six of its first seven possessions en route to a 41-0 halftime lead, before setting for the 55-0 final.
The visitors forcefully backed up their preseason ranking of No. 34 in the nation with 428 total yards of offense on 9.1 yards per snap and eclipsed 200 yards through the air and on the ground. Albion controlled the play on special teams as well, getting great field position all afternoon by averaging 24.4 yards per punt return.
Defiance countered by using eight different ball carriers to log 148 rushing yards on 54 carries in the loss. The determined effort on the ground allowed DC to amass a 39:29 to 20:31 advantage in time of possession but did not translate on the scoreboard.
Junior quarterback, Garrett Teague, took the majority of the work with 55 yards on 22 carries, while freshman Nick Lopez averaged 5.8 yards per try on six attempts. Teague also completed 13-of-24 passes in his first collegiate start, with Aaron Smith, Joey Chester and Jon Carrabino hauling in three receptions each.
Gregg Pickett led the Purple and Gold on the defensive side with seven tackles, while Andrew Leverenz picked up five hits, 2.5 stops for lost yardage and one sack.
Defiance (0-1) will be back in action on Saturday, September 8 at 6:00 pm, when it heads north to play at Adrian College in another non-conference tilt.
Fans not able to attend the game can watch the action live on the Yellow Jacket Sports Network by going to www.DefianceAthletics.com/video.
