Oberlin College took the field against Washington and Jefferson College last Saturday for some fast and hard-hitting football. The Yeomen came up short 13-33 against the Presidents, who have been ranked as high as fifteenth in the preseason polls.

The Yeomen gave up some big plays early in the first half, digging themselves a 0-26 hole going in at halftime.

Head Coach Jeff Ramsey explained, “We played much better in the second half. Had we played like that in the first half I think it would have been a different ball game.”

Despite the loss, coach Ramsey saw some encouraging highlights with both the offensive and defensive units. “Overall [it was a] good team effort. We learned something though about playing a good team. We have to perform at a very high level,” said Ramsey.

The brunt of the OC scoring and defensive action occurred in the second half of the game. In the third quarter, junior wide receiver Chris Schubert scored on a Presidents punt return for 77 yards. Schubert wrote himself into the Oberlin sports history book, recording the program’s first ever touchdown on a punt return.  Sophomore quarterback Greg Mangan passed for 250 yards. He connected with Schubert for a three-yard touchdown with ten minutes left in the final quarter.

Schubert led the Oberlin receivers with five catches for 57 yards and a touchdown. He also had three punt returns for 94 yards and the spectacular touchdown. Perhaps the most thrilling play of the game came from a pass made by Mangan to junior wide receiver Cassius Harris. Mangan threw the ball 37 yards to Harris who caught it with one hand while positioned on his back.

After a disappointing start to the game, the defense really turned up their game in the second half, allowing only one touchdown. Junior defensive back Chase Palmer had eight tackles, including four solos, and fellow classmate defensive lineman Chris Pisani had 4.5 tackles and a sack. Defensive back Clayton Thurmer also had a solid game with six tackles and a recovery of a fumble by the Presidents. Sophomore linebacker Zach Warner had 6.5 tackles while senior co-captain Andy Estep topped out at six.

Coach Ramsey praised quarterback Mangan’s ability to perform well under intense defensive pressure, saying, “He played well with pressure, he had 250 yards and missed a couple of passes but experienced pressure all day.”

Mangan, on the other hand, thought that he didn’t respond well to the Presidents’ defensive strategy. “I had time to deliver the ball downfield on many occasions but either held onto the ball too long or made poor decisions. My job as quarterback is to get the ball into the hands of our playmakers and I did not do this very effectively.”

Of course, Mangan was not the only player that had to deal with pressure, as Schubert felt it was something the whole team experienced. “I think we did feel pressure. The pressure was from ourselves.  We knew we were going to be playing a great team, and we would have to play almost mistake free, but we got down on ourselves early, and I think the pressure got to us a little bit.”

Overall, the Yeomen were frustrated by their performance. They had a bye week to prepare for the game, but they were also playing a good football team. Washington and Jefferson, who is consistently ranked nationally, improved to a 3-1 record on the season. Coach Ramsey acknowledged that Oberlin faced a solid team but attributed the loss to starting the game on their heels. “[We] really had to be in shape in the beginning. We really approached the game as we were playing a good team with some flaws. We knew how we should have handled them. We came out a little flat on both sides of the ball.”

“We kept waiting for them to make a mistake but it never happened,” said junior linebacker Geoff Sirockman. “But it’s a good thing that we got to see what it takes to be a ranked football team and hopefully we follow their example to make ourselves better.” 

Mangan commented about the game as a whole: “They forced us out of our comfort zone a little bit and we had a difficult time responding. The effort was undoubtedly there but you can’t get away with the mistakes we made against a team like that. Overall though, this should prove to be a good learning experience for us as we look to rebound in conference play.”

The Yeomen will look to put this game behind them in next week’s conference game against the Hiram College Terriers when they line up Saturday, Sept. 30 at the Hirman’s Coleman Sports Center.

Schubert is confident the team will play better.

“We have Hiram this week and it’s a big game for us from the standpoint that you have to come back strong from a loss, and I know we will,” he said.