Chicago quarterback Marshall Oium passed for 148 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 50 more yards and a third touchdown to lead his Maroons past the Denison Big Red, 36-7 from Stagg Field in Chicago, Ill.

Oium, who returned to the lineup after missing the last two and a half games due to an injury, gave his squad an immediate spark thanks to his ability to run and throw.

Denison drew first blood thanks to a little razzle-dazzle from junior Braden Layer (Upper Arlington, Ohio/Upper Arlington).  The quarterback turned wide receiver hooked up with junior wideout Andy Carpenter (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) on a reverse pass on the game's second play that resulted in a 56-yard gain.  Seven plays later, on a 3rd-and-goal play from the Chicago 13-yard line, quarterback Max Paulus (Massillon, Ohio/Jackson) found senior tight end Shawn Eagle (Harmony, Pa./Seneca Valley) for the touchdown, giving DU the early 7-0 lead.

Denison would force the Maroons to punt on their first possession, but after regaining possession on their own 14-yard line and failing to manage a first down Chicago would prove that last weekend's three blocked punts versus Ohio Wesleyan was not a fluke.

With Denison the Denison punter backed up in his own end zone the Maroons brought the house and managed to get a partial block resulting in a 14-yard punt that set Chicago up deep inside Denison territory.  On their second play, Oium would hit Clay Wolff on a 24-yard screen pass.  On the very next play he connected with Dee Brizzolara for a 6-yard scoring strike.

After a 23-yard kickoff return by Sam Fioroni (Clarkston, Mich./Orchard Lake St. Mary's) set Denison up on Chicago 33 yard line the Maroons would chalk up their first of what would be nine quarterback sacks.  This one came on second down, giving the Big Red a 3rd and long situation that would come up dry.  On came the punting unit once again and this time the Maroons would come away with a clean block by Dann Polaneczky that would be recovered in the DU end zone for a Chicago touchdown and a 13-7 lead for the Maroons.

In the second quarter the Big Red put together a drive that got to the Chicago 22-yard line before a fourth down conversion attempt from Paulus to Carpenter failed, giving the ball back to the Maroons deep in their own territory. Facing a 3rd and 17 from their own 44-yard line Oium found Wolff on what would be the play of the game, a 54-yard pass that got Chicago down to the Denison 5-yard line.  Francis Adarkwa would finish off the drive with a rushing touchdown, giving his team a 20-7 lead.

Just minutes before halftime Chicago stretched their lead to 27-20 thanks to a 14-play 83 yard drive that was closed out by a 27-yard Oium rushing touchdown.

Paced by their season-high 9 sack performance, the Chicago defense kept Denison in 3rd and long situations for much of the afternoon.  The Big Red was led in rushing by Dan Crawford (Upper Arlington, Ohio/Upper Arlington) who finished with 14 carries for 33 yards.  Paulus threw for 92 yards and one touchdown.  The receiving corps were led by junior Lucas Graham (Zanesville, Ohio/Zanesville) who caught four passes for 37 yards.

The Denison defense was led by linebacker Charles Coleman (Belgrade, Mont./Manhattan) who posted seven tackles and one sack.  Pat Effinger (Pickerington, Ohio/North) also notched seven tackles to go along with one interception.  Chicago's defense was led by Michael Cifor and Matt Sargent who combined for five quarterback sacks.  Cameron Grimes recorded a game-high eight tackles and one sack.

Denison falls to 3-3 overall and will look to rebound next Saturday (Oct. 16) against Allegheny.  Kickoff will be at 7 p.m. from Deeds Field-Piper Stadium in Granville.