Max Paulus threw for 278 yards and four touchdown passes and Sam Fioroni rushed for 154 yards and one score, leading Denison past Oberlin, 38-27 from Deeds Field-Piper Stadium in Granville.

After falling behind 7-0 early in the first quarter Denison would respond.  From the 9:43 mark in the first quarter through the 6:34 mark in the fourth quarter the Big Red outscored Oberlin 38-7 which allowed DU to pull away from the Yeomen.

Denison did it with a persistent offensive attack and a bend, don't break defense.  Paulus, who became the first Denison quarterback to surpass 2,000 yards passing in a season since 2001, finished the day 20-for-38 for 278 yards.  On the year, Paulus is completing 61 percent of his passes and has now thrown for 2,048 yards to go along with 20 TD passes to just eight interceptions.

Paulus's favorite target on Saturday was senior wide receiver Andy Carpenter who caught eight passes for 151 yards and one touchdown via a 52-yard pass from Paulus in the fourth quarter.  The 151 receiving yards was a single-game career high.  It also marked the third 100-yard receiving day of his career.

On the ground, Fioroni inched closer to the 1,000-yard milestone with his 26 carry, 154 yard rushing day. Through nine games, Fioroni leads the North Coast Athletic Conference in rushing with 979 yards.  With one game remaining in 2011, Fioroni could become the first Denison running back to surpass 1,000 yards since 2006.

Fioroni also added 55 yards receiving, upping his season all-purpose yardage to a league-high 1,355 yards.  Senior wide receiver Lucas Graham caught two passes, both resulting in touchdowns of 8 yards and 24-yards, respectively.  Sophomore tailback John Wilson also caught a 9-yard screen pass from Paulus in the first quarter that tied the game at 7-7.

Oberlin was led in receiving by Adam Niec who caught five passes for 113 yards and two TD's.  Starting quarterback Adam Mandel left the game with an injury in the second quarter but not before completing 11 passes for 96 yards and a touchdown.  He was replaced by Robin Witjes and Joe Cook who combined for go 11-for-24 for 121 yards and one TD.  In the fourth quarter, wide receiver Cory Kidd took a pair of laterals from Cook and found Niec and Drew Mixter for touchdowns that covered 32 yards and 47 yards.

On the ground, Mixter led Oberlin with 74 yards. 

The DU defense forced Oberlin into four turnovers as Joel Elliott and Eric Conrad both notched interceptions.  Junior defensive end Lane Hartfield forced two fumbles to go along with his four tackles and one sack.  Alex Sycher led Denison with nine tackles and one pass deflection.

Oberlin's defense was paced by Matt Richard's nine tackles and one sack.  David Kalgren added eight tackles and one interception.

Denison improves to 4-5 overall and 3-2 in the NCAC while Oberlin falls to 2-6 and 1-3 in the conference.  The Big Red returns to the gridiron on Nov. 12 when they host Kenyon College in their 2011 season finale from Piper Stadium at 1 p.m.