Denison junior running back Colin Morris capped off a thrilling come-from-behind victory on Saturday night with a 13-yard touchdown run in the second overtime that propelled the Big Red to a 47-41 victory over North Coast Athletic Conference rival Ohio Wesleyan in Delaware.  The win marked DU's first victory at Ohio Wesleyan since Sept. 28, 1985, exactly 28 years to the day.

Trailing 27-17 with 2:12 left in the third quarter, Denison Head Coach Jack Hatem knew he would need a solid effort on both sides of the ball if his team was going to have a legitimate shot at battling back into the game.

Staring at a 10-point deficit, junior quarterback Brandon Sklenar took the field looking to get his squad back into the game.  Sklenar completed back-to-back 12-yard passes to senior John Wilson to move the Big Red from their own 29-yard line to the OWU 47.  The DU offense closed out the third quarter with a seven-yard scamper by Sklenar and a four-yard first-down run by Morris.

Wilson opened up the fourth quarter with an 11-yard burst that took Denison down to the Ohio Wesleyan 25.  After gaining nine yards on the next three plays, Hatem was faced with a decision to either make it a one score game with a 34-yard field goal, or try to convert on 4th-and-1.  The fourth-year head coach wasted no time and sent his offense back on the field to try and pick up the first down.  Sklenar grinded out a two-yard run, extending DU's drive.   After a Bishop offside and a Sklenar carry put DU in a 2nd-and-three situation, Morris rumbled for six yards to put the Big Red on the one-yard line.  Once again, Sklenar went with the sneak and powered up the middle for the score.  After junior Matt Puracchio's extra point, Denison trailed 27-24 with 11:20 left in regulation.  Denison ran 12 plays and covered 71 yards in 5:51.

Looking to answer, the Batting Bishops engineered a 13-play, 62-yard drive that included three pass plays to Erik Wall that went more than 10-yards.  Espinosa kept the drive alive when he connected with Wall on a 13-yard pass on 4th-and-10 from the DU 30.  After moving the ball down to the Denison 17-yard line, Ohio Wesleyan place kicker Miles MacKenzie set up for a 35-yard field goal that would force Big Red to put one in the end zone to tie the game.  However, MacKenzie's attempt was blocked by Pat Foley who came sprinting off the left edge.  After a scramble Denison recovered the ball at the Ohio Wesleyan 41-yard line with 6:28 to play.

Needing just three points to tie the contest, Sklenar methodically moved down the field with short-yardage plays both on the ground and through the air.  On 2nd-and-13 from the OWU 33, the junior QB dumped a pass off to Morris in the flat.   The junior running back sprinted up the sideline all the way down to the 11-yard line.  After a one-yard run and a pair of incompletions, Purrachio came out and connected on a 27-yard field goal to tie the game with 2:25 on the game clock.  Denison's game-tying drive featured nine plays that covered 31 yards in 4:03.

The Battling Bishops started the ensuing drive at their own 33 after a 28-yard return.  Espinosa quickly went to the air as he connected with Wall for a 12-yard play along the sideline.  After a one-yard completion, the Bishop quarterback found Calvin Cagney for a 41-yard catch and run that got Ohio Wesleyan all the way down to the Big Red 13-yard line.  After a failed running play, Espinosa hooked up with Cagney once again for a 15-yard score with 1:12 left in regulation.  The five-play, 67-yard drive took just 1:12.

With 66 seconds on the clock, Sklenar began his final drive of the quarter at his own 27-yard line.  After a pair of incompletions, the junior was already facing a 3rd-and-long situation.  Unfazed by the pressure, Sklenar burst out of the pocket and reached the first-down marker before stepping out of bounds.  He quickly followed that up with a 27-yard sideline completion to freshman Richie Wehman III that put DU into Ohio Wesleyan territory.  Now 1st-and-10 at the OWU 37 with 45.9 seconds to play, the Bishops brought the pressure and tripped up Sklenar behind the line of scrimmage, forcing Hatem to call his second timeout of the half.

Once again, the junior's short-term memory kicked in as he sprinted 20 yards before being knocked out of bounds.  On 1st-and-10 from the 20, Sklenar hurled a pass towards the left side of the end zone that was corralled by sophomore DuShawn Brown for the score.  Following the Puracchio extra point, the two rivals were deadlocked 34-34 with 24.9 seconds on the clock.  The seven-play, 73-yard drive took just 42 seconds and just like that, the two teams were off to overtime.

After losing the coin toss, the Denison offense took the field first and once again, Sklenar wasted no time by breaking free for a 25-yard touchdown run to open overtime.  The Puracchio PAT gave DU a 41-34 lead.  Ohio Wesleyan took a different approach with their first OT possession, losing eight yards on the first two plays.  OWU's second play in overtime was a seven-yard Espinosa sack by junior Joey Lopez.  On 3rd-and-18, Espinosa found Scott Jenkins for a 17-yard hookup, while an 11-yard catch by Cagney got the Battling Bishops down to the five-yard line.  Two plays later, Cagney pounded it in from four yards out to tie the game at 41-41.

In the second overtime, Ohio Wesleyan's offense would take the field first, and Espinosa moved his offense down to the DU 8-yard line after connecting on a 13-yard screen pass to Mogilnicki.  However, a holding call on the next play moved the Bishops back to the 18-yard line.  After a six-yard run on second down moved OWU inside the 15, senior defensive lineman Dylan Hinde came barreling around the left end and brought down Espionsa for the six-yard sack.  Similar to the situation he was in towards the end of regulation, MacKenzie setup for another 35-yard field goal.  This time, the junior got his kick off, however, the ball sailed left of the left upright to keep the game tied at 41-41.

Needing just a field goal to win, Hatem played it safe and had his quarterback carry the ball for gains of four and eight yards on the first two plays of the drive.  On 1st-and-10 from the OWU 13, Sklenar handed the ball off to Morris who turned on the juice around the right corner and lunged into the end zone for the game-winning score.  The 13-yard scamper cleared the Big Red bench as they embraced the junior running back in the end zone.

The Big Red held onto the ball for over 40 minutes of the game thanks in large part to a 50-percent conversion rate on third down.  Denison also went a perfect 3-for-3 on fourth-down conversions.  They cashed in on all seven of their trips to the red zone, scoring five touchdowns and kicking two field goals.  The Bishops had the ball for 19:30 and were just 2-for-13 on third down.  OWU also missed all three of its field goal attempts.

Denison amassed 531 total yards of offense with 326 of those yards coming on the ground.  Sklenar finished with 369 yards of total offense and three TDs.  The junior quarterback was 17-for 32 and threw for 205 yards and a score.  He also ran for 164 and two more TDs.  Morris finished the day with 120 yards on the ground and two touchdowns to go along with 32 receiving yards.  Puracchio was a perfect 5-for-5 in point after attempts and 2-for-2 in field goal tries.

Freshman Andrew Baird led the defense with 10 tackles, including six solo stops.  Lucas Romick and Alex Willingham also had six solo tackles on the night, while Hinde finished with two tackles for loss, including the big sack in the second overtime.

Espisona went 29-for-46 with 473 yards and three touchdowns.  Wall finished with 168 yards on nine catches, while Mogilnicki made six grabs for 137 yards and a score.

Denison improves to 3-1 on the year and 2-1 in the NCAC, while Ohio Wesleyan, who went 9-1 a season ago, falls to 2-1 and 1-1 in league action.  The Big Red returns home next weekend when they host DePauw University on Big Red Weekend.  Game time at Deeds Field-Piper Stadium is scheduled for 2 p.m.