OBERLIN, Ohio-- Sophomore quarterback Canaan Gebele racked up 359 yards of total offense and four touchdowns as Denison defeated Oberlin, 54-7 on Saturday night at the Knowlton Complex. 

After three, first quarter field goals by Denison senior placekicker Conor Dunn gave DU a 9-0 lead heading into the second quarter, Gebele and the offense went to work after an Andrew Baird interception set the DU offense up on the Oberlin 47-yard line.

Two plays later, Gebele completed a 16-yard pass to David Weimar getting the Big Red to the Oberlin 1-yard line.  Cody Farley punched in the 1-yard touchdown run on the first play of the second quarter, giving Denison a 16-0 lead.

With 11:57 left in the second, Gebele broke free on a 75-yard touchdown run on the opening play of the drive.  Dunn's PAT gave DU a 23-0 cushion.  Things didn't get much better for Oberlin.  On 3rd and 10 from their own 29, Hayden Hatten and Nate Keirn posted a sack for a loss of six, signaling the punting unit.  Hatten struck again, blocking the punt for a loss of 18 yards.

With just over one minute to play in the half, Gebele capped off a 9-play 53-yard drive with a 7-yard touchdown run.

With 1:03 left in the second quarter, Oberlin's offense took the field only to have its drive stalled by a fumble that was recovered by DU senior defensive end, Zach Neufeld.  Denison took over with 33 seconds left and its 5-play drive ended with a 32-yard field goal by Dunn, giving him four field goals in the game.  His four field goals are the most by a Denison player since computerized statistics were introduced in 2000.

In the second half, Denison put the game away on its first drive when Gebele connected with Weimar on a 51-yard scoring strike to go ahead, 40-0.  Gebele's final TD came with 5:56 left in the third quarter when he called his own number on a 1-yard TD run, polishing off a 13-play 70-yard drive.

DU's final touchdown came in the fourth quarter on a 21-yard touchdown pass from Tommy Iammarino to Dara Laja.

While the Denison offense was busy racking up yards, the Big Red defense was just as impressive, holding Oberlin to 29 total yards in the first half.  For the game, the Yeomen managed 182 yards while Denison piled up 559 yards. 

Junior linebacker Hayden Hatten was a menace in the middle of the Big Red defense.  He totaled seven solo tackles, two sacks, one forced fumble and a blocked punt.  Andrew Baird followed with six tackles and one interception.  Joel Lohoua also notched an interception off a batted ball at the line of scrimmage, in the first half.

When the defense was on the field, they were fresh.  The Big Red offense nearly doubled up the Yeomen in time of possession (38-22).

Gebele was 20-of-32 for 224 yards and one touchdown pass.  His favorite target was Weimar who caught nine passes for 149 yards and one TD.  Gebele rushed 12 times for 135 yards and three scores.  Laja toted the ball seven times for 45 yards while Farley finished with 10 carries for 41 yards and a score.

Denison improves to 2-0 while Oberlin falls to 0-2.  The Big Red will be back in action next Saturday, Sept. 24 when they host The College of Wooster at 1 p.m.