The Hillsdale College football team upset the 16th-ranked Indianapolis Greyhounds 30-24 on Saturday night at Frank “Muddy” Waters Stadium. It was the Chargers’ first win over a ranked opponent in six years and it extended their winning streak to five games dating back to last season. Here are five things to know before the Chargers host Walsh on Saturday at 7 p.m. to open GLIAC play.
Don’t expect head coach Keith Otterbein to play it safe.
The first play the Chargers ran this season was a surprise onside kick that they recovered. Hillsdale didn’t score on that opening possession, but the aggressive play call to start the game set the tone for the rest of the night.
“That’s why you open with an onside kick — to get momentum. It didn’t necessarily affect that drive, but it sure affected our mentality,” Otterbein said. “You’ve got to be aggressive.”
Hillsdale’s aggressive mindset paid off late in the game as well. With 8:40 remaining in the fourth quarter, the Chargers held a 27-24 lead with the ball at their 21-yard line. Rather than electing to play it safe and run down the clock, the Chargers mixed the run and the pass during a 13-play, 68-yard drive that resulted in a field goal and took the game clock down to 1:23.
“When you’re playing a good team, you’ve got to mix it up, and you can’t be afraid to go win the game. If you’re playing and calling a game not to lose, chances are you’re probably going to lose,” Otterbein said. “Our kids played with great passion and great emotion all day long.”
The Chargers have developed a no-quit mindset.
While the Chargers never trailed by more than four points throughout the game, their ability to keep their composure — especially in the third quarter — against a ranked opponent was impressive.
With 4:41 remaining in the third quarter, the Greyhounds took a 17-13 lead on a 3-yard touchdown run from quarterback Jake Purichia. Hillsdale responded with a 5-play, 76-yard touchdown drive, but the Greyhounds countered with another go-ahead touchdown just 36 seconds later.
The score capped a five-minute stretch in which Indianapolis scored 17 points, but the Chargers kept their cool.
“Every time there was a chance to lose momentum, we just sucked it up and went. That’s a tribute to the leadership we had all winter, through spring ball, the summer, and through camp,” Otterbein said. “They stuck together, and they just believed that we were going to make enough plays to win the football game. I’m really proud of them.”
Otterbein told his players before the game and at halftime to “just play the next play.”
“It doesn’t matter what happened the last play. If you let that bother you — if you think about the last play — you’re not going to perform on the next play,” Otterbein said. “This was a tremendous example of just keeping it going and not worrying and not looking at the scoreboard.”
Hillsdale’s offense is focused — but not dependent — on the run.
The Chargers have featured a run-heavy offense the past few years. Last season, Hillsdale ran 138 more running plays than passing plays. On Saturday, however, the Chargers ran 42 passing plays to 38 rushing plays. Sophomore tailback Joe Reverman, who won GLIAC Freshman of the Year in 2015, didn’t even touch the ball until Hillsdale’s third drive of the game.
The Chargers did not de-emphasize the run in the offseason, but they added more run-pass option plays to their playbook. The way the Greyhounds set up their defense forced the Chargers to go through the air more than they might have otherwise.
“We’re doing some run-pass reads because so many teams are putting a lot of hats at the ball. They’re getting their safeties and linebackers involved and flowing really fast,” Otterbein said. “To counter that, you do these run-pass reads. You read a guy and if he gets out of there then you throw it. So a lot of those open little slants over the middle were those kinds of plays.”
Sophomore quarterback Chance Stewart took advantage of more opportunities to throw the ball, completing 29 of his 42 passes for 320 yards and two touchdowns. Stewart credited his teammates for his solid performance.
“The offensive line gave me time, so when they can give me time, we’ve got great receivers,” Stewart said. “I don’t think people understand that we’re about four or five deep there with guys that I can count on to go get open.”
Hillsdale’s defense has vastly improved — but needs to continue improving.
In 2015, the Chargers gave up an average of 30.7 points per game and 447.1 yards per game. They also allowed their opponents to convert 43 percent of their third-down opportunities and gave up an average of 193 rushing yards per game.
On Saturday, the Chargers gave up just 24 points and 273 total yards, while not allowing a single third-down conversion in eight opportunities. They surrendered just 50 yards on the ground.
“We did a great job stopping the run. First and foremost, you’ve got to stop the run,” Otterbein said. “That was absolutely a major factor of this football game and how we performed on defense.”
Junior linebacker Jay Rose led Hillsdale’s defense with six solo tackles and 10 total tackles. Rose was proud of the Chargers’ ability to get stops.
“It’s huge getting off the field on third down,” Rose said. “That’s a big difference from last year. Our third down percentage was horrible.”
While the Chargers’ rush defense showed clear signs of improvement, their pass defense was not as sharp. Hillsdale allowed 223 yards through the air on just 12 completions.
“We did let a couple big plays go, and that is always going to be our challenge,” Otterbein said. “You get matchups on the outside and skill-on-skill and you go against good players, and sometimes the other team makes some plays, too, with their good players.”
All three touchdowns the Greyhounds scored were a result of big pass plays. Their first touchdown came on a 40-yard pass, their second came on a short rush after a 36-yard pass, and their third came on a 22-yard pass that followed a 52-yard completion.
“When we’re focused on the run, things like that will happen. But we definitely can find ways to stop that,” Rose said. “We’ve got to be better on that moving forward obviously.”
The Chargers’ inability to keep opposing receivers from getting behind their secondary made the game much closer than it might have been. Hillsdale dominated time of possession 42:04-17:56, ran 80 plays to the Greyhounds’ 38, and gained 149 more total yards. Still, the game came down to the last minute.
“It shouldn’t have been that close of a game because it felt like we were outplaying them,” Rose said. “We just had a couple lapses. That’s the unfortunate part of football. If you let up for a couple plays, it could be a close game when it really doesn’t feel as if it should be close.”
Walsh is an unfamiliar opponent.
The Chargers host the Walsh Cavaliers on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Frank “Muddy” Waters Stadium. No one on the Chargers’ roster or coaching staff has ever faced Walsh before.
“We haven’t really had to put a game plan together against them, so we’ve got to study it a little bit,” Otterbein said. “They’re a good football team. They’re going to be tough. They’re going to be physical.”
The Cavaliers lost to Michigan Tech 33-7 in their season opener on Saturday. Last season, they finished 2-9. Regardless, the Chargers know this opponent will present challenges.
“They definitely have a lot of athletes and that’s going to be a challenge,” Rose said. “The biggest thing is just treating every week the same, regardless of who it is. We’ll prepare with the same intensity that we prepared for Indy. As soon as you take someone lightly, they’re going to beat you.”
