GRANVILLE, Ohio (September 25, 2023) – Following week four of the NCAA Division III football season, Denison University is receiving votes in the most recent edition of AFCA Division III Coaches' Top 25 Poll.

Denison (3-1 overall, 2-0 North Coast Athletic Conference) has scored at least 45 points and has accumulated at least 276 rushing yards and at least 522 total yards in three of their four games this season. Denison's only loss was a very competitive 28-14 defeat in its home opener against a Linfield University team that is currently ranked No. 6 in AFCA poll.

Senior running back Trey Fabrocini has been a force to be reckoned with in the early part of the season, averaging 6.5 yards per carry on 82 attempts (535 total yards) and scoring 10 touchdowns. He is tied for first in all of NCAA Division III in rushing touchdowns and is second in total points scored (60), third in points per game (15.0) and fourth in total rushing yards. He is sixth in the country and first in the NCAC at 133.8 rushing yards per game and is also 30th in the nation in rushing yards per carry (6.52) and 37th in all-purpose yards per game (140.50).

Led by senior quarterback Jimmy Stines, the Big Red passing attack has accounted for at least 232 yards in every game this season. Stines is currently ranked 12th in the country in passing touchdowns (12) and is 20th in total passing yards (1,055), 27th in passing efficiency (171.50), 41st in total offense per game (293.8) and 47th in passing yards per game (263.75).

In his first career start during Denison's season opener, Stines threw for 386 yards and four touchdowns in a 45-35 win at Capital University. His 386 passing yards were good for the sixth most in a single game in program history and were the most since Canaan Gebele passed for 407 yards at Allegheny on September 16, 2017. In addition, Denison gained 668 total yards of offense against the Comets, the most since setting the program record with 746 total yards during the game at Allegheny in 2017. With just over two minutes left in the opening period, Stines found junior Billy Guzzo for an impressive 86-yard touchdown pass, which now ranks as the longest touchdown pass in program history. Guzzo finished with three receptions for two touchdowns and 168 yards, which ranks 11th for receiving yards in a single game in program history.

Two weeks later, the first conference game of the 2023 season for Denison saw the Big Red jump out to a 35-0 lead after the first quarter before untimely ending with a 70-0 win on the road at Oberlin College. It was Denison's most points in a single game and was its largest margin of victory since defeating Ohio Northern 71-0 in 1957, a span of 66 years. In addition, the 35-point first quarter for the Big Red ties the program record for points scored in a quarter set twice before. In addition, Fabrocini tied the Denison record of five rushing touchdowns and 30 points scored in one game, previously set by Gebele in a 68-66, four-overtime defeat vs. Wittenberg on September 29, 2018.

Most recently, the Big Red put up a 34-point second quarter en route to taking down Hiram College by a score of 55-24 on the road as Stines became the sixth Denison quarterback to throw for five or more touchdowns in one game and the first since Gebele threw six in a 45-17 win vs. Oberlin College on September 23, 2017.

Six different Denison receivers have grabbed at least one touchdown catch this season, led by fifth-year senior Josh Aiello with 18 receptions and six touchdowns, which ranks seventh in NCAA Division III in receiving touchdowns and puts him 20th in total points (36). Guzzo, meanwhile, leads the team in receiving yards with 383 yards on 11 catches, putting him first in the country in yards per reception (34.82) and ranking him 20th in total receiving yards and 47th in receiving yards per game (95.8).

In all of NCAA Division III, the Big Red rank 12th in total offense (512.0 ypg), 16th in rushing offense (230.8), 19th in scoring offense (46.0 ppg), 27th in passing efficiency (172.02) and 46th in passing offense (281.2 ypg).

In addition to all of its offensive success so far this season, Denison has been just as dominant on the defensive side of the ball. The Big Red rank first in the NCAC in points per game (46.0) and are second in scoring defense (21.8 ppg). Denison is also second in the conference in both total yards per game (512.0) and in yards per game allowed (278.5), is second in both rushing yards per game (230.8) and in rushing yards allowed per game (103.5), and is second in offensive efficiency (172.0) but first in defensive efficiency (106.3). 

The Big Red have also had success all season long on the "money down", ranking third in in the country in third-down conversion percentage (.600 pct) and 11th in third-down conversation percentage defense (.217 pct).

Lastly, junior corner back Jaylin Epps is sixth in the country in passes defended per game (2.2) while fifth-year senior Clay Denstorff ranks 13th in tackles for loss per game (2.3) and 29th in sacks per game (1.00).

The schedule will get significantly harder for the Big Red over the next three weeks, beginning this week as Denison hosts Wittenberg University at 2 p.m. on Saturday, September 30, for Big Red Weekend.
 
AFCA Division III Coaches' Top 25 Poll