Wabash plays its final regular season home game Saturday at 1 p.m. against Denison University as part of the College's Family Day celebration.
 
The outcome of that game and next week's 122^nd Monon Bell Classic will determine if it's the last home game in 2015.
 
The Little Giants enter Saturday's contest with an 8-0 overall record and are in first place in the North Coast Athletic Conference standings with a mark of 7-0. Denison (6-2, 5-2) is tied for third with Wittenberg in the league standings, however the Big Red came within two minutes of making their matchup with Wabash a championship title game.
 
Denison took a one-point lead over DePauw last Saturday with 1:43 left to play on a 33-yard field goal by Connor Dunn. The visiting Tigers converted a key fourth-and-two play on the final drive and eventually won the game 31-29 on a Marko Adams 42-yard kick with three seconds remaining.
 
While the Bell game looms large on next weekend's schedule, Denison will have the immediate attention of the Little Giants. The Big Red will be the best defense Wabash will have faced this year. Denison is ranked 19^th in total defense, holding opposing teams to 273.9 yards per game. The Big Red are 27^th in scoring defense (16.1 points per game) and passing defense (165.5 yards per game) and 33^rd in rushing defense (108.4 yards per game).
 
"Denison has been outstanding on defense all season," Wabash head coach Erik Raeburn said. "We pride ourselves on having a good defense. They are right there with us. This will be a difficult test. Their corners have played excellent football all year. They're tough against the run. They force a lot of third-and-long passing situations."
 
Junior free safety Andrew Baird has made 70 tackles and grabbed two interceptions through eight games. Seniors Lucas Romick (safety) and Lars Soderberg (defensive end) are atop the tackles for loss column with seven apiece.
 
Wabash appears ready for the test. Junior quarterback Connor Rice is coming off the best game of his career, throwing for 264 yards and three TDs.  Despite a fumble and an interception in the final minute of the first half, Rice matched his most completions in a game by connecting on 21-of-39 pass attempts.  Drake Christen led the receivers with six catches, while Sammy Adams caught five balls for a career-best 124 yards. His best catch came when he pinned the football to the side of his helmet in the end zone on an 11-yard TD reception.
 
Mason Zurek became the 13^th Wabash player to rush for more than 1,000 yards in a season after picking up 145 yards on 26 carries last week versus Ohio Wesleyan.
 
"We were disappointed with the two turnovers Saturday versus Ohio Wesleyan and we were a little out of synch in the third quarter," Raeburn said. "But all in all I thought we played really well offensively. Mason Zurek had another huge game. I thought Connor Rice threw the ball well. We had some big plays in the passing game, which we desperately needed. Sammy Adams had a fantastic game."
 
The Wabash defense bottled up dual-threat quarterback Dominic Orsini for most of the afternoon. The only big play the Little Giants allowed was a 62-yard touchdown run by TraVon Wilkes in the second period, accounting for the largest portion of the Battling Bishops' 129 rushing yards in the game.
 
"Ohio Wesleyan busted the big run in the first half when we had a communication error and their quarterback had some nice runs in the first half," Raeburn said. "We didn't panic at halftime. Our defensive coaches and players got things squared away. I thought we played lights out on defense in the second half. We were good against the run and ended up with two interceptions. Evan Rutter and Tyler McCullen were outstanding. They were a big reason it was so tough to run inside against us Saturday."
 
The Ohio Wesleyan game was a precursor to the challenges Denison will bring to Hollett Little Giant Stadium Saturday. Freshman Canaan Gebele  has taken the reigns at quarterback ahead of junior Tommy Iammarino). Gebele has completed 71.9 percent of his passes (87-121) in seven games to lead the NCAC and ranks third in the nation. He has thrown for 957 yards and nine TDs with only two interceptions in three starts. Iammarino is more than capable coming off the bench. He is 74-of-112 for 928 yards and eight TDs with three picks. Gebele also tops the rushing list with 355 yards in 87 attempts and has scored a team-best five touchdowns.

One of the biggest offensive threats for Denison is senior wide receiver DuShawn Brown. He earned NCAC Offensive Player of the Year honors last year after setting three school records along with the conference mark in receiving yards with 1,397. This year he ranks second in the NCAC with 867 yards. He's caught 53 passes overall, eight for touchdowns. Brown already owns nearly every Denison receiving record, as well.
 
"DuShawn Brown is an incredible receiver on the offensive side of the ball for Denison," Raeburn added. "He's really explosive. He has big-play potential on every snap. They seem to have settled on the freshman quarterback as their starter. He's been outstanding. He leads the league in completion percentage. He runs the ball extremely well. They'll be difficult to defend."