GAMBIER, Ohio -- Kenyon College opened its North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) slate with a 51-28 loss on their home field to Wittenberg University (1-1, 1-0 NCAC).

Both teams appeared ready to compete in their conference opener as each squad scored a touchdown on its opening drive. The opposing quarterbacks were each responsible for their teams' first scores, but it was runs of eight and nine yards by Wittenberg's Collin Brown and Kenyon's Ryan O'Leary, respectively, that made it a 7-7 game in the early going.

The early rushing success set the tone for Wittenberg, who finished with 278 rushing yards on 51 attempts, four of which went for touchdowns. The visitors added rushing scores to close the opening quarter and open the second quarter before making it three unanswered touchdowns and a 28-76 game on a passing touchdown from Brown to Milik Bowe with three minutes left in the half.

Some trickery gave the Owls a spark late in the first half as they opened a crucial drive with a 45-yard pass from wide receiver Finn Murray to wide receiver Zachary Kim. Murray and Kim kept the drive rolling as a pass interference drawn by Kim in the endzone was sandwiched by an 11-yard grab and a five-yard touchdown from Murray, cutting Kenyon's deficit to 28-14. The Tigers threatened to add another touchdown before the end of the half after a 54-yard play in the final minute, but the Owls' defense kept Wittenberg out of the endzone and forced an 18-yard field goal that made it 31-14 at the break.

The Tigers took under four minutes to punch the ball into the endzone after receiving the second-half kickoff, with Brown finding Bowe again on a 19-yard score. The Owls didn't need long to respond, however, as first-year running back Jordon Benjamin took a handoff around the right side, tiptoed along the sideline to stay in bounds, and find paydirt 75 yards later to give Kenyon a touchdown on their first touch of the half, making it a 38-21 game. 

The 17-point deficit is as close as it would be for the rest of the game. A field goal and a touchdown run by Bryce Anderson put the visitors up 48-21 through three quarters. Kenyon took advantage of excellent field position after their defense forced a loss of nine yards capped by an 11-yard punt. Quarterback Park Penrod, a sophomore coming in off the bench, lofted a ball to a double-covered Kim in the left corner of the endzone that the senior wideout pulled in to make it a 20-point game. Wittenberg added another field goal with two minutes left to clinch a 51-28 win.

Kenyon finished with 243 passing and 135 rushing yards. However, the 45-yard pass and 75-yard run accounted for a significant portion of their totals, as the Tigers' defense did well to slow down the Owls. Murray and Kim had big games for the third week in a row as Murray finished with 13 catches, 117 yards, and a score, while Kim notched four receptions, 84 yards, and a touchdown. O'Leary finished with both a passing and rushing touchdown, but he added just 163 passing yards on a 54.8% (17-31) clip and threw an interception. First-year running backs Benjamin and Julius Thompson led the Owls with 84 and 61 yards on the ground, respectively.

Up next, Kenyon (1-2, 0-1 NCAC) stays in Gambier, Ohio to host Ohio Wesleyan University (0-2, 0-0 NCAC) for an NCAC contest. It will be Kenyon's homecoming weekend, and the Owls are set to kick off the game at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 24, on McBride Field.