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In its entire football history, Tiffin University had only beaten Findlay twice.
The Dragons had never defeated the Oilers in back-to-back seasons, and had never held Findlay to less than 10 points in a game.
That all changed Saturday night at Frost Kalnow Stadium, as, with the GMAC Championship on the line, the Dragons enjoyed their most dominating win over Findlay in school history, winning 23-8 for their second consecutive GMAC title.
Tiffin wasted little time asserting itself, taking the opening possession 77 yards in 8 plays for a touchdown. Quarterback Nick Watson was on fire from the start, hitting Devin Butler on a 25 yard pass play before getting to the end zone on a 35 yard pass also to Butler to lead 7-0.
TU took its first possession of the second quarter and expertly mixed rushing and passing to move downfield, hitting Mason Gray on a 31 yard pass connection that led to a 27 yard field goal by David Orlando to make it 10-0 with 6:40 left in the half.
After TU's defense forced a three-and-out by the Oilers' offense, TU again scored, this time with Watson hitting Butler on a 49 yard pass play before finding him again on a 8 yard TD strike with 3:19 to play in the half.
With the TU defense continuing to stifle UF's offense, the Dragons were able to put one more score on the board before halftime. Watson nailed Anthony Lowe on a 42 yard pass play leading to a 21 yard Orlando field goal with 12 seconds left that made it 20-0 at halftime.
The halftime numbers were astounding for TU. The Dragons had held Findlay to just 75 yards of total offense while amassing 335 yards of their own. Tiffin was also 3-for-3 on red zone chances while not allowing any red zone opportunities for Findlay.
Findlay tried to claw its way back into the game immediately at the start of the third quarter. They put together their only sustained drive of the game, a 71 yard drive on 12 plays featuring a heavy ground game to score its only TD of the game. A missed extra point made the score 20-6, Tiffin.
A botched snap on TU's next possession gave Findlay its only other points of the game. While trying to punt, the snap sailed over Orlando's head towards the end zone, where Orlando threw it out of the end zone for a UF safety.
With the score now 20-8, perhaps the momentum had shifted. But the Dragons' defense had other ideas, as they forced another 3-and-out on Findlay's next possession. The Dragons' offense, meanwhile, knew what it had to do - eat up the clock.
TU ended the third quarter and progressed to the final quarter with a 6:44 drive that led to another Orlando field goal from 21 yards out to make it 23-8. They later took another possession and ate up 6:05, effectively using the clock as a weapon.
Utilizing a hurry-up offense with less than 3:00 to play, the Oilers moved down the field in a last-ditch attempt to get points on the board. They drove 91 yards down to TU's 4 yard line but could not crack the end zone, coming one yard short on fourth down with a big stop by Charlie Cleveland that sealed the victory.
Overall TU had 469 yards of offense while holding UF to 253. Tiffin also had a massive 14:00 advantage in time of possession (36:36 to 22:48). They were a perfect 4-for-4 in the red zone.
Superlatives were all around on offense. Watson finished 19 of 33 for 291 yards and 2 TDs with no interceptions. Butler had 148 yards receiving on 14 catches with 2 scores, while Franklin Steward had 55 yards, Lowe had 47, and Gray had 34. Marcus Davis ran hard for 108 yards on 21 carries.
David Orlando also accounted for 11 points with 3 field goals and 2 PATs while also averaging 41 yards per punt.
Defensively Tyler Richardson had a big interception, while Chrystian Watkins and Landon Hall had 6 tackles each. Cleveland and Jermaine Wimpye had 5 stops apiece.