Game Facts Date:  Saturday, Sept. 12, 2009 Time:  6 p.m. CST Location: Topeka, Kan. Stadium: Yager Stadium (7,200) Series History: MSSU leads 20-18 Series Streak: WU has won the last 6

Washburn (2-0, 0-0 MIAA) Polls RV in AFCA Poll unranked in d2football.com Poll Leaders Rushing: Justin Cooper 22 att/170 yds/1 TD/85.0 ypg Passing: Dane Simoneau 25-41-2/363 yds/5 TD/181.5 ypg Receiving: Joe Hastings 4 rec./96 yds/1 TD/48.0 ypg Tackles: Zach Watkins 14 TT / 1.5 TFL / 2 FF

Missouri Southern (0-1, 0-0 MIAA) Polls unranked in AFCA Poll unranked in d2football.com Poll Leaders Rushing: Toderick Hunt 20 att/88 yds/0 TD/88.0 ypg Passing: Collin Howard 23-35-0/161 yds/1 TD Receiving: Johnny Johnson 10 rec./63 yds/0 TD/63.0 ypg Tackles: David Benham 13 TT/2.5 TFL/1.0 Sack

Radio: KTPK 106.9 FM Web Stream Live Stats: wusports.com Live Video: Through wusports.com Washburn Football Page Roster Statistics Schedule Game Notes Missouri Southern Football Page Roster Statistics Schedule Game Notes

Setting the scene. . .
The Washburn Ichabods (2-0) will open the MIAA slate as they play host to Missouri Southern at 6 p.m. on Sept. 12 in Yager Stadium. The Ichabods are coming off a record-setting 82-21 win over New Mexico Highlands while the Lions have been idle since an Aug. 29 defeat at Harding 17-15. The Ichabods will travel to Missouri Western on Sept. 19th before retuning home for two straight conference games against Central Missouri and Fort Hays State.

Ichabods on Radio . . .
The game will be broadcast live on KTPK 106.9 FM. The game can also be heard on the internet at www.wusports.com by following the “Live Audio” link under football. Bruce Steinbrock will be the play-by-play voice of the Ichabods and former WU quarterback Mark Elliott will be the color analyst. Jan Lunsford will provide sideline insight for listeners on the field.

The Coaches . . .
Washburn head football coach Craig Schurig was named head coach of the Ichabod football program Dec. 28, 2001. Schurig is 48-34 (.575) in his eighth season as the Ichabod head coach and he is 36-26 (.580) against the MIAA. He has led the Ichabods to two NCAA Playoff appearances in the last four seasons and to the 2005 MIAA Championship. Schurig is 6-1 against Missouri Southern.
Missouri Southern head coach Bart Tatum is in his fourth season as head coach at Missouri Southern after spending 12 seasons as an assistant coach at Northwest Missouri State. In his three seasons at Southern, Tatum has led the Lions to a 15-19 record and two sixth place finishes in the MIAA.

Last time out for the Ichabods . . .
TOPEKA, Kan. -- The Washburn Ichabods scored 61 first half points en route to a school-record 82 points in an 82-21 win over New Mexico Highlands. Washburn will be back in action on Sept. 12 when they open the MIAA slate with Missouri Southern in Yager Stadium at 6 p.m.
Washburn (2-0) scored 14 points in 32 seconds jumping out to the early lead. The Ichabods opened the game with a 9-play, 63-yard drive capped by a 7-yard touchdown reception from Dane Simoneau to Justin Cooper. On the Cowboys second play from scrimmage, Zach Watkins forced a fumble which was recovered by Marty Pfannenstiel. Two plays later Simoneau connected with Brad Cole on a 14-yard strike with 10:13 on the clock.
New Mexico Highlands took over with 10:06 on the clock and after driving to their own 19, the Ichabods forced a fourth down punt which was blocked by Brody Schuler and recovered by Terrence Lowe and returned four yards for a touchdown putting the Ichabods up 21-0.
The Cowboys were forced into another punt and the Ichabods drove 53 yards on 10 plays in 2:59 on a Steve Ivanisevic 27-yard field goal.
The Ichabods would go on to score five more touchdowns in the second quarter. Marcus Mau scored on a 70-yard run with 9:51 to put Washburn up 31-7. Washburn blocked its second punt of the half when Vershon Moore broke through the line to block a Cowboy punt and it rolled out the back of the end zone.
Simoneau hit Lloyd Bias on a 19-yard pass, Brad Haug scored on a 1-yard run and Schuler pulled down an 8-yard reception from Simoneau with five seconds to go in the first half. It was Simoneau's fourth touchdown pass of the game.
In the second half, Cole caught his second touchdown reception of the game on a 30-yard pass from Cameron Kasel putting the Ichabods up 68-14.
With 1:39 to go in the third quarter, Lowe scored on a 13-yard run.
Donte Bean wrapped up the scoring on a 1-yard run with 7:14 to go. Ivanisevic broke the school record for extra points with his 11th breaking the previous mark of 10 set by Mike Cassin against St. Mary's of the Plains in 1978 when the Ichabods won 79-3.
Simoneau finished 8 of 15 with four touchdowns and 127 yards. Kasel was 4 of 5 for 123 and one touchdown.
Cole had three catches for 74 yards and two scores.
Luke Schuckman had six tackles along with Michael Hollins to lead to the Ichabod defense. Washburn recorded six tackles for loss.
Washburn finished with 534 yards of total offense while holding the Cowboys to 269. The Ichabods racked up 284 yards on the ground on 46 carries with five touchdowns averaging 6.2 yards per carry.

Notes from the New Mexico Highlands' game. . .
* The Ichabods were 10 of 10 in red zone scoring opportunities.
* The 82 points broke the school record which was set during the 1900 season when the Ichabods beat Fort Riley 80-0. Against collegiate competition, the Ichabods topped St. Mary's of the Plains 79-3 on Sept. 9, 1978.
* The 61-point margin of victory tied for the fifth-largest win by an Ichabod team.
* The Ichabods used 62 different players against the Cowboys.
* The Ichabods went the entire game without punting.
* The 534 yards of total offense was the most since the Ichabods recorded 518 against Southwest Baptist on Oct. 10, 2007.
* The last time the Ichabods blocked a punt for a touchdown was on Sept. 23, 2005 when Jake Lebahn returned a Chris Brown blocked punt 15 yards against Southwest Baptist on Sept. 23, 2005 for a touchdown.
*The Ichabods had nine different receivers receive at least one pass.
* Travis Mosby led the Ichabods with 103 all purpose yards with 66 receiving yards and 37 kickoff return yards.

About Missouri Southern . . .
The Lions are playing only their second game of the season coming off an open week following their Aug. 29th game at Harding when they fell 17-15 in the final seconds.
Toderick Hunt leads the Lions with 88 yards rushing on 20 carries. Collin Howard was 23 of 35 for 161 yards passing and his favorite target has been Johnny Johnson wh has 10 catches for 63 yards.
Defensively David Benham has three tackles with 2.5 for loss and a sack to pace the Lions. Overall the Lions have 12 tackles for loss this season and five sacks. The Lions had 377 yards of total offense against Harding.

Last time out for the Lions . . .
Aug. 29 -- Searcy, Ark. - An 11-yard touchdown pass from Josh Powell to Tyler Quinn with 18 seconds left gave Harding University a 17-15 win over Missouri Southern in the Lions' season opener.
Southern (0-1) had two scores from senior Daniel Thompson, one through the air and another on the ground, and out gained the Bisons, 377-363, but it was in the air where Harding (1-0) made its presence felt.
After a fumble from Collin Howard, Harding took the ball to the four yard line and settled for a 21 yard field goal from Adin Menkin.
The Lions answered back on the very next drive as Thompson ran the perfect reverse and scampered for the 14-yard score. Southern added a safety when David Benham sacked Powell to make the score 9-3, Lions going into the half.
Harding picked up its first touchdown of the day with 13 seconds left in the third when Powell connected with Kurt Adams for a 33 yard touchdown. The Bisons missed the extra point, but Southern was flagged for offsides and gave the Bisons another chance. After a false start pushed Harding back five yards, the Bisons converted on the two point conversion to go up 11-9.
Howard hooked up with Thompson to give the Lions back the lead on their very next possession, but the two point conversion failed, making the score 15-9.
Harding took the ball with 2:20 left in the game and drove 56 yards before Powell hit Quinn with the game-winner.
Thompson had both the Lions' scores, while Toderick Hunt had 20 carries for 88 yards. Howard had 64 yards on 18 carries. The Lions out-gained Harding 216-65 on the ground, but were out gained 298-161 in the air.
Benham led the Lions with 13 tackles, one forced fumble and a sack. Jarius Jarvis had a sack and a half, while Nick Teer and Domenique Buttler had a sack each. Jared Brawner had a half a sack and 12 total tackles as the Lions racked up five sacks in the game.

Series Notes . . .
Saturday's meeting is the 40th meeting in the series. The Lions lead the all-time series 20-18-1. The Ichabods have won the last nine meetings and 10 of the last 11 overall. In games played in Joplin, the Ichabods have won five of the last six. In Topeka, the Ichabods have won the last five games. In the last 13 games in the series,  the average margin of victory has been 8.6 points with eight games being decided by seven or fewer points.
Series Record: MSSU leads 20-18-1
First Meeting: Tie, 21-21 (10/17/1970) in Joplin
Last Meeting: WU 23-0 (10/4/08) in Joplin
Last WU win: 23-0 (10/4/08) in Joplin
Last MSSU win: 52-28 (9/28/2002) in Joplin
Largest WU win: 23-0 (10/4/08) in Joplin
Largest MSSU win: 44-14 (10/3/1992) in Joplin

Last Meeting with the Lions . . .
(Oct. 4, 2008) JOPLIN, Mo. -- The Washburn Ichabod defense recorded its first shutout in 46 games and they scored two touchdowns in the process in a 23-0 win over Missouri Southern. With the win, the Ichabods improved to 4-2 and 2-2 in the MIAA while the Lions fall to 3-3 and 1-3 in conference play.
After a scoreless first quarter, the Ichabods Brad Cole, who started the previous five games at wide receiver, made his first start at outside linebacker and picked off a tipped pass from the Lions' Adam Hinspeter and returned it 30 yards for the Ichabods' first score with 4:43 left in the second quarter.
Washburn added a field goal as time expired before halftime when Garrett Cummings connected on a 23-yard field capping a 11-play, 60-yard drive as the Ichabods took a 10-0 lead into the halftime break.
Neither team scored in the third quarter and it wasn't until 5:38 left in the game any points were put on the board when Cassey Curran picked off a Hinspeter pass and returned it 58 yards to put the Ichabods up 16-0 after the extra point missed.
After gaining the ball back on downs, the Ichabods Justin Cooper put the game out of reach with a 16-yard touchdown run with 1:37 to play topping off a 7-play, 50-yard drive giving Washburn a 23-0 win as Missouri Southern again turned the ball back to the Ichabods on downs and the Ichabods ran out the clock with one final kneel-down.
The shutout for the Ichabods was the first since Sept. 18, 2004 in a 62-0 win at Truman State. It was also the first time since the 2003 season the Lions had suffered a home shutout when Pittsburg State topped them in a 49-0 win on Oct. 25.
Each team recorded 15 first downs while the Ichabod defense held the Lions to 203 total offensive yards and 2.9 yards per play. The Ichabods also held the Lion defense to 20 yards rushing on 24 carries and to 183 yards passing after completing 25 of 45 attempts.
Cooper recorded his first career 100-yard rushing game at Washburn with 109 yards on 21 carries averaging 5.2 yards per attempt.
Curran led the Ichabods with 10 tackles including five solo stops. Bruce Ringwood had nine tackles including two for loss and Zach Watkins also had nine tackles. The Ichabods also had four sacks in the game with Ringwood, Dakota Palan-Johnson, Ian Williams and Martell Underwood each recording one.
Ichabod quarterback Jake Iverson was 8 of 21 for 86 yards and Drameagon Powers and Lloyd Bias each had two catches for the Ichabods.

Washburn Football History . . .
Washburn is 491-542-44 in the 119th year of Ichabod football.

A win for Washburn would . . .
lift the Ichabods to 492-542-44 in its football history … be the seventh straight over the Lions … be the 11th win in the last 12 meetings … be the sixth straight win over the Lions in Topeka … give the Ichabods a 3-0 record overall and a 1-0 record in the MIAA.

A loss for Washburn would . . .
drop the Ichabods to 491-543-44 in its football history … snap the Ichabods six-game winning streak over the Lions … snap the five-game winning streak over the Lions in Topeka … drop the Ichabods to 0-1 in MIAA play and 2-1 overall.

New Mexico Highlands - revisited – the win . . .
lifted the Ichabods to 491-542-44 in its football history … made the Ichabods 1-0 all-time against New Mexico Highlands … gave the Ichabods a 2-0 non-conference record for the fourth time under head coach Craig Schurig in eight years … gave the Ichabods a 7-3 record against RMAC schools under Craig Schurig.

The Ichabods in the National Polls . . .
The Ichabods received votes in both the American Football Coaches Association Poll and the D2football.com preseason polls which were released last week.

Bods and Ends . . .
Watkins climbing tackle charts - Ichabod senior linebacker Zach Watkins has a career tackle total of 376, which is second on the all-time Washburn chart. Watkins trails Grant Gould (2002-05) who had 459 career tackles on the top of the charts. Watkins' 203 career assisted tackles is second all-time at Washburn trailing Gould's 254. Watkins' 173 solo tackles for his career is fourth all-time at Washburn trailing Gould's 205.

A one-sided coin?? - The Ichabods won the opening coin toss of the 2009 season against Colorado Mines and deferred. The Ichabods lost the coin toss with New Mexico Highlands. Washburn was 1-10 last season. The only coin flip the Ichabods won last season was against Pittsburg State and they deferred to the second half.

Odd years lead to successful seasons - In both the 2005 and 2007 seasons, the Ichabods reached the NCAA playoffs and they are looking to continue that trend in 2009.

No need for paper or plastic - The Ichabods have gone two straight games not allowing a sack to their opponents. Against the Orediggers, the Ichabods did not allow a sack in 27 passing attempts. The Ichabods offensive line did not give up a sack in 20 passing attempts against New Mexico Highlands. The Ichabod offensive line allowed only 17 sacks last season including only three in the last three games against Northwest Missouri, Pittsburg State (which is when all three occurred) and Nebraska-Omaha.

The Ichabods in MIAA openers - The Ichabods are 9-11 in MIAA openers since joining the conference. The Ichabods had their four-game MIAA opener streak snapped last season at Fort Hays State. Under Schurig, the Ichabods are 4-3 in their first MIAA game of the season.

Schurig moving up the coaching ranks . . .
Eighth-year head coach Craig Schurig has compiled a 48-34 all-time record at Washburn. He passed Ernest Bearg for fourth on the all-time win chart. Next on the coaching win chart is Larry Elliott who recorded 58 wins in two stints as the Ichabods' head coach from 1974-78 and 1984-89.

Ichabods on Sept. 12 . . .
Since the 1961 season, the date of when games were available in media guides, the Ichabods are 0-4 on Sept. 12.
1981 - Lost to Arkansas Tech 48-27
1987 - Lost at Northwest Missouri 29-27
1992 - Lost at Southwest Missouri 66-15
1998 - Lost at Fort Hays State 24-12

Up next . . .
The Ichabods will hit the road to face Missouri Western at 6 p.m. in St. Joseph, Mo. before returning home to take on Central Missouri on Sept. 26th and Fort Hays State on Oct. 3 in back to back MIAA home dates.