Kickoff
The No. 15 Washburn Ichabods will travel for the first time this season as they will face Fort Hays State on Sept. 8 in Hays, Kan., with a 7 p.m. start from Lewis Field in the Tigers' home opener. The Ichabods are coming off a 24-14 win over Nebraska-Kearney while the Tigers fell 41-18 on the road at Emporia State.
Game story lines
• Washburn has won the last three meetings with Fort Hays State and six of the last seven.
• Fort Hays State head coach Chris Brown was an assistant coach and defensive coordinator at Washburn for nine years.
• The FHSU coaching staff has three other coaches who played (linebackers coach
Zach Watkins) or coached (offensive coordinator Justin Schreiber and defensive coordinator Cooper Harris) at Washburn.
• The Ichabods are looking to go 2-0 for the sixth time under head coach
Craig Schurig.
• The 79 rushing yards against Nebraska-Kearney was the fewest by an Ichabod team since rushing for 22 against in the 2011 season finale against Pittsburg State in the NCAA playoffs on Nov. 26, 2011.
• There were eight helmets which came off during the game with the Lopers and six on the Ichabod sidelines forcing players to come out of the game as part of the NCAA rule changes this season.
Coaches
Washburn head football coach Craig Schurig . . .
• Named head coach of the Ichabod football program Dec. 28, 2001.
• Is 73-44 (.602) in his 11th season as the Ichabod head coach.
• Is 56-34 (.600) against the MIAA.
• Has led the Ichabods to three NCAA Playoff appearances and two bowl appearance championships.
• Led the Ichabods to the 2005 MIAA regular season outright championship.
• Has recorded seven straight winning seasons for the first time in the program's history.
• Led the Ichabods to the program's first 10-win season and their first NCAA or NAIA playoff game victory in school history with a win over Abilene Christian on Nov. 19.
• Is Washburn's all-time winningest coach with 73 wins.
• Is 6-2 against Fort Hays State and 2-2 against the Tigers in games played in Hays.
Fort Hays State head coach Chris Brown . . .
• Served as the defensive coordinator and defensive secondary coach from 2002-2010 and assistant head coach in 2010.
• Is 4-8 in his second season at Fort Hays State.
• Helped Washburn compile a 62-41 record in his
nine-year span with the program, which included two NCAA playoff appearances and two bowl wins.
• Brown, a native of Liberal, Kan., is a 1996 graduate of Pittsburg State University where he recorded 470 tackles in 43 starts in his career at free safety.
• One of only three Gorillas to earn All-American honors three times.
Ichabod Notebook
• Under head coach
Craig Schurig, the Ichabods are 53-11 when leading at the end of the first quarter.
• Washburn is 51-12 when they score the first points of the ball game.
• The Ichabods improved to 5-2 in August action under head coach
Craig Schurig after the win over UNK.
• The Ichabods are 24-16 in September action under head coach
Craig Schurig.
• The Ichabods are 4 of 5 in the redzone this season scoring three touchdowns while kicking a field goal.
• Defensively the Ichabods are allowing opponents to score only of 2 of 5 trips into the redzone allowing two touchdowns.
• The Ichabods improved to 72-43-6 all-time in season openers and under head coach
Craig Schurig the Ichabods are 8-3 in the first appearance of the season and they have won the last five openers.
• The Ichabods are now 12-12 in MIAA openers after the win over the Lopers.
• Washburn has gone 7-4 under head coach
Craig Schurig in MIAA openers.
Individual Notebook
Taylor Made
• Senior linebacker
Jahmil Taylor is the most-experienced Ichabod returning.
• He has started 33 games including the last 24 straight while appearing in 39 overall.
• He has 269 career tackles which is ninth all-time at Washburn.
• Was a second team all-MIAA pick in 2011.
Atagivision
• Junior inside linebacker
Bryce Atagi finished third last season with 101 tackles.
• He has started the last 15 consecutive games.
• A second team all-MIAA pick and third team all-region selection in 2011.
• He has 11 in the season opener against UNK.
Hey Steve
• Senior offensive tackle
Steve Dieckhaus has started the last 29 games at Washburn.
• Has started two games at right guard, 13 at right tackle and 13 at left guard and one start this season at left tackle.
• An honorable mention all-MIAA pick in 2011.
Willie Will or Willie Won't
• Junior linebacker
Willie Williams is third-leading returning tackler with 83 in 2011.
• He has seven in the season opener against UNK.
Buhler . . . Buhler
• Sophomore quarterback
Mitch Buhler is the only signal caller returning from the 2011 season.
• He appeared in five games passing for 167 yards and one touchdown.
• He finished 13 of 24 for 179 and two touchdowns in his first career start against UNK.
It Hursts So Good
• Junior tight end
Tore' Hurst has started the last 16 games.
• Last season he had 38 catches or 591 yards.
• He tied for second on the team with eight touchdown receptions.
Washburn Walker
• Senior defensive end
Corey Walker has played in 27 games starting the last 13 games.
• He has played on both offensive and defensive lines.
• Had had eight tackles for loss last season.
True Freshmen In Uniform
•
Jordan Hart and
Cody Heiman each saw action as true freshman in the opening game against UNK.
About Fort Hays State
• The Tigers were 4-7 last season and 3-6 in the MIAA tying for 6th overall.
• They return 15 starters and seven defensive starters.
• The Tigers fell 41-18 in their season opener against Emporia State.
• The Tigers were held to 120 yards rushing and 183 yards through the air against ESU.
Series history with Fort Hays State
Series Record: WU leads 40-23-3
Streak: WU has won the last three
First Meeting: WU 7-6 (11/27/1919) in Hays
Last Meeting: WU 45-20 (10/29/2011) in Topeka
Last WU win: 45-20 (10/29/2011) in Topeka
Last FHSU win: 17-7 (9/13/2008) in Hays
Largest WU win: 46-0 (11/9/1963) in Topeka
Largest FSHU win: 35-0 (10/14/1967) in Topeka
Last meeting with Fort Hays State (10/29/11)
TOPEKA, Kan. -- The No. 12-ranked Washburn Ichabods turned up 620 yards of total offense improving to 8-1 on the season and 6-1 in the MIAA with a 45-20 win over Fort Hays State.
Washburn took the opening drive of the game on jumped on the board first with a 26-yard field goal by
Jeremy Linn just over three minutes into the game. On the ensuing kickoff, the Ichabods recovered a muffed kickoff at the Fort Hays State 44. On the first play of the series,
Justin Cooper scored around the right side putting Washburn up 10-0 with 11:23 to play in the opening quarter.
The Tigers would go on an 8-play, 52-yard march down the field to cut into the Ichabod lead when Anthony Sheppard connected with Chase Leake for a 15-yard pass play with 7:41 to play in the first quarter. Washburn would then stretch its lead to 16-7 when
Dane Simoneau hit DeJuan Beard from 35-yards out on a drive covering seven plays and 80 yards.
Neither team would score until the FHSU's Sheppard scored from 1-yard out pulling the Tigers within two at 16-14 with 4:55 to go in the half. However it took only 46 more seconds for Washburn to score again on a 42-yard touchdown pass play from Simoneau to Beard putting the Ichabods up 23-14 entering the halftime break.
In the third quarter, Washburn's
Sean McPherson scored on a 1-yard run for the only points of of the quarter adding to Washburn's lead of 16 at 30-14.
Cooper scored his second touchdown of the day when he scampered in from 23 yards out wrapping up a 9-play, 89-yard drive and with a Simoneau to Tore Hurst 2-point conversion, Washburn led 38-14 with 9:29 to play in the game.
Sheppard scored the Tigers' final points of the game on a 14-yard touchdown run pulling the Tigers with 18 at 38-20 after the 2-point conversion failed.
The Ichabods wrapped up the scoring with a 1-yard plunge by
Greg Schoenberg with 49 seconds left in the game.
Both Cooper and McPherson went over 100 yards in the game with Cooper recording 16 carries for 111 yards and two scores and McPherson tallying 102 yards on 20 carries with one touchdown. Simoneau finished with 313 yards completing 24 of 34 passing attempts with two touchdowns. He also became the fourth MIAA player to throw for more than 10,000 yards in his career as he raised his school-record passing yards to 10,024, which is one behind former Missouri Western quarterback Kasey Waterman who recorded 10,025 for the Griffons.
DeJuan Beard had six catches for 131 yards and two scores for Washburn.
Andre Smith led the Tigers with 78 yards on the ground on 17 carries while Sheppard finished 18 of 26 with two interceptions and one touchdown for 182 yards. Leake had five catches for 51 yards for the Tigers.
Defensively for the Ichabods, who held the Tigers to 155 second half yards,
Marty Pfannenstiel had 11 tackles along with
Bryce Atagi.
Jahmil Taylor had seven tackles and an interceptions while
Casey Curran had six tackles and an interception.
Alex Whitehill had 14 tackles for the Tigers.
The Ichabods recorded 29 first downs in the game en route to the 620 total offensive yards with 352 coming through the air and 266 on the ground. The Tigers had 19 first downs with 330 total offensive yards (148 rushing/182 passing).
Last time out for Fort Hays State (8/30/12)
EMPORIA, Kan. -- Emporia State stormed out of the gates to an early 14-0 lead and eventually defeated Fort Hays State 41-18 in the season opener in Emporia on Thursday night (Aug. 30). The Tigers pulled within eight in the third quarter, but Emporia State pushed its lead back to 15 on the following drive and never looked back.
Fort Hays State broke the early ESU momentum with a blocked field goal, which kept the ESU from pushing its lead to 17-0 early. The Tigers responded with a 47-yard field goal by true freshman Drew O'Brien on the first attempt of his collegiate career. That cut the lead to 14-3. But ESU pushed its lead back to 14 by halftime after a 41-yard field goal with 25 seconds remaining.
The Hornet lead grew to 20-3 after a 22-yard field goal to begin the scoring in the third quarter. After struggling to find a rhythm with starting quarterback Anthony Sheppard, the Tigers went to Tarean Austin under center, who guided the Tigers on a 9-play, 45-yard drive ending with a 6-yard touchdown pass to Grant Brown. The extra point was blocked to keep the score at 20-9 in favor of ESU.
The Tigers made things interesting by getting a defensive stop on the next Emporia State drive and turned it into three points with a 34-yard field goal from O'Brien. That pulled the Tigers within eight at 20-12 with 4:59 remaining in the third quarter.
The Hornets would stop any hope the Tigers had by marching down the field on a 9-play, 79-yard drive that ended in a 1-yard touchdown run. The Hornets would pull away from that point. They scored two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter to build a 29-point lead. A late drive by the Tigers resulted in the final touchdown of the game with five seconds to play on a 2-yard touchdown run by Austin.
The teams were dead even in rushing yards with 120 each, but the passing game was the big difference. Emporia State quarterback Tyler Eckenrode threw for 414 yards and two touchdowns, completing 23-of-37 passes with just one interception. Shjuan Richardson had 148 receiving yards on just six catches for the Hornets. FHSU quarterbacks Anthony Sheppard and Tarean Austin combined for just 183 passing yards combined, Austin with 92 and Sheppard with 91.
Edward Smith led the Tigers in rushing with 46 yards on 17 carries. True freshman Addie Brown chunked off 38 yards late in the game. Starting running back Andre Smith suffered an injury early in the game and had just five yards on three carries. Ed Williams led the Tigers in receiving yards with 72 on three receptions.
A.J. Woodall led the Tigers in tackles with 11, followed by
Kyle Perry and Austin Hubert each with seven.
Last time out for Washburn (8/30/12)
TOPEKA, Kan. -- The No. 20-ranked Washburn Ichabods opened up the 2012 season with a 24-14 win over MIAA newcomer Nebraska-Kearney in Yager Stadium at Moore Bowl Thursday night.
Nebraska-Kearney (0-1, 0-1 MIAA) jumped on the board first after both teams were scoreless in the first quarter when Adam Lehner pulled down a pass from Aric Kaiser with 11:28 to play in the first half capping a 12-play, 64-yard drive.
Washburn (1-0, 1-0 MIAA) responded with a touchdown of their own as
Mitch Buhler making his first start connected with
Matt Kobbeman on a 14-yard pass with just over nine minutes to play. After the teams traded four drives with no success, Washburn's
T.J. Shine picked off Kaiser with 1:23 to play in the first half.
Washburn reached the Loper 3-yard line before a false start on a third and goal stalled the Ichabods drive and
Jeremy Linn put the Ichabods up 10-7 just before the half with a 25-yard field goal.
The Ichabods kept the momentum going taking the opening second half kickoff and marching 75 yards and in 10 plays when
Hayden Groves scored on a 1-yard plunge with 11:14 to play in the quarter for his first Washburn touchdown putting the Ichabods up 17-7.
Nebraska-Kearney came right back on its next drive as Kaiser hit Adam Lehner on a 5-yard touchdown pass with 5:12 to play in the third quarter.
On the first play of the fourth quarter, Buhler hit
Alec Steuber out of the backfield for a 6-yard score putting Washburn up 24-14 to wrap up the scoring in the game and the victory for the Ichabods. In the fourth quarter, the Ichabods held the Lopers to 38 yards on 13 plays while the Wahburn offense held possession for 8:43 of the quarter.
Groves led the Ichabods on the ground with 44 yards on 15 carries and the lone score while
Kameron Stewart had seven carries for 33 yards. Buhler finished 13 for 24 passing for 179 yards and two touchdowns.
Joel Piper was 3 of 8 for 33 yards.
Washburn had nine different receivers catch a pass and seven with two each. Groves led the receivers with 57 yards while
Connor Crimmins had two for 38 yards.
Defensively the Ichabods were led by
Jahmil Taylor who had 14 tackles with eight solo stops while
Bryce Atagi had 11 with six solo stops and two for loss.
Jayveri Kelly had nine tackles with three solo stops and three tackles for loss with a sack.
For the Lopers, Tommy Flanagan had 64 yards on 12 carries while Kaiser was 23 of 34 for 203 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. Lenher had six catches for 75 yards. Ryan Lendrum had nine tacklels with six solo stops.
Each team finished with 21 first downs as the Lopers led in total offense 349 to 291. The Ichabods had 212 passing compared to 203 for the Lopers. On the ground the Lopers had 146 yard on 46 carries for a 3.2 yard per attempt average compared to the Ichabods who had 79 on 35 attempts averaging 2.3 yards per carry.
Washburn football history
Washburn is 511-550-44 (.482) in the 122nd year of Ichabod football.
A win for Washburn over Fort Hays State would . . .
• lift the Ichabods to 512-550-44 in its football history.
• be the Ichabods' fourth-straight win over the Tigers.
• make the Ichabods 41-23-3 all-time against the Tigers.
• make the Ichabods 17-13-2 all-time in Hays.
A loss for Washburn to Fort Hays State would . . .
• drop the Ichabods to 511-551-44 in its football history.
• snap an Ichabod three-game winning streak over the Tigers.
• make the Ichabods 40-24-3 all-time against the Tigers.
• drop the Ichabods to 16-14-2 all-time in Hays.
Nebraska-Kearney leftovers . . . the win . . .
• lifted the Ichabods to 511-550-44 in their football history.
• was the Ichabods' fourth-straight win over Nebraska-Kearney.
• made the Ichabods 7-14 all-time against the Lopers.
• moved the Ichabods to 12-12 in MIAA openers.
• moved the Ichabods to 8-3 in season openers under head coach
Craig Schurig.
• moved the Ichabods to 72-43-6 in their first game of the season in the program's history.
Ichabods in the national polls
The Washburn Ichabods moved up to No. 15 in the first AFCA regular season top 25 poll. Washburn has been ranked in the top 25 in the last 14 polls and has received votes in 40 of the last 41 polls by the American Football Coaches Association. Washburn was listed at No. 25 in the d2football.com preseason media poll.
Up next
Washburn's next game in Yager Stadium will be Sept. 15 when the Ichabods will take on another new MIAA foe in Northeastern State at 6 p.m.
