Opening Notes
•     The Washburn Ichabods look for their fourth-straight win of the season as they travel to Hays, Kan., to take on the Fort Hays State Tigers.
•    Washburn is coming off a 27-21 win over Missouri Southern last time out while the Tigers lost for the first time this season in a 31-24 loss to No. 15-ranked Pittsburg State.
•     Washburn has won the last six games and nine of the last ten meetings with Fort Hays State.
•     Fort Hays State head coach Chris Brown was an assistant at Washburn as the defensive coordinator for nine years and the Tigers' defensive coordinator Cooper Harris spent 10 seasons as a coach at Washburn including the last as defensive coordinator.
•    The Tigers also have former Ichabod defensive back Steven Dudley on their coaching staff.
•    The Ichabods received votes in this week's AFCA Top 25 coaches poll for the second-straight week moving up to 32nd in the ranking. The Tigers are ranked 35th.
•     Washburn is in a four-way tie for third in the MIAA standings with Pittsburg State, Fort Hays State and Missouri Western. Northwest Missouri and Emporia State are tied for first place leading the league with identical 4-0 records.

 'Bods and Ends
•    The Ichabods are making their first appearance in Hays since a 45-20 win over the Tigers on Sept. 8, 2012.
•    Overall the Ichabods are 17-13-2 in games played in Hays.
•    Washburn has won its last two games in Hays and three of the last five overall.
• Washburn is looking for its third-straight win in Hays, something which has not happened since leaving town with wins on Nov. 3, 1956 (32-19), Nov. 7, 1958 (19-6) and Nov. 11, 1960 (33-7).
•    Washburn is last in the MIAA in penalties averaging 98 yards per game after being called for 41 penalties. Fort Hays State is the least-flagged team being flagged 21 times for 45.5 yards per game.
•    The 95 total offensive plays against Missouri Southern was one shy of the school record of 96 set in 1988 against Emporia State.

 Coaching Staffs
Ichabod head coach Craig Schurig . . .
•    was named head coach of the Ichabod football program Dec. 28, 2001. 
•    is 94-59 (.611) in his 14th season as the Ichabod head coach. 
•    is 76-49 (.603) 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. 
•    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 during the 2011 season.
•    is Washburn's all-time winningest coach with 94 wins.
•    is 9-2 against Fort Hays State all-time.

Fort Hays State head coach Chris Brown . . . 
•    is in his fourth season as head coach at Fort Hays State.  
•     has compiled a 25-23 (.472) record leading the Tigers. 
•    was a three-time All-America free safety for the Pittsburg State from 1993-95, came to FHSU after serving as defensive coordinator at for the Ichabods from 2002-10. 
•    is 0-4 against Washburn.

 Defensive Notes
•     Defensive end Akhmad Abdul-Razzaq leads the team with 34 tackles overall (15 solo) while leading the team with 6.0 tackles for loss for 15 yards. Twenty-seven of his tackles have coming on rushing plays. His 12 tackles against Missouri Southern was a career high.
•    Linebacker Cody Heiman is second on the team with 31 tackles (12 solo). He had a career-high 11 tackles against Missouri Southern earlier this season.
•    Linebacker Alec Steuber has 30 tackles which is tied for third on the team while adding three tackles for loss.
•    Safety Shay Wooten is tied for first on the on the squad with 30 tackles (11 solo). He leads the team with 11 tackles on passing plays.
•    Defensive end Spencer Matthews is second on the team 5.0 tackles for loss for 35 yards lead and his 4.0 sacks for 31 yards leads the team.
•    The Ichabods have four interceptions as Zach Franklin, Dwane Simmons, Jamie Myers and Cody Heiman all have one. Simmons returned his 56 yards against Nebraska-Kearney and Heiman returned one for 40 yards against Pittsburg State for his first career interception.
•    Washburn has 28 pass breakups this season and they are led by Franklin's 10.
•    Derek McGreevey had a career high four tackles against Missouri Southern.
•    Defensive tackle Kinglsey Ibeh had a career-high four tackles against Missouri Southern.
•    As a team the Ichabods are ranked tied for third in scoring defense at 19.0 points per game and third in total defense at 348.0 yards per game.
•    On pass defense the Ichabods are ranked sixth in the MIAA allowing 221.3 yards per game while ranking fourth in rush defense at 126.8 yards per game.

 Offensive Notes
•    Derek McGinnis has completed 54 percent of his passing attempts connecting on 81 of 151 passing attempts with 11 touchdowns and four interceptions. He is averaging 263.8 yards per game passing … his 11 passing touchdowns are second in the league and was named the MIAA Offensive Player of the Week after the Pitt State game. He is fourth in the MIAA in passing per game and sixth in the league in total offense at 264 yards per game.
•    Brandon Bourbon has 87 carries for the Ichabods for 388 yards and two score averaging 97.0 yards per game and 4.5 yards per carry. He is fourth in the MIAA in rushing yards per game.
•    Hayden Groves has 41 carries for 192 yards and ranks 17th in the MIAA with 48 yards per game rushing.
•    Bryce Chavis leads the team with 18 catches for 298 yards averaging 16.5 yards per catch with a team-high four touchdowns.
•    Connor Crimmins has 16 catches for 177 yards and two scores.
•    Anthony Daniels has 11 catches for 174 yards.
•    Jordan Hart has appeared in 27 games making five starts and has 12 catches for 237 yards and two scores while averaging 19.8 yards per reception and 118.5 yards per game after missing the last two games.
•    Senior fullback Sam Eickhoff had his first touchdown reception of his career against Lindenwood and his two catches against Pitt State was a career-high.

 Ichabod Special Team Notes
•    The Ichabods have yet to attempt a field goal this season. True freshman Perry Schmiedeler has 27 punts for 960 yards averaging 35.6 per punt. He is averaging 55.9 yards per kickoff attempt with one touchback recorded against Missouri Southern.
•    Jaime Myers is averaging 11.0 yards per punt return on three attempts and Bryce Chavis is averaging 8.0 yards per punt return on three attempts.
•    Zack Franklin leads the team on kickoff returns averaging 29 yards per attempt on five returns. Jake Horner has two returns for 40 yards and Jaime Myers has two for 35 yards.
•    Freshman linebacker Derrick McGreevy leads the Ichabods with five special teams tackles with all of them coming on kickoff coverage.
•    Jarvis Harrod has three of Washburn's eight tackles on punt coverage.

 Know the Foe
•    Fort Hays State is 3-1 this season and is coming off a 31-24 loss to No. 15-ranked Pittsburg State last time out in Hays.
•    The Tigers are led on the ground by two who are averaging more than 100 yards per game rushing in running back Shaquill Cooper (146.8 ypg) and quarterback Treveon Ablert (100.8 ypg).
•    Albert has completed 40 of 77 passes with two interceptions and five touchdowns averaging 110.5 yards per game through the air. 
•    Overall Albert is averaging 211.2 yards per game in total offense.
•    Andrew Flory leads the team with 50.2 yards per game receiving with two touchdowns.
•    Defensively Brock Long leads the team with 54 tackles (22 solo) and Alex Schmidtberger has 50 tackles (26 solo) with 5.0 tackles for loss for 27 yards and 2.5 sacks for 20 yards.

 Series Facts with Fort Hays State
Series Record: WU leads 43-23-3
Streak: WU has won the last six
First Meeting: WU 7-6 (11/27/1919) in Hays
Last Meeting: WU 27-24 (ot) (10/04/2014) in Topeka
Last WU win: 27-24 (ot) (10/04/2014) 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

 Series Notes with Fort Hays State
• The Ichabods lead the series 43-23-3 all-time and have won the last six games.
• Washburn is 17-13-2 all-time in games played in Hays.
• Washburn is looking for its third-straight win in Hays, something which has not happened since leaving town with wins on Nov. 3, 1956 (32-19), Nov. 7, 1958 (19-6) and Nov. 11, 1960 (33-7).
• The longest winning streak in the series by the Ichabods was seven from 1971 to 1977.
• The longest winning streak by the Tigers in the series was five from 1978 to 1982.

 Last Meeting with Fort Hays State
(10/4/2014) TOPEKA, Kan. -- Washburn's Vershon Moore scored on a 15-yard run in the first overtime period propelling the Ichabods to a 27-24 overtime victory over Fort Hays State on Saturday in Yager Stadium. 
Moore's score wrapped up a wild overtime as the Ichabods took what they thought was a winning touchdown when Zeke Palmer hit DaJuan Beard in the back of the end zone, but was ruled out returning the football back to the 15-yard line setting up the final play of the game. The Tigers took a 24-21 lead in overtime scoring on their first drive when Drew O'Brien hit a 20-yard field goal.
The Tigers (3-2, 3-2 MIAA) jumped out to a 7-0 lead on their first possession of the game driving 75 yards in 10 plays as Edward Smith scored from 16 yards out with 10:03 to play in the first quarter. Washburn (2-3, 2-3 MIAA) tied the score two drives later when Sean McPherson scored from 1-yard out after a 72-yard pass play from Palmer to Jordan Hart set up the score.
However the Tigers rolled back on the next series scoring on a 40-yard touchdown pass from Treveon Albert to Ed Williams with 3:06 to play in the first quarter as neither team scored in the second quarter as Fort Hays State took a 14-7 lead into the break.
In the third quarter, the teams traded four drives before Washburn knotted the score at 14 with 6:36 to play in the quarter when Palmer hit Brad Gourley on a 20-yard touchdown pass. A bad snap over the Fort Hays State punter set up the Ichabods at the FHSU 24 yard line.
After stopping the Tigers on the Washburn 1-yard line, the Ichabods marched 99-yards in 12 plays when Moore scored from 7-yard out with 13:36 to play in the game putting Washburn up 21-14.
Fort Hays tied the score at 14 taking advantage of an Ichabod turnover and tied the score at 21 when Albert hit Smith with 55 seconds to play in regulation leading to the overtime Ichabod victory.
Palmer finished with 275 passing completing 17 of 30 passes with a touchdown and Hart had six catches for 138 yards. Moore finished with 21 carries for 108 yards and two scores in the game.
For the Tigers, Albert had 93 yards on the ground on 18 carries while passing for 217 yards completing 20 of 32 attempts with two scores. Williams had six catches for 121 yards and one score.
Calvin Kenney had 10 tackles with eight solo stops and two tackles for loss. As a team the Ichabods had 11 tackles for loss for 30 yards. Mark Kolmer had nine tackles including three tackles for loss for six yards.

 Last time out for Fort Hays State
(09/26/15) HAYS, Kan. - Fort Hays State led No. 15 ranked Pittsburg State by 10 at halftime, but PSU scored 17 unanswered second-half points to get past FHSU, 31-24, on Saturday evening (Sept. 26) in Hays. A turnover by the Tigers on their first drive of the second half proved costly, shifting the momentum in Pittsburg State's favor the rest of the game.
Up 24-14, the Tigers were marching deep into Pittsburg State territory on their first drive of the second half, but Treveon Albert threw an interception at the Pittsburg State 7-yard line. Following that turnover the FHSU offense sputtered throughout the third quarter and early in the fourth, going three-and-out on three consecutive drives. Meanwhile, Pittsburg State scored on the three drives following Fort Hays State's three-and-outs to take the lead 31-24 at the 5:36 mark of the fourth quarter.
Fort Hays State had an unfortunate penalty called on Pittsburg State's final scoring drive of the game. With 6:50 remaining, FHSU held PSU to a field goal attempt from 38 yards out. Nathan Shepherd blocked the kick, but Doyin Jibowu was called for roughing the kicker as he undercut the kicker's legs after the ball had been blocked. With the personal foul, PSU was able to continue its drive at the FHSU 11-yardline, eventually punching it in on quarterback John Roderique's second consecutive six-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. If the blocked kick would have stood without the penalty, the game would have still been tied 24-24.
Penalty aside, Fort Hays State could not refind its offensive rhythm from early in the game when it had the chance to hold its lead. The Tigers had only 77 yards of total offense in the second half after 276 in the first half. Pittsburg State controlled the clock for 10:59 of the fourth quarter with their final two scoring drives taking 3:59 and 5:38 off the clock. The Gorillas finished with 527 yards of total offense, rushing for 302 and passing for 225. Fort Hays State had 212 yards rushing and 141 passing. The Tigers had won six consecutive games when rushing for over 200 yards as a team until Saturday night.
Fort Hays State did a great job in the first half of the game. After surviving PSU scoring a touchdown on its opening drive and then recovering an onside kick, FHSU punched right back with a 66-yard scoring drive to tie the game 7-7. Albert found Zack Gaughan, who had a nifty one-handed grab for a 16-yard receiving touchdown. At the 4:56 mark of the first half, Shaquille Cooper got loose for a 31-yard touchdown run, making it 14-7 in favor of FHSU. PSU countered with another touchdown drive, so it was 14-14 after the opening quarter.
The second quarter belonged to the Tigers. Drew O'Brien pushed FHSU into the lead, 17-14, with a 27-yard field goal at the 12:52 mark. Then Cooper turned on the afterburners again with a 55-yard touchdown run with 5:03 remaining. FHSU led 24-14 at the break before going scoreless in the second half. Daniel Lindsey even had his third blocked kick of the season in the second quarter on a PSU field goal attempt, which led to Cooper's 55-yard touchdown burst. Lindsey had a blocked kick against PSU for the second straight year after delivering the blocked field goal last year that kept Fort Hays State's 7-6 upset win intact.
FHSU had two 100-yard rushers in the game, Albert for 107 and Cooper for 104. Albert also threw for 141 yards on 14-of-21 passing. He was 11-of-12 through the air at halftime. Tyler Bacon led FHSU receivers with four catches for 40 yards. Defensively, Alex Schmidtberger had a team-best 14 tackles, while Lindsey added 12 with his blocked kick. Brock Long also reached double figures with 10 tackles.
Roderique had 117 rushing yards for the Gorillas. He also threw for 225 yards, completing 21-of-32 attempts. He rushed for two touchdowns and threw for one. Levi Copelin had a team-best 94 receiving yards for PSU.

 Last time out for Washburn
(09/26/2015) TOPEKA, Kan. -- The Washburn Ichabods scored two touchdowns in the final 3:44 for a come-from-behind win over Missouri Southern 27-21 in Yager Stadium on Family Day. 
Down 21-13, Washburn scored on touchdown on a 3-yard run by Hayden Groves pulling the Ichabods within 21-19, but the 2-point conversion failed. After kicking off with 3:39 to go, the Lions were forced into a punt and Washburn took over at the Missouri Southern 45 with 2:41 to play.
Facing a fourth and 1, Washburn's Brandon Bourbon picked up the first down with a 2-run to the Missouri Southern 34. After two pass incompletions, Derek McGinnis found Anthony Daniels on 29-yard strike to the Lion five yard line.
One play later McGinnis hit Chad Williams for the touchdown pass and the 2-point conversion was McGinnis to Adam Luthi was good putting Washburn up 27-21.
The Lions would then take possession with 76 seconds remaining and drive down to the Ichabod nine yard line, but three incomplete passes by TJ Fleeton including one to the back of the endzone was broken up by Zach Franklin sealing the win for Washburn.
Washburn scored first in the game on its opening possession when McGinnis hit Bryce Chavis for a 39-yard touchdown pass 2:23 into the game.
The Lions would tie the score with 2:37 to play left in the first quarter.
Washburn went up 13-7 with 16 seconds to play in the first half when Chavis caught a 30-yard pass from McGinnis.
The Lions scored a 2-yard run by Will Gregory with 10:33 to play taking the 14-13 lead and expanded it to 21-13 on a 6-yard touchdown pass from TJ Fleeton to Chad Nolan.
Washburn (3-1, 3-1 MIAA) was led defensively by Akhmad Abdul-Razzaq with 12 tackles including one for loss and a half sack. Cody Heiman had 11 tackles with six solo and Austin Tillman and Ardis Palmer each had eight.
Bourbon finished with 96 yards rushing on 27 carries and Hayden Groves had 41 yards on 10 carries.
McGinnis was 22 of 51 for 298 yards throwing three touchdowns in the game.
Connor Crimmins had a team-high five catches and Chavis had four catches for 145 yards and two touchdown receptions.  

 A win for Washburn over Fort Hays State would . . .
• lift the Ichabods to 533-566-44 in their football history.
• move the Ichabods to 4-1 on the season and in the MIAA.
• move the Ichabods to 44-23-3 all-time against the Tigers.
• be the Ichabods' seventh-straight win over the Tigers making it the longest winning streak by Washburn over FHSU since winning seven between 1971 to 1977.
• be the Ichabods first three-game winning streak in Hays since wins after the 1956, 1958 and 1960 seasons.

 A loss for Washburn to Fort Hays State would . . .
• drop the Ichabods to 533-567-44 in their football history.
• snap a six-game winning streak by the Ichabods over the Tigers.
• be the Tigers' first win over Washburn since a 17-7 win on Sept. 13, 2008 in Hays.

 Washburn Football History
•    Washburn is 532-566-44 (.484) in the 125th year of Ichabod football.
•    The Ichabods have 12 conference titles with the last coming in 2005 in the MIAA.
•    Washburn has had 126 first team all-conference picks and 44 first team all-MIAA selections.
•    Washburn has had 78 all-American selections and 54 all-American picks since joining the NCAA Division II ranks in 1989.
•    Five Ichabods have been picked in the NFL Draft.

 Ichabods in the National Polls
WACO, Texas -- The Ichabods did receive votes in this week's poll for the second-straight week after the win over Missouri Southern. Under head coach Craig Schurig, the Ichabods have been ranked or have received votes in the AFCA poll 54 times and have been ranked in the top 10 a total of 15 times. 

 Up Next
Washburn returns home on Oct. 10 to take on Central Missouri in the MIAA TV game of the week and for Hall of Fame Weekend with a kick time at 2:37 p.m.