First and 10
• The Washburn Ichabods will open its 127th season of football on Aug. 31 when they will travel to Tahlequah, Okla., to take on the Northeastern State RiverHawks.
• Washburn is 74-46-6 all-time in season openers and won last season's opener over the RiverHawks 38-18 in Topeka on Sept. 1.
• Overall, the Ichabods have won seven of their last 10 season openers.
• The Ichabods finished in a tie for fourth last season finishing the season with a 7-5 record.
• The Washburn Ichabods were picked sixth in the both the MIAA Preseason Coaches and Media Polls.
• Under head coach
Craig Schurig, who is entering his 16th season on the Ichabod sidelines, Washburn is 10-5.
• Washburn has averaged 30.5 points per game in the 15 openers under Schurig while allowing 20.5 with the most points coming in a 58-13 win over Nebraska-Kearney in 2013 opener.
• Thursday's game is only the seventh time the Ichabods have opened the season in August going 5-2 …Washburn has never started a season on Aug. 31.
Washburn / Northeastern State series notes
• The Ichabods are 6-1 all-time against the RiverHawks and have won the last five in the series.
• Washburn and Northeastern State have opened the last two seasons against each other and the Ichabods won 38-19 on Sept. 1 in Topeka.
• The RiverHawks lone win came in the second meeting in the series in a 35-30 win on Sept. 24, 1988 in Tahlequah.
• Washburn is 4-0 in games played in Topeka and 2-1 in games played in Tahlequah.
Coaches
Washburn Ichabod head coach Craig Schurig . . .
• was named head coach of the Ichabod football program Dec. 28, 2001.
• is 103-69 (.599) in his 16th season as the Ichabod head coach.
• is 85-58 (.603) against the MIAA.
• has led the Ichabods to three NCAA Playoff appearances and three 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 football coach with 101 wins.
• is 5-0 against Northeastern State.
Northeastern State head coach Rob Robinson . . .
• is in his fourth season as the RiverHawks head coach.
• was named the 19th head football coach in school history on Dec. 19, 2013.
• owns a 5-28 all-time record at Northeastern State.
• spent 12 years under
Craig Schurig as a member of the Washburn Ichabod coaching staff, serving as the offensive coordinator for the last four seasons in Topeka.
• directed the running backs from 2007-13 and coached the wide receivers from 2002-06
• served as the recruiting coordinator from 2002-10 and was the academic coordinator from 2010-13.
• Robinson is the second former coordinator under Schurig's tutelage to become the head coach of another program in the MIAA, joining Fort Hays State's Chris Brown.
Washburn notes
• The Washburn Ichabod offense returns seven starters off the 2016 squad which averaged 365 yards of offense a game along with 27.3 points per game helping lead the Ichabods to a 7-5 overall record going 7-4 in the MIAA tying for fourth place in the conference race. Overall the Ichabods were 10th in the MIAA in total offense, eighth in rushing offense and 11th in passing offense with the eighth-best scoring offense in the league.
• The Ichabods lose all-MIAA quarterback
Derek McGinnis to graduation, but return sophomore
Logan Twehous who appeared in five games during the season. Making the switch from wide receiver where he played in 2016 after transferring from Division I Texas State is sophomore
Blake Peterson who made the transition during spring ball to quarterback where he was an all-state selection at Washburn Rural High School in Topeka.
• Senior
Mickeel Stewart is the Ichabods' leading returning rusher after starting all 12 games finishing with 662 rushing yards on 171 carries with eight touchdowns averaging 55.2 yards per game and 3.9 yards per carry. Also back is sophomore
Zach Willis who appeared 12 games as a freshman and sophomore
Curtis Whitten who rushed for 149 yards on 44 carries and had five catches for 99 yards in 11 games last season.
• At fullback, the Ichabods return senior
Michael Shirk who appeared in 11 games making six starts grabbing two catches for 12 yards at fullback and junior
Logan Lexow who made five starts appearing in 10 games recording two catches for 32 yards. Also in the mix will be sophomore
Jackson Kirby as well as
Ian Urban who redshirted in 2016.
• The Ichabods return four different players who have started at one time or another at Washburn led by junior
Jake Horner who started eight games recording 18 catches for 467 yards averaging 25.9 yards per catch and 58.4 yards per game receiving and three touchdowns.
• The Ichabods have junior all-MIAA performer
Bob Marco is back at right tackle. Making the move from center to right guard is sophomore
Jake Riederer and junior
Trevon Allen will be at left guard. Sophomore
Colton Dunkle is moving from guard to center this season and at left tackle will be sophomore
Kyle Hinton.
• The Ichabods return two players from 2016 who saw action in redshirt sophomore
Michael Lickteig and junior
Semaj Johnson. Lickteig played in one game before suffering an injury in the season opener and Johnson had four catches for 37 yards.
• The Ichabod defense returns seven starters and have experienced players at the remaining positions entering the 2017 season. In 2016, the Ichabod defense was the fifth-ranked defense in the MIAA allowing 397.5 yards per game while ranking third in rushing defense allowing 128 yards per game and eighth in pass defense at 269 yards per game. The Washburn defense was also second in the MIAA in interceptions with 18 and fifth in sacks with 30.
• The Ichabods return two starters on the defensive line in all-MIAA selection, senior tackle
Trey Parker and fellow senior
Jalen Durham at nose guard. Parker started 11 of 12 games recording 38 tackles with 20 solo stops adding 5.5 tackles for loss for 24 yards and two sacks for 12 yards. Durham started all 12 games recording 37 tackles with 14 solo stops adding 6.5 tackles for loss for 22 yards and three sacks for 14 yards.
Also back in the middle of the line is junior
Gary Wilson and senior
Ricardo Olivieri who each played in 11 games last season. At defensive end, senior
Kastin Spencer has started four games in his career and on the other side is sophomore
Rashade Chester who played in 11 games as a freshman in 2016. True freshman
Landen Urban and transfer
Will Jones will also see time on the defensive line.
• The Ichabods' leading tackler from 2016 returns in senior
Austin Tillman who led Washburn with 102 tackles en route to all-MIAA honors. He started all 12 games finishing with a team-high three fumble recoveries adding six tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks. At the other linebacker spot is
Derrick McGreevy who made one start finishing with 55 tackles in 12 games finishing second on the team with 9.5 tackles for loss for 26 yards forcing two fumbles. Junior
Cedric Gonzalez, who played in 12 games in his first season as an Ichabod had 34 tackles with 4.5 for loss and 3.5 sacks along with redshirt freshman
Garret Barnett-Kruger will also compete for time.
• The Ichabods return four starters in the 4-2-5 defensive backfield as senior
Peter Pfannenstiel, junior
Corey Ballentine and sophomores
Josh Wright and
Dwane Simmons are back. Ballentine was an all-MIAA pick in 2016 with 65 tackles with 43 solo stops and 6.5 tackles for loss. Pfannenstiel had 61 tackles with four for loss and Wright finished with 15 tackles. Simmons is back after sitting out the 2016 season after making 11 starts in 2015 at a cornerback's position. New to the Ichabods is senior
D.J. Olmstead, a NCAA Division I transfer from Idaho, who joined the Ichabods for spring practice. Sophomore
Heath Tucker moves into a starting position at safety and senior
Chris McGee, Jr., is moving from offense to defense sliding into the other safety spot.
• The Ichabods will return a two-time all-MIAA pick at the kicking positions as well as experience at longsnapper and at the kickoff and punt return positions. Junior placekicker/punter
Perry Schmiedeler was a preseason second team All-American pick by Lindy's magazine and was also a Fred Mitchell Award watch list nominee.
• Junior
Perry Schmiedeler was named second team all-MIAA offense as a placekicker after hitting 19 of 24 field goals including a career-long 50-yard attempt against Missouri Western. The 19 field goals led the MIAA and tied for most on the Ichabod single-season chart enroute to leading the Ichabods in scoring with 92 points in 2016 connecting on 35 of 36 extra points.
• Schmiedeler, who also earned second team all-MIAA honors as a punter with his average of 41.2 yards per punt ranked third in the MIAA connecting on a career-long attempt of 70 against Emporia State on Nov. 12. He had 16 punts of more than 50-yards, which led the MIAA.
• The Ichabods were sixth in the MIAA last season in kickoff returns averaging 20.4 yards per attempt. Sophomore
Josh Wright led the Ichabods with a 25.8 yards per return average on 19 attempts, which was fourth in the MIAA last season.
Corey Ballentine, will also return kickoffs.
• As a unit, the Ichabods were eighth in punt return average at 6.9 per return.
Sophomore
Kenyatte Harris, Jr. is the Ichabods' most experienced punt returner with 10 returns and a 4.2 yard average per attempt.
• Junior
Zach Downing will return for a third year of snapping for the Ichabods. He recorded five tackles after snaps last season on special teams adding a fumble recovery.
Northeastern State Notes
• The RiverHawks are coached by former Washburn assistant Rob Robinson who is starting his fourth season as Northeastern State's head coach. He has several members of his coaching staff who played and coached at Washburn. Robinson spent 12 seasons at Washburn including four seasons as the offensive coordinator.
• Also on his coaching staff is assistant head coach, wide receiver and recruiting coordinator Rob Messinger who was a graduate assistant at Washburn from 2008-11.
• Former Ichabod All-American quarterback Dane Simoneau is the RiverHawks' offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Simoneau is the Ichabods' all-time leader in total offense, passing touchdowns, passing yards and 33 other school single-season, single-game and career records finishing in 2011. He spent one season as a graduate assistant at Washburn.
• Defensive coordinator Josh Lattimer is the son-in-law of Ichabod former assistant men's basketball coach Dave Brown. Lattimer is married to Brown's daughter Nicole.
• Former Ichabod quarterback Mitch Buhler is in his second season as a graduate assistant coach on the RiverHawk staff this season … he is coaching the running backs.
• Former Ichabod quarterback Mitch Buhler is in his second season as a graduate assistant coach on the RiverHawk staff this season … he is coaching the running backs.
• The RiverHawks return junior quarterback Dimonic McKinzy, who set the program's single-season passing record last year with 2,767 yards and 26 touchdowns averaging 251.5 yards per game.
• NSU also has three of its top four receivers back from last season led by senior Gary McKnight (43 catches/817 yards/10 TDs), senior Zac King (38 catches/417 yards/3 TDs), sophomore Rashawn Eubanks (19 catches/379 yards/6 TDs) are also back.
• NSU also has three of its top four receivers back from last season led by senior Gary McKnight (43 catches/817 yards/10 TDs), senior Zac King (38 catches/417 yards/3 TDs), sophomore Rashawn Eubanks (19 catches/379 yards/6 TDs) are also back.
• Leading rusher, sophomore C.J. Shavers also returns after rushing for 405 yards and three scores last season.
• Leading the defense is returning linebacker senior La'More Wise who led the RiverHawks with 84 tackles, eight tackles for loss adding four sacks.
A win over Northeastern State would …
• lift the Ichabods to 542-574-44 in their football history.
• move the Ichabods to 1-0 on the season.
• move the Ichabods to 7-1 all-time against Northeastern State and the sixth-straight win in the series.
• move the Ichabods to 75-46-6 all-time in season openers.
• be the second-straight win over NSU to open the season.
• be the 14th time in the program's history the Ichabods would have reached at least eight wins.
A loss to Northeastern State would …
• drop the Ichabods to 542-575-44 in their football history.
• drop the Ichabods to 0-1 on the season.
• drop the Ichabods to 6-2 all-time against Northeastern State snapping a five-game winning streak over the RiverHawks.
• drop the Ichabods to 74-47-6 all-time in season openers.
Ichabod football history
• Washburn is 542-574-44 (.484) in the 127th year of Ichabod football.
• The Ichabods are ranked 15th in NCAA Division II history in wins.
• The Ichabods have 12 conference titles with the last coming in 2005 in the MIAA.
• Washburn has had 127 first team all-conference picks and 45 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 received votes in the first regular season poll of the 2016 season and in the last two polls released. Under head coach
Craig Schurig, the Ichabods have been ranked or have received votes in the AFCA poll 57 times and have been ranked in the top 10 a total of 15 times.
Up Next
The Ichabods will open the home slate with Northwest Missouri State on Sept. 8 in Yager Stadium with a 6 p.m. kickoff.
