• The Washburn Ichabod football team returns to action for its final road trip of the season when they travel to Pittsburg, Kan., to take on the Pittsburg State Gorillas on Saturday with a 2 p.m. kickoff.
• The Ichabods (4-5, 4-5 MIAA) are coming off a 34-31 overtime loss to Emporia State last time out.
• The Gorillas are 7-2 this season and have won their last two games with wins at Missouri Western and over Central Missouri.
• The Ichabods, Central Missouri and Nebraska-Kearney are in a three-way tie for seventh-place in the MIAA standings.
• Pittsburg State is tied for second with Fort Hays State one game behind Northwest Missouri in the conference race.
• The Ichabods have put up more than 500 yards of offense in three of their last four games including 526 last time out against the Hornets.
• James Brania-Hopp needs eight receiving yards for to become the first Ichabod since DaJuan Beard to go over 1,000 yards in a season when Beard recorded 1,029 in 2011 … he enters the Pittsburg State game ranked eighth in the nation in both receiving yards (992) and receiving yards per game (110.2) and is ranked 23rd in receptions per game.
  • Washburn has won 6 of the last 12 meetings.
• Washburn is 4-1 in the last five games played in Pittsburg including winning the last two in a row.
• Series Record: PSU leads 63-24-1
• Streak: WU won the last one
• First Meeting: PSU 21-7 (10/08/1921) in Topeka
• Last Meeting: WU 35-20 (09/30/2017) in Pittsburg
• Last WU win: 35-20 (09/30/2017) in Pittsburg
• Last PSU win: 45-27 (10/01/2016) in Topeka
• Largest WU win: 55-3 (10/17/2009) in Topeka
• Largest PSU win: 61-0 (10/28/1989) in Pittsburg
• Most WU points scored: 55 (55-3) (10/17/2009)
• Most PSU points scored: 72 (72-12) (11/14/1998)
  Washburn Ichabod head coach Craig Schurig . . .
•  was named head coach of the Ichabod football program Dec. 28, 2001.
•  is 114-79 (.599) in his 17th season as the Ichabod head coach.
•  is 96-67 (.603) against the MIAA.
•  has led the Ichabods to three NCAA Playoff appearances and four bowl appearances and three bowl 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 114 wins.
•  is 7-8 against Pittsburg State.
 
Pittsburg State head coach Tim Beck . . .
• is in his ninth season as head coach at Pitt State.
• He has compiled a 75-29 (.718) career record.
• led his alma mater (PSU, '88) to the 2011 NCAA Division II National Championship, earning national coach of the year honors from Liberty Mutual, the Don Hansen Football Committee and FieldTurf™.
• became the school's 14th all-time head football coach in December 2009, after serving for 23 seasons as an assistant coach for the Gorillas including 16 years as the team's offensive coordinator from 1994-2009. 
• is 3-4 against Washburn.
  • Hunter Browning leads the team with 40.0 yards per game with career highs of 17 carries and 116 yards against Northeastern State … six different Ichabods overall are averaging at least 20.0 yards per game rushing … the Ichabods are averaging 151.0 yards per game … as a team the Ichabods are allowing 141.6 per contest.
• Mitch Schurig is 108 of 178 passing with 12 touchdowns averaging 220.0 yards per game … overall the Ichabods are averaging 257.7 yards per game passing … he leads the MIAA in passing effiency (149.0) ranking 30th in the nation and also leads the MIAA in completion percentage at 60.7 which is 35th in the nation.
• James Brania-Hopp has 54 catches for 992 yards with seven scores while averaging 110.2 yards per game receiving … he is also averaging 18.4 yards per catch … Brania-Hopp leads the MIAA in receiving yards per game, receptions per game (5.8) and total yards.
• Austin Tillman is sixth  in the MIAA and first on the Ichabods with 9.2 tackles per game and 83 overall  … Derrick McGreevy is ninth in the league with 8.7 tackles per game tallying 78 overall …  … Tillman leads the team lead with 7.0 tackles for loss for 26 yards.
• The Ichabods are fourth in the MIAA in first downs with 21.8 per game after a school-record 36 against Missouri Southern earlier this season.
• The Ichabods are ranked second in the MIAA in third down conversions moving the chains on 61 of 145 attempts and defensively the Ichabods are sixth in the MIAA in opponent third down conversions limiting foes to 45 of 128 attempts for a 35 percent average.
• Washburn is ranked sixth in the MIAA in penalties averaging 6.5 per game for 59.1 yards per game while opponents are averaging 5.4 penalties per game and 47.6 yards per contest which is 12th in the MIAA.
• Washburn is fifth in the MIAA in time of possession averaging 30:21 per game.
• Derrick McGreevy's 284 tackles is 9th on the all-time chart at Washburn.
• Austin Tillman's 276 career tackles sit 10th on the all-time chart at Washburn.
  • (8)  Number of receiving yards for James Brania-Hopp to become the first Ichabod since DaJuan Beard to go over 1,000 yards in a season when Beard recorded 1,029 in 2011.
• (5)   Number of receiving yards for James Brania-Hopp to become the 8th Ichabod to reach 2,000 career receving yards.
• (261)  Number of points senior placekicker Perry Schmiedeler has scored in his career to move into second on the all-time scoring chart at Washburn needing 36 more to pass Trent Hearn entering the PSU game.
• (404)  Number of yards in total offense Mitch Schurig had against Emporia State, which was the seventh-best single game total in school history.
• (276) Number of tackles Austin Tillman has moving into the top 10 all-time at Washburn.
  • The Gorillas are 7-2 this season and have two in a row entering Saturday's game with the Ichabods.
• Tyler Adkins leads the Gorillas on the ground with 78.2 yards per game and Tucker Horack is averaging 45.9 yards per game.
• John Roderique averages 113.2 yards per game through the air completing 84 of 159 passes with eight touchdowns and five interceptions.
• Lorenzo West has a team-high 42 catches for 603 yards and four touchdowns averaging 67.0 yards per game.
• Pittsburg State is averaging 29.7 points per game while allowing 21.2 ppg.
  (Oct. 27, 2018) TOPEKA, Kan.-- For only the second time in 115 meetings, 60 minutes was not enough to decide the game and for the second time the Washburn Ichabods came up short falling 34-31 in overtime to Emporia State in Yager Stadium.
In the extra frame, the Hornets (5-4, 5-4 MIAA) won the coin toss and elected to be on defense first. Washburn converted a third and 15 from the ESU 30 to the Hornet 4-yard line after a 26-yard completion from Mitch Schurig to Jace Williams. Three carries by Will Evans moved the ball to the Hornet one, but a false start pushed it back to the six on a fourth down and forced Washburn to line up for a 23-yard field goal which Perry Schmiedeler hit to put the Ichabods up 31-28.
On the Hornets first play from scrimmage, they gained 17 yards on a rush up the middle and Braxton Marstall hit Justin Brown on an 8-yard touchdown pass for the game-ending touchdown and the 34-31 win. It was ESU's Brown who blocked a potential game-winning field goal by the Ichabods on the final play of regulation which sent the contest to the overtime period.
The Hornets scored the only points of the first quarter on a Marstall to Jordan Reed touchdown pass with 6:10 to play. The Ichabods tied it on a 20-yard touchdown pass from Schurig to James Brania-Hopp for the first of three touchdown catches by Brania-Hopp en route to a career-high 217 receiving yards on eight catches. His receiving total was tied for the fifth-best on the Ichabod single-game chart becoming only on of six Ichabods to have at least 200 receiving yards in a game. It also moved his season total to 992 yards looking to become the first Ichabod since DaJuan Beard to go over 1,000 yards in a season when Beard recorded 1,029 in 2011.
ESU would go up on the ensuing drive with 11:52 to play in the first half before Brania-Hopp caught his second touchdown catch of the day on an 18-yard grab tying the score at 14-14. Washburn took the lead on an 11-yard touchdown pass from Schurig to Marcus Meier with 2:53 to play in the first half staking the Ichabods to a 21-14 lead, but the Hornets returned serve with a score of their own to tie the game before the halftime horn sounded.
The Hornets took a 28-21 lead with 2:31 to go in the third quarter for the only points of the frame and on the second play of the fourth quarter, Brania-Hopp pulled down his third touchdown of the day wrapping up a 65-yard drive with 14:51 to play finishing the scoring before the overtime period.
Schurig finished with 397 yards passing a four scores completing 25 of 43 passes hitting nine different receivers on the afternoon. Will Hamilton had four catches for 66 yards. The 397 passing yards was a career high for Schurig and seventh on the Ichabod single-game chart.
On the ground, Curtis Whitten had seven carries for 31 yards and Schmiedeler converted a fake punt for a 31-yard gain setting up a score for the Ichabods.
Austin Tillman had 12 tackles to lead the Ichabod defense. Josh Wright, Corey Ballentine and Brooks Peavler each had six tackles with Ballentine adding an interception. Grant Bruner and Kevin Neal, Jr. also had interceptions for the Ichabod defense.
Washburn outgained the Hornets 526 to 524 and the teams combined for 1050 of total offense in the game. ESU ran 90 plays in the game compared to 81 for Washburn. On the ground, ESU outgained the Ichabods 151 to 129 and through the air the Ichabods had a 397 to 373 lead.
  • lift the Ichabods to 554-584-44 in their football history.
• be the second-straight over the Gorillas and the third in a row in Pittsburg.
• improve the Ichabods to 5-5 on the season.
• move the series record to PSU leading 63-25-1.
  • drop the Ichabods to 553-585-44 in their football history.
• drop the Ichabods to 4-6 on the season.
• drop the Ichabods to 24-64-1 all-time with the Gorillas.
• snap a two-game winning streak by the Ichabods over the Gorillas in Pittsburg.
  •  Washburn is 553-584-44 (.484) in the 128th 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 142 first team all-MIAA picks and 48 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.
•  Washburn has made 12 postseason appearances including bowl games and tournament games going 5-2 in seven bowl games.
•  Five Ichabods have been picked in the NFL Draft.
  WACO, Texas -- For the 12th time in the last 15 years, the Washburn Ichabod football team received votes in the American Football Coaches Association Top 25 Coaches presason poll released to start the 2018 season. The Ichabods, under head coach Craig Schurig, have been ranked or have received votes in the AFCA poll 66 times and have been ranked in the top 10 a total of 15 times.
  Washburn will wrap up the regular season on Nov. 10 when they will play host to Nebraska-Kearney at 1 p.m. Prior to kick, 15 Ichabod seniors will be honored in pregame festivities.