• The Washburn Ichabods return to the road on Sept. 15 to face the No. 17-ranked Fort Hays State Tigers on Saturday night at 7 p.m. inside Lewis Field in Hays, Kan.
• The Ichabods are coming off a 38-17 loss to then-ranked No. 6-ranked Northwest Missouri State Bearcats team on Thursday.
• Last time out for the then No. 5-ranked FHSU Tigers lost 23-13 at Missouri Western for the first time this season on Sept. 6.
• The Ichabods lead the all-time series 44-25-3 and have gone 17-15-2 against the Tigers in Hays.
• Washburn fell to the Tigers last season in Hays 37-20 on Oct. 14.
• The Ichabods are coming off a 7-5 season going 6-5 in the MIAA winning the Heart of Texas Bowl in Copperas Cove, Texas 41-25 over Angelo State in their seventh postseason appearance under 17th-year head coach Craig Schurig and their 13th overall in program history.
• The Ichabods were picked seventh in both the MIAA Coaches and Media preseason polls.
n   The Ichabods were one of six MIAA teams who earned postseason berths in 2017 with four going to postseason bowl games and two in the NCAA Playoffs … all four MIAA teams won their bowl games (Central Oklahoma, Pittsburg State, Central Missouri and Washburn).
• Three of the four Kansas NCAA Division II postseason schools earned postseason berths this year with Fort Hays State as the No. 1 seed in the Division II for the playoffs, Pittsburg State at the Texarkana Bowl and Washburn in the Heart of Texas Bowl.
  • Washburn has won the last seven of the last nine and 10 of the last 13 meetings.
• The Ichabods will be looking to snap a two-game losing streak in Hays … Washburn's last win in Hays was on Sept. 8, 2012 in a 45-20 win over the Tigers.
• Fort Hays State head coach Chris Brown was an assistant at Washburn as the defensive coordinator for nine years.
• Other former Ichabod coaches on the Tiger staff include defensive coordinator Cooper Harris who was at Washburn from 2002-11 and FHSU Special Teams Coordinator and defensive backs coach Steven Dudley was a five year member of the Ichabod football team.
  Washburn Ichabod head coach Craig Schurig . . .
• was named head coach of the Ichabod football program Dec. 28, 2001.
• is 111-75 (.599) in his 17th season as the Ichabod head coach.
• is 92-64 (.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 111 wins.
• is 10-4 against Fort Hays State.
 
Fort Hays State head coach Chris Brown . . .
• is in his eighth season as head coach at Fort Hays State leading the Tigers to an MIAA Championship last season as well as their first NCAA Postseason game since 1995.
• has compiled a 50-32 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 2-5 against Washburn.
  • Ichabod senior Austin Tillman leads the nation in tackles after the first two weeks recording 31 overall averaging 15.5 per game.
• Washburn is ranked 20th in the nation in punt returns at 16.57 yards per return.
• Heath Tucker is second in the nation in forced fumbles averaging one per game.
• James Letcher, Jr., is ranked 12th in the nation and third in the MIAA in punt returns at 19.5 per attempt.
• Perry Schmiedeler's 35 field goals is fifth on the NCAA active career chart entering week three against Fort Hays State.
• Corey Ballentine's 29.5 yards per kickoff return is fourth on the NCAA Division II active career leader chart.
• Austin Tillman is also ranked fifth in the nation in solo tackles at 9.5 per game.
• James Brania-Hopp's 26.14 yards per reception is 21st in the nation.
  • 450  Combined number of tackles by Ichabod seniors Derrick McGreevy (226) and Austin Tillman (224) in their Ichabod careers
• 224  Number of points senior placekicker Perry Schmiedeler has scored in his career to move into sixth on the all-time scoring chart at Washburn needing three more to pass Troy Slusser who had 226
• 688  Number of passing yards Blake Peterson needs to move into the top 10 on the Ichabod all-time passing chart
• 241   Number of receiving yards needed by James Brania-Hopp to move into the top 15 on the Ichabod all-time receiving chart
• 4    Number of Topekans on the Tigers' football roster • The Tigers are ranked No. 17 in the AFCA Top 25 coaches poll after falling 23-13 to Missouri Western last time out in St. Joseph.
• The Tigers committed three turnovers inside the Griffons' 30 yard line including two near the endzone in the loss.
• The Tigers are allowing 234.5 yards per game rushing yards while gaining 66.5 yards per game on the ground.
• Charles Tigner leads the team with 55.0 yards per game rushing.
• Jacob Mezera has completed 52 percent of his passes with three touchdowns and a 282.0 yards per game average.
• Harley Hazlett leads the team with 15 receptions for 106 yards at 53 yards per game.
• Jose Delgado leads the team on defense with 24 tackles adding a tackle for loss and a forced fumble.
• Dante Brown leads the team in scoring with 15 points connected on 4 of 5 field goal attempts including a season-long 49-yard make against the Griffons … Brown also handles the punting duties and averages 40.5 yards per attempt.
• Through two games, the Tigers have the sixth-ranked total offensive unit in the MIAA at 348.5 yards per game and the 10th-ranked defensive unit allowing 405 yards per game.
  (Sept. 6, 2018) TOPEKA, Kan. – The Washburn Ichabods fell to No. 6-ranked Northwest Missouri 38-17 on a muggy night in Yager Stadium on Thursday. Washburn returns to the road next Saturday for another top-10 battle when they will face Fort Hays State.
The Bearcats took an opening 7-0 lead, but back to back touchdowns by the Ichabods pushed Washburn (1-1, 1-1 MIAA) out in front 14-7. In the first score, James Letcher, Jr., capped a seven-play, 74 yard drive with a 24-yard touchdown reception with 5:35 to play in the first quarter. Washburn then went up 14-7 on a 39-yard touchdown strike from Blake Peterson to James Brania-Hopp with 10:09 to play.
Northwest (2-0, 2-0 MIAA) tied the score with 7:11 to play in the half as the teams entered the break knotted at 14-14.
To open the third quarter, the Ichabods went on a 44-yard drive and went up 17-14 after Perry Schmiedeler connected on a 35-yard field goal with 11:54. The Bearcats came back with an 11-play, 77-yard drive to go up 21-17 with 7:08 to go in the third quarter.
Northwest pushed its lead to 24-17 with 2:38 to play in the third quarter on a 39-yard field goal. The Bearcats would add two more scores in the fourth quarter to put the final margin at 21 in the 38-17 win.
Austin Tillman led the Ichabods with 16 tackles including 11 solo tackles. Derrick McGreevy had nine tackles and Corey Ballentine, Heath Tucker and Garret Barnett-Kruger each had six.
On the offensive side, Peterson had 275 yards with two touchdowns completing 17 of 33 passes, but was sacked five times. Hunter Browning led the Ichabods with 24 rushing yards on six carries. Washburn was held to 51 rushing yards on 35 attempts.
Letcher, Jr., finished with five catches for 85 yards and the score and Will Hamilton had five catches for 65 yards and James Brania-Hopp had three catches for 94 yards and a score. Brania-Hopp had 128 all-purpose yards leading the Ichabods.
Washburn was outgained 509 to 326 in the game by the Bearcats with 276 coming on the ground for Northwest.
  • lift the Ichabods to 551-580-44 in their football history.
• improve the Ichabods to 45-25-3 against the Tigers all-time.
• improve the Ichabods to 2-1 on the season.
• snap a two-game losing streak in Hays with their first win since Sept. 8, 2012 in a 45-20 victory.
  • drop the Ichabods to 550-581-44 in their football history.
• drop the Ichabods to 1-2 on the season.
• drop the Ichabods to 44-26-3 all-time against the Tigers.
• be the third-straight loss to the Tigers in Hays and their second overall.
  • Washburn is 550-580-44 (.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 65 times and have been ranked in the top 10 a total of 15 times.
  Washburn will be home on Sept. 22 against Central Missouri as part of the Family Day activities with a 1 p.m. kickoff.