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FOR STARTERS
• The Washburn Ichabods are back in action inside the friendly confines of Yager Stadium as they will take on the No. 2-ranked Northwest Missouri Bearcats on Oct. 16 with kickoff set for 1 p.m.
• The Ichabods are coming off a 23-20 overtime over Fort Hays State on Hall of Fame Saturday at Washburn.
• The Bearcats trailed Pittsburg State 16-0 with 10:39 left in the third quarter before the Bearcats responded with sophomore quarterback Mike Hohensee tossing three touchdown passes to keep Northwest undefeated on the season at 5-0.
• The Ichabods will be looking to keep their four-game home field winning streak alive dating back to 2019.
• Northwest Missouri leads the all-time series 33-6 winning the last 15 games in the series.
• Washburn's last win over the Bearcats was on Oct. 8, 2005 in a 31-28 victory as the Ichabods would go on to win the MIAA Championships.
• The Ichabods have lost 13 games in a row to the Bearcats in Topeka with the last win coming on Oct. 8, 1994 in a 48-14 win, which is also the largest margin of victory for the Ichabods in the series.
• The Ichabods are ranked 17th in the nation in third down conversions moving the chains on 43 of 86 attempts.
• The Ichabods are ranked 13th in the nation in completion percentage at 65.7 percent.
• The Washburn offense is ranked 15th in total first downs and ranked 16th in passing offense and 18th in scoring offense.
• James Letcher, Jr. is 13th in the nation in all-purpose yards at 158.8 yards per game.
• Mitch Schurig is ninth in the nation in completion percentage (67.2) ninth in the nation in passing touchdowns (18), 11th in passing yards (1,812), 13th in passing yards per game (302.0) and 17th in points responsible for (108).
 
COACHING
Washburn Ichabod head coach Craig Schurig . . .
• was named head coach of the Ichabod football program Dec. 28, 2001.
• is 125-87 (.599) in his 20th season as the Ichabod head coach.
• is 107-75 (.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 125 wins.
• is 1-17 against Northwest Missouri.
 
Northwest Missouri head coach Rich Wright . . .
• is in his fifth season as head coach at Northwest Missouri.
• is 35-8 on the Northwest sidelines as the head coach.
• has been an assistant at NWMSU since 2004 and the defensive coordinator since 2011.
• has gone 199-30 since Wright has been on the Bearcat coaching staff.
• He is 3-0 against Washburn.
 
ICHABODS ON THE CAREER CHARTS
• Ichabod running back Zach Willis sits 13th on the all-time rushing chart with 1,510 yards. He became the 16th Ichabod to reach at least 1,500 yards on the ground in a career. Willis also is tied for 15th with 14 career rushing touchdowns.
• Willis also has a career yards per attempt of 6.3 per carry as an Ichabod, which is third on the all-time chart behind Corey Crain who averaged 7.19 yards per carry.
• Ichabod quarterback Mitch Schurig has passed for 6,051 yards in his career which is fourth on the Ichabod career chart. Only Dane Simoneau (11,291), Jordan Brill (7,041), Tyler Schurman (6,525) have thrown for more in a Washburn uniform.
• Schurig's 463 career pass completions is second all-time at Washburn trailing Dane Simoneau who had 751 from 2007-11.
• Schurig has also thrown for 56 touchdowns which is second all-time at Washburn. He needs one more to tie Jordan Brill who had 57 (2003-07). The school record holder is Simoneau with 102.
• Schurig is Washburn's all-time leader in passing completion percentage at 63.9 percent ahead of current coach Dane Simoneau who completed 58 percent of his passes.
• Schurig is also ranked fifth in total offense for a career with 5,936 yards.
• James Letcher, Jr.'s 26.10 yards per kickoff return is third all-time at Washburn.
• Letcher, Jr.'s 114 career receptions is 12th on the all-time chart at Washburn and his 15 touchdown receptions is 10th.
• Lane Spiker's 40.66 yards per punt average is the best in school history ahead of Aaron Hummert (2011-14) who had an average of 40.33.
 
 NOTING THE BEARCATS
• The Bearcats are 5-0 this season having their game with Lincoln canceled due to a COVID issue with the Blue Tigers.
• The Bearcats have allowed only 40 points this season with 20 coming in each half. Northwest has not allowed any fourth quarter points this season.
• Al McKeller is averaging 133.4 yards per game on the ground to lead the MIAA.
• Mike Hohensee has completed 72.6 percent of his passes hitting 61 of 84 for 11 touchdowns and three interceptions.
• Alec Teatum leads the team with 68.4 yards receiving a game with a team-high 25 catches.
• Jackson Barnes leads the team with 40 tackles adding seven tackles for loss for 32 yards with two sacks for 14 yards and an interception.
• Isaiah Nimmers and Samuel Roberts each have 20 tackles.
 
LAST MEETING WITH NORTHWEST MISSOURI
(Sept. 14, 2019) MARYVILLE, Mo. – The Washburn Ichabods and the No. 7-ranked Northwest Missouri Bearcats were knotted at the half at 14, but the Bearcats pulled away outscoring the Ichabods 24-3 in the final 30 minutes leading to the 38-17 win.
Washburn opened the scoring taking a 7-0 when Mitch Schurig hit Colin Wilson for a 11-yard touchdown pass on the first drive of the game finishing off a 5-play, 75-yard drive in 1:18 set up by a 61-yard reception by Curtis Whitten. After Josh Wright ended the Bearcats' drive with an interception, but the Ichabods came up short as the ensuing field goal attempt was wide left.
The Bearcats tied the score at 7-7 with 9:03 to play in the first half on a 27-yard pass from Braden Wright to Alec Tatum but the Ichabods returned with a touchdown of their own when Schurig hit James Letcher, Jr. on a 43-yard pitch and catch capping a 11-play, 87-yard drive. Before the half the Bearcats tied the score at 14 with 2:02 to play.
Washburn took a 17-14 lead with 6:43 to go in the third quarter when Kameron Lake connected on his first collegiate field goal, but from that point on, Northwest's drives went touchdown, field goal, touchdown, touchdown leading to the 38-17 win.
Letcher, Jr., finished with eight catches for 113 yards and the one score while Wilson had eight catches as well for 68 yards. Schurig finished 18 of 31 passing with two touchdown passes. Taylor Peters led the Ichabods for the second straight game with 45 rushing yards on 14 carries.
Defensively, Kevin Neal, Jr., led the Ichabods with a career-high 10 tackles and Will Jones added seven with a sack and two tackles for loss.
The Bearcats outgained the Ichabods 458 to 350 and 259 to 112 in the second half. Washburn finished 11 of 18 on third down conversions while the Bearcats were 7 of 11. The Ichabods also had 31:43 of possession compared to 28:17 for the Bearcats. Northwest led 14-0 in points off turnovers.
 
LAST TIME OUT FOR THE ICHABODS
(Oct. 9, 2021) TOPEKA, Kan. – The Washburn Ichabods' James Letcher, Jr., pulled down a 19-yard touchdowns reception from Mitch Schurig in overtime to push the Ichabods to a 23-20 walk-off win over Fort Hays State.
To start the overtime period, the Ichabods (4-2, 4-2 MIAA) won the toss and elected to be on defense first and the Tigers converted a 33-yard field goal taking a 20-17 lead.
Turning the ball back to the Ichabods, Schurig completed passes to Taylon Peters and to Trey Pivarnik before hitting the game-winner to Letcher send the Ichabods to the 23-20 win. The win improved the Ichabods to 5-7 in overtime games. It was the third overtime matchup with the Tigers since 2014 and the second-straight going back to the 2019 season with the Ichabods fell 41-38 in overtime to Fort Hays State.
The Tigers (3-3, 3-3 MIAA) took a 7-0 lead into the break on the only score of the first half with 3:06 to play in the opening quarter when Chance Fuller hit Hunter Budke for a five-yard touchdown pass.
In the third quarter, the Ichabods held the Tigers to a three-and-out and then Schurig connected with Letcher for a 35-yard touchdown strike tying the score at 7-7 with 9:41 to play in the quarter. The tie was short-lived as the Tigers used a 11-play, 93-yard drive capped by a Josh Okechukwu 36-yard reception from Fuller putting the Tigers up 14-7 with 4:35 to go in the third.
The Ichabods came back and cut the lead to four at 14-10 on the next drive when Trenton Brehm nailed a 35-yard field goal just near the end of the third quarter. The Ichabod defense forced a punt on the Tigers' next possession and Schurig and Peter Afful connected on a 65-yard catch and throw as the Ichabods went up 17-14 with 10:24 to go in regulation.
Both teams traded punts and with 5:14 to go in the game, the Tigers drove 63 yards on 11 plays to tie the score on a 31-yard field goal sending the game to overtime.
Letcher had five catches with two for touchdowns including the game-winner for 56 yards and Afful had four catches for 105 yards and one score. Peters had 15 carries for 68 yards. Schurig was 25 of 31 for 282 yards and three touchdowns completing 81 percent of his passes completing nine in a row to finish the game.
Defensively Kevin Neal, Jr., had 10 tackles with seven solo stops and Peyton Lane had nine tackles.
Both teams finished with 20 first downs as the Ichabods were outgained 386 to 357 by the Tigers. The Ichabods held the Tigers to 67 yards rushing on 27 attempts.
 
A WIN OVER NORTHWEST MISSOURI WOULD
• move Washburn to 5-2 on the season.
• snap a 15-game losing streak to the Bearcats.
• be the first win over the Bearcats since Oct. 8, 2005.
• be the first win in Topeka over the Bearcats since Oct. 8, 1994 snapping a 14-game losing streak.
• move the Ichabods to 7-33 all-time.
 
A LOSS TO NORTHWEST MISSOURI WOULD
• be the Ichabods' 16th loss in a row to the Bearcats.
• drop the Ichabods 6-34 all-time against the Bearcats.
• be the 14th-straight loss to the Bearcats in Topeka.
 
 FORT HAYS STATE LEFTOVERS ... THE WIN
• moved Washburn to 4-2 on the season.
• snapped a three-game losing streak to the Tigers
• moved the Ichabods to 45-27-3 all-time against the Tigers and 28-11-1 all-time in games played in Topeka.
 
ICHABOD FOOTBALL HISTORY
• Washburn is 560-587-44 (.484) in the 129th 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 171 first team all-MIAA picks and 53 first team all-MIAA selections.
• Washburn has had 83 All-American selections and 56 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.
• Seven Ichabods have been picked in the NFL Draft.
 
ICHABODS IN THE NATIONAL POLLS
The Ichabods, under head coach Craig Schurig, have been ranked or have received votes in the AFCA poll 69 times and have been ranked in the top 10 a total of 15 times.
 
UP NEXT
The Ichabods will be on the road facing Central Oklahoma in Edmond, Okla. on Oct. 23 before returning to Yager Stadium to take on Northeastern State for Washburn's Homecoming game at 1 p.m. in Yager Stadium.