FOR STARTERS
•The Washburn Ichabods return home for Hall of Fame Day as the Ichabods will host Fort Hays State at 1 p.m. in Yager Stadium.
•The Ichabods are coming off a 35-30 loss to Emporia State as their 20-point rally in the second half came up short.
•The Tigers rallied from a 21-point halftime deficit to top No. 12-ranked Nebraska-Kearney handing the Lopers their first loss of the season.
•Washburn will be looking to snap a three-game losing slide to the Tigers.
•The Ichabods lead the all-time series 44-27-3 with the Tigers.
•The Ichabods are sixth in the nation in net punting at 39.5 yards per game.
•James Letcher, Jr. is eighth in the nation in all-purpose yards at 167 yards per game.
•Mitch Schurig is ninth in the nation in passing touchdowns (15), 10th in passing yards (1,530), 11th in passing yards per game (306.0) and 14th in points responsible for (90).
•Malick Fall is 21st in the nation in sacks per game with 1.0.
•The Ichabods are 12th in the nation in scoring offense at 40.6 ppg.
•The Ichabods are 18th in the nation in third down conversion percentage at 49 percent.
•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.
•Against Emporia State, Mitch Schurig threw for a career-high 410 yards and four touchdowns completing 34 of 53 passing attempts. His 34 passing completions tied the school record set in 1980 by Mike Atkins against Wayne State and his 400 passing yards was the first by an Ichabod quarterback since Dane Simoneau threw for 424 against Abilene Christian on Nov. 19, 2011 in the first round of the NCAA Playoffs.
•The Ichabods have recorded at least 500 yards of total offense in their last two games going for 519 against Missouri Western and 579 against Missouri Western … the last time the Ichabods went over the 500-yard mark in back-to-back games was … the final two games of the 2019 season when they recorded 511 against Pittsburg State and 657 against Nebraska-Kearney in the season finale.
 
COACHING
Washburn Ichabod head coach Craig Schurig . . .
•was named head coach of the Ichabod football program Dec. 28, 2001.
•is 124-87 (.599) in his 20th season as the Ichabod head coach.
•is 106-75 (.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 124 wins.
•is 10-6 against Fort Hays State.

Fort Hays State head coach Chris Brown . . .
•is in his 10th season as head coach at Fort Hays State leading the Tigers to an MIAA Championship in 2017 and a co-championship in 2018 as well as their first NCAA Postseason games since 1995.
•has compiled a 68-39 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 4-5 against Washburn.
 
ICAHBODS ON THE CAREER CHARTS
•Ichabod running back Zach Willis sits 15th on the all-time rushing chart with 1,456 yards. He needs 344 yards to move into the top 10 at Washburn.
•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 5,769 yards in his career which is fourth on the Ichabod career chart. To move into the top two all-time, he needs 1,362 yards.
•Schurig has also thrown for 53 touchdowns which is third for third all-time at Washburn and with four more he can move into the top two all-time.
•Schurig is Washburn's all-time leader in passing completion percentage at 63.0 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 5,696 yards.
•James Letcher, Jr.'s 26.36 yards per kickoff return is third all-time at Washburn.
 
NOTING THE TIGERS
•The Tigers are 3-2 winning their last three games including comeing back from a 21-point halftime deficit to top No. 12-ranked Nebraska-Kearney handing the Lopers their first loss of the season.
•The Tigers have outscored their opponents 61-21 in the second quarter this season and 49-20 in the fourth quarter.
•Offensively the Tigers are averaging 513.8 yards per game and allowing 359.2 yards per game.
•Layke Heimerman leads the defense with 44 tackles.
•Adrian Solot is averaging 87.4 yards per game on the ground with six touchdowns and he is averaging 8.4 yards per carry.
•Chance Fuller has completed 61 percent of his passes (111-182) for 1,525 yards and 12 touchdowns averaging 305.0 yards per game.
•Manny Ramsey has a team-high 33 receptions for 390 yards with two scores.
 
LAST MEETING WITH FORT HAYS STATE
(Sept. 21, 2019) TOPEKA, Kan. – The Washburn Ichabod football team fell in a Family Day overtime battle with Fort Hays State spoiling a fourth quarter comeback in a 41-38 loss to the Tigers.
Trailing 35-21 entering the fourth quarter, Collin Wilson pulled the Ichabods within a touchdown when he caught a short pass from Mitch Schurig and scooted 56 yards for the touchdown. After the Tigers were forced to punt, the Ichabods (1-2, 1-2 MIAA) used a 12-play, 72-yard drive to cut the lead to 35-31 after a 26-yard field goal by Kameron Lake. On the ensuing drive, the Tigers fumbled the ball on their second play from scrimmage returning the ball to the Ichabods at the FHSU 29. Seven plays later the Ichabods would go up 38-35 when Percy Mitchell scored from 2-yards out with 3:33 to go.
The Tigers then would march 68 yards on 15 plays setting up Dante Brown with a 24-yard game-tying field goal as time expired sending the game to overtime.
The Tigers (1-2, 1-2 MIAA) won the toss and elected to go on defense first. Washburn drove down to the Tiger 12 after completing a fourth down conversion but an interception by FHSU ended the drive. The Tigers then ran five plays capped by a 30-yard field goal by Dante Brown for the winner.
The Tigers scored first to open the game taking the 7-0 lead. Near the end of the first quarter, Percy Mitchell scored from 1-yard out tying the game. The Tigers scored on their next drive going up 14-7, but on the ensuing kickoff, James Letcher, Jr. became the third person in school history to return a kickoff 100 yards joining Cary Williams and Fletcher Terrell as he tied the score at 14.
Wilson put the Ichabods up 21-14 with 5:05 to play in the first half before the Tigers tied it with 3:25 to play before the break.
Schurig was 18 of 38 passing for 239 yards with two scores and Zach Willis led the Ichabods on the ground with 67 yards. Letcher and Taylon Peters each had four catches and Wilson finished with 77 yards and two scores.
Kevin Neal, Jr., led the Ichabods with a career high 13 tackles after recording 10 last week at Northwest Missouri. Grant Bruner had 10 and Josh Wright and Landen Urban each had eight.
The Tigers outgained the Ichabods 494 to 377 picking up 333 passing yards recording 32 first downs compared to 19 for the Ichabods.
 
LAST TIME OUT FOR THE ICHABODS
(Oct. 2, 2021) EMPORIA, Kan. – Five turnovers for the Washburn Ichabods spelled disaster for the squad as they fell at Emporia State 35-30 as a fierce comeback rally came up short.
The Ichabods (3-2, 3-2 MIAA) took an early 3-0 lead on their first drive of the game when Trenton Brehm connected on a 32-yard field goal capping an eight-play, 50-yard drive.  The Hornets returned serve with their first drive of the game when Braden Gleason completed a five-yard pass to Corey Thomas as ESU (3-2, 3-2 MIAA) jumped out to a 7-3 lead taking advantage of an Ichabod fumble setting the Hornets up at the Ichabod 10.
After both teams punted, the Ichabods drove 14-plays in 65 yards taking a 10-7 lead when Mitch Schurig hit Peter Afful for an 11-yard touchdown play with 32 seconds left in the first quarter.
The Hornets came back and scored a touchdown on their next drive regaining the lead at 14-10 with 12:39 to play in the opening half.
After the teams traded punts again, the Hornets went up 21-10 when Emporia State returned an interception 56 yards for a score as ESU took an 11-point lead into the break.
ESU scored on its first drive of the second half to go up 28-10 with 13:18 to play in the third quarter. After a missed field goal attempts by both teams, an Ichabod turnover set the Hornets up at the Washburn 12 and four plays later, ESU scored to go up 35-10 with 12:35 to play.
The Ichabods would then put up 20 unanswered points starting with a 58-yard touchdown pass from Schurig to Letcher with 10:21 to go trimming the lead to 35-17.
Jace Williams then caught the first of his two touchdown passes from Schurig. The first was from 11-yards out with 6:22 to go and the second was with 29 seconds to go in the game on a 21-yard grab. The second cut the lead to 35-30, but the onside kick was recovered by the Hornets ending the Ichabod rally.
James Letcher, Jr. led the Ichabods with 10 receptions for 132 yards and Williams had six catches for 88 yards and two scores. Schurig threw for a career-high 410 yards and four touchdowns completing 34 of 53 passing attempts. His 34 passing completions tied the school record set in 1980 by Mike Atkins against Wayne State and his 400 passing yards was the first by an Ichabod quarterback since Dane Simoneau threw for 424 against Abilene Christian on Nov. 19, 2011 in the first round of the NCAA Playoffs. Zach Willis had 10 carries for 86 yards and Taylon Peters had 11 carries for 44 yards.
Peyton Lane led the Ichabods with eight tackles and Jacob Anderson had six. Landen Urban had six tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and a sack.
Letcher finished with 233 all purpose yards and went over the 100-reception mark for his career as an Ichabod. Schurig threw his 50th touchdown pass raising his career total to 53.
 
A WIN OVER FORT HAYS STATE
•move Washburn to 4-2 on the season.
•snap a three-game losing streak to the Tigers
•move the Ichabods to 45-27-3 all-time against the Tigers and 28-11-1 all-time in games played in Topeka.
 
A LOSS TO FORT HAYS STATE
•be the Ichabods' fourth loss in a row to the Tigers.
•drop the Ichabods 44-28-3 all-time to the Tigers.
•be the second-straight loss to the Tigers in Topeka.
 
EMPORIA STATE LEFTOVERS
•was the Ichabods' second loss of the season dropping them to 3-2.
•dropped the Ichabods to 53-58-6 all-time against the Hornets.
•James Letcher finished with 233 all purpose yards and went over the 100-reception mark for his career as an Ichabod.
•Schurig threw his 50th touchdown pass raising his career total to 53.
 
ICHABOD FOOTBALL HISTORY
•Washburn is 559-587-44 (.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 68 times and have been ranked in the top 10 a total of 15 times.
 
UP NEXT
The Ichabods will remain home for the second-straight week as they will host No. 2-ranked Northwest Missouri on Oct. 16 at1 p.m.