• The Washburn Ichabod football team is back on the road again as they travel to Kearney, Neb. to face the Lopers on Saturday with a 2 p.m. kickoff.
• Washburn fell last time out to No. 25-ranked Central Missouri on Sept. 23 in Topeka in a 58-28 loss.
• The Lopers are 1-3 matching the Ichabod record after they lost at Pittsburg State 33-14 last time out.
• The Ichabods have lost the last two meetings with the Lopers and trail the all-time series 17-13.
• The Ichabods had won nine in a row from 1986 to 2017, but have dropped three of the last four.
  • Taylon Peters has tied Brandon Rainer for seventh on the all-time rushing chart at Washburn with 2,205 yards … his 472 carries is eighth all-time at Washburn … he needs five yards to move into sixth on the all-time rushing chart.
• The Ichabods have played 12 true freshmen so far this season and have also played 16 redshirt freshmen this season.
• The Ichabods are ranked eighth in the NCAA D2 ranks in net punting at 40.33, which also leads the MIAA.
• The Ichabod punt return defense is fourth in the nation allowing 0.00 average yards per return.
• D.J. Bell is 10th in the nation in kickoff return average at 34.2 per return.
• Taylon Peters is 32nd in the nation in yards per game averaging 83.5.
• The Ichabods are looking to avoid their first 0-4 start to MIAA play since the 2003 season when they started 0-4 in league play.
  • The Washburn Ichabods have two former players on NFL rosters after the final cuts were made last week.
• Kyle Hinton is on the 53-man roster of the Atlanta Falcons.
• Corey Ballentine was elevated to the 53-man roster in Green Bay for its game on Sept. 24.
  Washburn Ichabod head coach Craig Schurig . . .
• was named head coach of the Ichabod football program Dec. 28, 2001.
• is 138-95 (.599) in his 21st season as the Ichabod head coach and the sixth-longest tenured football coach in MIAA history.
• is 121-82 (.603) against the MIAA in league games.
• has led the Ichabods to four 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 138 wins.
• is 7-3 against Nebraska-Kearney.
 
Nebraska-Kearney head coach Ryan Held . . .  
• is in his first season directing the UNK program going 1-3. 
• spent the 2022 season as interim head coach and offensive coordinator at FCS member North Alabama.
• before that, he was an assistant/running backs coach and recruiting coordinator at Nebraska (2018-21) and assistant/running backs coach at Central Florida (2016-17).
• additionally, he has held head coaching stints at junior colleges Northeastern Oklahoma A&M and Highland Community College; Division II Southwestern Oklahoma and Panhandle State; and NAIA Peru State.
• is 0-0 against Washburn.
  • The Lopers are 1-3 this season after falling at No. 3-ranked Pittsburg State last time out 33-14.
• The Lopers are averaging 19.8 ppg while allowing 23 … opponents have scored 20 points off of UNK turnovers this season.
• UNK is averaging 112 yards per game on the ground and 191.2 through the air.
• TJ Davis leads the team with 67.2 yards per game on the ground and he is passing for 191 yards a game completing 62 percent of his passes for 764 yards and five touchdowns … his 258.2 yards per game of total offense leads the team.
• Severyn Foster has 11 catches this season for 205 yards and two scores.
• Tre O'Guinn leads the team with 32 tackles and six different players have recorded at least 2.0 tackles for loss this season.
  (Sept. 17, 2022) TOPEKA, Kan. — The Washburn Ichabods fell for the first time this season in a 21-13 loss to the Nebraska-Kearney Lopers on Saturday afternoon dropping to 2-1 on the season.
The Lopers were forced to punt on their first possession and the Ichabods turned the ball over on downs to open the game. It was on the third series of the game the Lopers moved the scoreboard taking a 7-0 lead with 8:54 to go in the first.
Washburn next possession stalled out at the UNK (2-1, 2-1 MIAA) and Kameron Lake put the Ichabods on the board with 1 38-yard field cutting the lead to 7-3 by the Lopers.
The Lopers then marched 75 yards in four plays as they went up 14-3 after an 18-yard touchdown pass wrapping up the scoring in the first half as the Ichabods were outgained 176 to 30.
Neither team would score until the Lopers went up 21-3 with 5:07 to play in the half. The Ichabods then scored again using their longest drive of the year - a 17-play 87-yard drive capped by a 22-yard field goal by Lake at the half.
Washburn cut the lead to 21-13 on its first drive of the second half as Hunter Browning capped a 75-yard drive with a 1-yard run with 8:29 to play in the third quarter.
The teams traded punts ending the third quarter and on the third play of the fourth quarter, UNK fumbled heading into the end zone on a forced fumble by Jordan Finnesy returning the ball back to the Ichabods with 13:31 to go in the game after review confirmed the call.
However the Ichabods were forced to punt and then again the teams went back and forth with punts returning the ball to the Lopers for the final 7:00 of the game as UNK converted three third downs and a fourth down conversion to run out the clock ending the game snapping the Ichabods eight-game winning streak in Yager Stadium.
Washburn was outgained by the Lopers 375 to 247 in the game as the Lopers rushed the ball for 243 compared to 102 for the Ichabods.
Taylor Peters had 70 yards on the ground for the Ichabods on 18 carries and Kellen Simoncic was 19 of 37 for 145 yards. James Letcher, Jr., had six catches for 60 yards.
Grant Bruner had 11 tackles to lead the Ichabods and Landen Urban had six tackles with a sack and two tackles for loss.
TJ Davis had 74 yards rushing and 132 in the air adding two scores for the Lopers. • The Ichabods trail the all-time series with the Lopers 17-13.
• Washburn is 6-9 in home games against the Lopers and 7-8 in games played in Kearney.
• The very first meeting took place on Sept. 14, 1963 with the Lopers winning 19-14 in Kearney.
• The Ichabods are 10-3 in the last 13 meeting against the Lopers.
  (Sept. 23, 2023) TOPEKA, Kan. – The Washburn Ichabods ran into a buzzsaw on Saturday afternoon in Yager Stadium in a 58-28 loss to No. 25-ranked Central Missouri. 
In a wild first quarter that saw Central Missouri (3-1, 3-1 MIAA) scored in two plays after a blocked 52-yard field goal attempt was returned to the Washburn 19 taking a 6-0 lead after the extra point was missed by the Mules. After an Ichabod punt, UCM drove down to the Ichabod 3 yard line, but recovered a fumble to take over. The Washburn drive stalled and then Jake Zeller kicked a career-long 71-yard punt flipping the field down to the UCM 22.
Three plays later, UCM's pass from Zach Zembrowski was picked off by Josh Grant. Washburn then took a 7-6 lead when Sam Van Dyne connected with D.J. Bell on an 18-yard touchdown pass and Trenton Brehm's extra point gave the Ichabods the lead with 3:15 left in the first quarter.
Central regained the lead on a 49-yard touchdown run taking the lead back at 12-7 after its second extra point attempt of the day was missed.
On the Ichabods' ensuing drive, Teondre Carter rushed down to the UCM 1-yard line, but fumbled into the endzone and it was recovered by offensive lineman Mason Fair for the score as Washburn regained the lead at 14-12. However the Mules needed seven plays marching 75 yards capped by a 6-yard touchdown pass with 11:37 to go in the half.
After a 57-yard punt by Zeller, Washburn went 80 yards on 10 plays to take the lead at 27-14 midway through the second quarter. The Mules added a touchdown just before the half to take a 34-14 lead into the break.
UCM scored a touchdown on its first possession stretching the lead to 41-14.
The Ichabods then traveled 80 yards in 13 plays capped by a Van Dyne to Maury Sullivan 11-yard touchdown pass trimming the lead to 41-21, but the Mules answered with an 11-play drive going up 48-21.
UCM scored on its next two drives going up 58-21. Washburn wrapped up the scoring when Hayden Clark hitting Sullivan for a 7-yard touchdown with 61 seconds to play.
Bell and Sullivan each had four catches to lead the Ichabods with Bell having one score and Sullivan recording two. Carter had 50 yards on seven attempts. Van Dyne finished 10 of 26 passing with two touchdowns and Clark finished 5 for 12 for 44 and a score. Bell also led the Ichabods with 193 all-purpose yards with 148 from kickoff returns. Zeller averaged 51.2 yards per punt on four attempts.
Mason Capper had 10 tackles with eight solo stops and Jaquez White and Andrew Pujado each had six stops.
UCM's Zebrowski finished 40 for 48 with five touchdowns passing for 369 yards. Marcellous Hawkins had 144 yards on six carries and two scores. Zach Phipps had 82 yards receiving on six catches. Cade Miller had seven tackles to lead the Mule defense.
The Mules outgained the Ichabods 659 to 314 with a 377 to 151 advantage through the air.
  • move the Ichabods to 2-3 on the season.
• snap a two-game losing streak to the Lopers.
• avoid the Ichabods' first 0-4 start to MIAA since 2003.
  • be the third in a row to the Lopers.
• drop the Ichabods to 0-4 in MIAA play and 1-4 overall.
  • the loss snap a two-game winning streak over Central Missouri.
• was the first win by the Mules in Topeka since Oct. 21, 2017 in a 62-42 win.
  • Washburn is 576-603-44 (.484) in the 133rd 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 61 first team all-MIAA selections.
• Washburn has had 96 All-American selections and 72 All-American picks since joining the NCAA Division II ranks in 1989.
• Washburn has made 14 postseason appearances including bowl games and tournament games going 5-2 in a bowl games.
• Seven Ichabods have been picked in the NFL Draft.
  The Ichabods, under head coach Craig Schurig, have been ranked or have received votes in the AFCA poll 79 times and have been ranked in the top 10 a total of 15 times.
  The Ichabods will host Missouri Western on Oct. 7 as part of the Ichabod Athletic Hall of Fame Ceremony with a 3 p.m. kickoff following the HOF induction ceremony at 10 a.m.