Defense Coming To The Fore During Eagles’ 3-0 Start

Defense Coming To The Fore During Eagles’ 3-0 Start

LINK – ASHLAND UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL PAGE

It's easy to focus on an offense that averages 39.7 points and 552.3 yards per game.

But as far as the No. 5-ranked Ashland University football team is concerned, the defense has more than done its part, as well.

Through the first three games of the 2016 season, the Eagle defense is first in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in scoring defense (9.3 ppg.), and third in total defense (284.3 ypg.), passing defense (165.0 ypg.) and rushing defense (119.3 ypg.).

Ashland's "D" also has collected eight sacks, 22 tackles for loss, one interception and three fumble recoveries.

How impressive is Ashland allowing just 28 points in the first games of the season? Not only is it the first time in 19 years the Eagles have allowed less than 10 points in at least two of the first three games of a season, but those 28 points yielded are the fewest by an AU defense since the 1991 team allowed a total of 24 to its first three opponents.

MORE ON THE STINGY "D": The Eagles haven't given up a second-quarter point to date in 2016, and the last regular-season second-quarter points scored on the AU defense came on Oct. 31, 2015 at home against Grand Valley State.

TOPS IN THE NATION: Ashland is 31-for-44 (70.5 percent) on third-down conversions this season, and that leads all of NCAA Division II. The next-best D-II team in that category is Indiana (Pa.) at 66.7 percent.

TARNOWSKI GETTING BETTER WITH AGE: Junior quarterback Travis Tarnowski, now 21-3 as a starting quarterback at Ashland, is off to a hot start, completing 65.3 percent of his passes with eight touchdowns and no interceptions. His streak of consecutive passes without throwing an interception is up to 141.

The following is a comparison of the three-game starts for each of Tarnowski's three seasons as an Eagle:

 

SEASON

ATT.

CMP.

%

YARDS

TD

INT

RATING

2016

101

66

65.3

826

8

0

160.18

2015

90

56

62.2

821

6

3

154.18

2014

79

49

62.0

657

6

0

156.95

 

SHAHEEN KNOCKING ON THE DOOR: Junior tight end Adam Shaheen has caught 18 passes for 275 yards and three touchdowns so far in 2016. His 90 career catches have him on the verge of breaking into the Ashland all-time Top 10. Both Brandon Gilmore and Eric Thompkins are tied for 10th with 107 career grabs.

SIMENC MOVING UP THE RANKS: Thanks to a 14-for-14 mark on extra points so far this season, junior kicker Aidan Simenc has moved into fifth on the program's all-time list with 88. Next on the list is Bryan Seward at No. 4 with 102 career PATs.

UTTER TAKING QBS DOWN AT A HIGH RATE: With four sacks in 2016, junior defensive end Austin Utter already is on his way to setting a new Eagle single-season high this decade. Domi-on Combs had 6½ sacks during the 2012 season – Ashland's best mark of the 2010s.

 
 

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