LINK TO PDF VERSION OF WEEK 5 GAME NOTES
Sights and Sounds
- This week's game will be broadcast live on WNCO-AM 1340, with David Wilson handling the play-by-play and Don Graham providing the commentary.
- The game can be heard at WNCOAM.com, and also can be accessed on the scoreboard page on the home page of the AU athletics web site, GoAshlandEagles.com.
- AU head coach Lee Owens will do a weekly appearance on WRDL's "Early Bird's Word," every Wednesday at 8:30 a.m.
Ashland, Tiffin Set For GLIAC South Matchup
It doesn't seem possible for a college football team to throw a knockout punch in its own division in Week 5 of a season.
That's entirely possible, however, when the No. 5-ranked Ashland University football team travels to Tiffin for a 1:30 p.m. kickoff on Saturday. The Eagles are 4-0 overall and 3-0 in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, while the Dragons are 2-2, 1-2.
AU has won 14 consecutive regular-season games following its 39-31 win in Week 4 at then-No. 7-ranked Ferris State. The Eagles also have a current 13-game GLIAC regular-season winning streak (best in the conference), and a 14-game GLIAC regular-season home winning streak.
Ashland has the opportunity to go three games up in the loss column on the entire GLIAC South Division with a win and losses by both Findlay and Ohio Dominican in Week 5.
The Eagles come into their game at the Dragons on a six-game road winning streak, while Tiffin is 2-0 at home so far in 2016.
"This game concerns us," said Owens. "We're coming off a big win, and we've got guys going up and down the hallway patting us on the back, and it's Tuesday. That's OK on Sunday, maybe Monday.
"We've got a pretty mature group. We've challenged them to stay humble, we've challenged them to not listen to people telling them how good they are.
ASHLAND PLAYERS TO WATCH
Junior quarterback Travis Tarnowski has completed 62.6 percent of his passes for 1,176 yards and 11 touchdowns...Tailbacks Keishaun Sims (freshman, 7.3) and Vance Settlemire (senior, 7.1) are averaging at least 7.0 yards per carry...Junior tight end Adam Shaheen is averaging 17.1 yards per catch and 106.8 receiving yards per game, and has four touchdown catches...Senior inside linebacker Brandon Gency has collected 30 total tackles, 4½ tackles for loss, one sack, two pass breakups, two forced fumbles and a 39-yard fumble-recovery touchdown... Junior defensive end Austin Utter is tied for the GLIAC lead in sacks (four), and has 4½ tackles for loss, a pass breakup, a fumble recovery and two forced fumbles...Junior kicker Aidan Simenc is 4-for-4 on field goals and 17-of-18 on extra points.
Ashland Separating From The Pack Early
Through the first four weeks of the 2016 college football season, the Eagles already are 1½ games ahead of Findlay and Ohio Dominican, two games ahead of Tiffin and 3 ½ games ahead of Lake Erie and Walsh in the GLIAC South Division.
Owens knows, however, that it won't be easy to keep us this kind of early pace.
"We know how tough this league is," he said. "We're nationally ranked. We're defending champs. We're going to get everyone's best shot. If we underestimate them (Tiffin), or if we go in there thinking we can't lose, that's when you get upset.
"That's really the only thing that I'm focused on, the coaches are focused on."
Since GLIAC football divisional play began in 2010, none of the 12 division winners have won their side by more than three games:
|
TEAM |
YEAR |
WON DIV. BY |
|
Ashland |
2015 |
3 games (South) |
|
Ohio Dominican |
2013 |
3 games (South) |
|
Ashland |
2012 |
3 games (South) |
Leaders Of The Pack
The 2016 Ashland University captains are Settlemire, Gency, Tarnowski and senior stud Adam Wallace - three seniors and a junior.
Tarnowski and Gency were captains in 2015, as well.
Eagles Make A Habit Of Road Comebacks
The 17-point deficit Ashland came back from at Ferris State is the largest in the Lee Owens era.
It was, however, far from surprising.
In each of the last five road victories, the Eagles have had to respond to a deficit at some point in the game:
- Ashland trailed Ferris State 31-14 in the second quarter before scoring 25 unanswered points.
"This team...we just don't flinch," Owens said. "We just keep going and keep fighting, fight through it."
- On Oct. 24, 2015 at Northern Michigan, the Wildcats scored 26 unanswered points to take a 40-35 lead with 3:39 to play, only to see the Eagles score the winning touchdown with seven seconds to play on a Tarnowski-to-Shaheen 10-yard touchdown pass.
- On Oct. 10, 2015 at Saginaw Valley State, the Cardinals scored the first points of the contest at the 7:28 mark of the first quarter, but Ashland rallied for 33 consecutive points and the victory.
- On Oct. 3, 2015 at Malone, the Pioneers scored first to take a 7-0 lead just 3:05 into the game before the Eagles went on for a 42-17 win.
- On Sept. 12, 2015 at Walsh, the Cavaliers were ahead 10-0 late in the first half before Ashland mounted a comeback and eventually won 31-24 in overtime.
Contributions Aplenty For No. 5 Eagles In Big Comeback
Trailing 31-14 with 5:21 left in the first half on the road against another Top 10 team, Ashland had to come up with a sustained team effort to come back and beat Ferris State in Week 4.
And a sustained team effort is what the Eagles got.
- First, Simenc gave Ashland some needed momentum with a 23-yard field goal to end the first half. The Eagles went into the locker room down by 14 points at 31-17, instead of 17 points.
- Next, the junior quarterback-to-tight end tandem of Tarnowski and Shaheen hooked up for a 70-yard touchdown pass. Even with the blocked extra point, the Eagles were back in the game at 31-23 with 6:44 left in the third quarter.
- Following a Bulldogs fumble forced by Utter and recovered by senior inside linebacker Zach Olszewski at the Eagle 3, a 17-play, 85-yard drive which lasted 8:04 ended with another Simenc field goal, this one from 29 yards, to cut the deficit to 31-26 early in the fourth quarter.
- With 7:52 left in the game, senior nose tackle Brandon Ehlinger stopped a Ferris State fourth-and-1 play for a two-yard loss, turning the ball back over to the offense.
- Four plays later, sophomore wide receiver Kamaron Green scored on a 33-yard Tarnowski touchdown pass to put Ashland on top, 32-31, with 6:08 remaining.
- Three plays after that, Gency turned in a "grand slam" – sack/forced fumble/fumble recovery/39-yard touchdown return with 4:48 left in the game to provide the final margin of victory.
- Finally, with 1:36 to play, sophomore cornerback Ahmauree Hastings defensed a fourth-and-2 pass to stop a final Bulldog threat at the Eagle 15.
"Any time you're in a big game, you expect your players to make big plays, and that happened and it had to happen," Owens said.
Eagles Enjoy Ranked Status
Since 2006, the Eagles are 31-14 (.689) as an AFCA Top 25 team. Since the start of the 2014 campaign, Ashland is 16-2 (.889) when playing as a ranked team.
All-time against the Dragons, Ashland is 2-0 as a ranked team, with both games coming on the road – a 41-14 win on Sept. 19, 2009 and a 49-21 victory on Nov. 3, 2012.
Gency Earns GLIAC Defensive Award
Gency has earned the honor of being the Ashland University's football team's first GLIAC Player of the Week in 2016, as the senior inside linebacker has earned the Week 4 GLIAC defensive honor.
Gency filled up the stat sheet at Ferris State, finishing with 15 total tackles, one sack, 1½ tackles for loss, a forced fumble and a fumble-return touchdown. His "grand slam" – sack/forced fumble/fumble recovery/39-yard touchdown return with 4:48 left in the game provided the final margin of victory.
Summarizing Eagles' Second-Half Success
Football teams like to have running backs who get stronger as the game goes on.
That also can be said for a football team's defense. And so far in 2016, Ashland's "D" has been very strong in the second halves of games:
|
|
|
FIRST HALF |
SECOND HALF |
||
|
DATE |
OPPONENT |
PTS. |
YDS. |
PTS. |
YDS. |
|
9/1 |
MERCYHURST |
0 |
96 |
0 |
92 |
|
9/10 |
WAYNE STATE |
12 |
150 |
13 |
253 |
|
9/17 |
FINDLAY |
3 |
115 |
0 |
147 |
|
9/24 |
at Ferris State |
31 |
339 |
0 |
242 |
The Eagles have allowed just 13 total points in the second half in 2016 – a vast improvement over the final four games of 2015 (64 points). Ashland has outscored its opponents 86-13 in the third and fourth quarters through four games.
"We had three or four of our starters who didn't play in the second half," Owens noted about the second half against the Bulldogs. "We played a lot of defensive linemen up front, and I think that wore them down at the end. The depth part of it, I think that's been the storyline with this team all year long."
The Eagles' Oh So Sweet Home
The 2016 season is the eighth for the Eagles at Jack Miller Stadium/Martinelli Field, and to say they enjoy playing on Broad Street is an understatement.
Ashland is 34-8 (.810) at home since 2009, and has won 14 straight regular-season contests at "The Jack."
|
SEASON |
W-L |
|
SEASON |
W-L |
|
2009 |
3-2 |
|
2013 |
3-2 |
|
2010 |
5-1 |
|
2014 |
5-0 |
|
2011 |
4-1 |
|
2015 |
5-1 |
|
2012 |
6-1 |
|
2016 |
3-0 |
Ashland Gets It Done On The Road, Too…
And while Jack Miller Stadium/Martinelli Field has been cozy confines for the Eagles, the road hasn't been unkind since 2009, either (24-14):
|
SEASON |
W-L |
|
SEASON |
W-L |
|
2009 |
3-3 |
|
2013 |
2-3 |
|
2010 |
3-2 |
|
2014 |
3-2 |
|
2011 |
2-4 |
|
2015 |
5-0 |
|
2012 |
5-0 |
|
2016 |
1-0 |
Updating The Eagle Record Book
Punter Austin Bruns has moved into second place on Ashland's all-time yards-per-punt list at 41.5.
Tarnowski remains at No. 3 in Ashland history in both career passing yards (6,464) and passing touchdowns (57).
Gency has 23½ career tackles for loss, and the No. 6 spot on that list, Bobby Mercer (27), isn't far away.
With 97 career catches, Shaheen is just 10 away from tying Brandon Gilmore and Eric Thompkins for 10th on AU's all-time list.
NCAA Division II Rankings Through Week 4
INDIVIDUAL CAREER - ACTIVE
Settlemire - yards per carry - 1st (6.8)
Simenc - field-goal percentage - 1st (91.7)
Tarnowski - total offense yards per play - 3rd (7.48)
Settlemire - total touchdowns - T-3rd (37)
Tarnowski - passing yards per game - 6th (258.6)
Tarnowski - completion percentage - 7th (60.9)
Tarnowski - passing efficiency - 9th (146.9)
INDIVIDUAL - 2016
Simenc - field-goal percentage - T-1st (100.0)
TEAM - 2016
Third-down conversion percentage - 3rd (64.5)
Fewest penalties per game - T-4th (3.75)
Total offense - T-8th (532.8 ypg.)
Fewest penalty yards per game - 10th (35.0)
2016 Competitiveness Chart
The following is a look at the Eagles' 2016 "competitiveness chart" - the measure of how long a team leads, is tied and trails in a game:
|
DATE |
OPPONENT |
TIME AHEAD |
TIME TIED |
TIME BEHIND |
|
9/1 |
MERCYHURST |
53:31 |
6:29 |
0:00 |
|
9/10 |
WAYNE STATE |
27:12 |
3:36 |
29:12 |
|
9/17 |
FINDLAY |
33:05 |
13:50 |
13:05 |
|
9/24 |
at Ferris State |
17:39 |
3:04 |
39:17 |
The Notebook
- Shaheen is averaging 106.8 receiving yards through the first month of the season. Going back to the end of 2015, he is averaging 95.5 yards in the last eight games. Shaheen leads all NCAA tight ends at all levels with 427 receiving yards in 2016.
- Ashland has scored at least 35 points in all four games in 2016. Going back to the start of the 2014 season (Tarnowski's first collegiate start), the Eagles have put up at least 35 points in 18 of 25 contests.
- Before Gency's touchdown at Ferris State, Ashland's last non-offensive touchdown came on Oct. 18, 2014 at Hillsdale (61-yard interception-return touchdown by safety Kyle Tomko).
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