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During Saturday's (Oct. 15) 63-6 road win over Lake Erie, Ashland University junior quarterback Travis Tarnowski passed former Eagle QB and current AU wide receiver coach Taylor Housewright for second place on the program's all-time passing yards list.
If the last 12 games are an indication, Tarnowski is going to continue to climb the all-time Ashland rolls – and fast.
In the last five games of 2015 and the first seven games of 2016, Tarnowski is 279-for-434 (64.3 percent) for 3,761 yards, 39 touchdowns and only eight interceptions. He has thrown multiple touchdown passes in all 12 of those games (at least three TDs in 10 of the 12), and has seven 300-yard passing games in that stretch.
Tarnowski has 7,470 career passing yards, second only to Billy Cundiff (9,143), and 68 touchdown passes, trailing only Cundiff (79) and Housewright (71). His 2016 regular-season paces of 3,429 passing yards and 35 TD tosses both would be second all-time at Ashland.
APPRECIATION FOR THE AU "D": If Ashland's defense is underrated, it shouldn't be.
Through seven weeks of the 2016 college football season, the Eagles are second in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in scoring defense (15.3 ppg.), total defense (317.1 ypg.) and passing yards per game (171.9), and tied for second in fumble recoveries (eight).
Ashland's clamp-down defense is a major reason why the team has recovered from early-game deficits this season. The Eagles are outscoring their opponents 246-61 cumulatively in the second, third and fourth quarters.
IT ISN'T JUST THE OFFENSE, FOLKS: Ashland has three non-offensive touchdowns this season – one each on a kickoff return, punt return and fumble return. The Eagles hadn't scored a non-offensive TD since 2014, which is the last time the program had three in a season.
The last time Ashland scored more than three non-offensive touchdowns in a season was 2010 (11).
BRUNS' LEG WASN'T NEEDED: Senior tight end/punter/quarterback Austin Bruns played against the Storm, but didn't punt. It was the first time the Eagles didn't punt in a game since a 42-13 home win over Malone on Oct. 4, 2014.
In 76 career punts, Bruns is averaging 41.3 yards. He is 24 punts short of qualifying for the NCAA Division II active leaders list, but would be seventh in gross punting average if he did.
THE BEST FOURTH-STRING TAILBACK IN THE COUNTRY?: Redshirt freshman tailback Luke Ogi doesn't get a lot of carries behind senior Vance Settlemire, sophomore Andrew Vaughn and freshman Keishaun Sims, but he makes the most of his opportunities.
Ogi, also a contributor on special teams with three solo tackles, has ran nine times for 198 yards (a 22.0-yard average) and three touchdowns. His rushing TD total is tied for 15th in the GLIAC, and his 75-yard touchdown run in the season-opener at home against Mercyhurst is the fourth-longest for a GLIAC player this season.
UPDATING THE RECORD BOOK: Settlemire (30) needs one rushing touchdown to tie Jon Schroeder (31) for fifth on AU's all-time list, he passed former teammate Jordan McCune for fourth on the program's all-time points scored list (236) against Lake Erie and is tied for second with McCune for second with 39 career touchdowns, trailing only former teammate Anthony Taylor (45)…Junior tight end Adam Shaheen (116) needs one catch to tie Anthony Capasso (117) for seventh on the program's all-time list, and with 1,642 career receiving yards, needs 68 to move into Ashland's all-time Top 10…Senior inside linebacker Brandon Gency has 28½ career tackles for loss, tied with Luke Busson for fourth in Ashland history.
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