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.
No. 9 Ashland Travels To Michigan Tech To End Three-Game Road Stretch
No. 9-ranked Ashland University will finish its three-game road swing with a plane trip to Michigan Tech for a 1 p.m. kickoff on Oct. 29.
The Eagles are 7-1 overall and 5-1 in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, while the Huskies are 2-5, 2-5.
Ashland is coming off a 70-14 win at Kentucky Wesleyan in Week 8, and has won its last two road games by an aggregate total of 133-20.
"We're ready to play," Owens said. "We know, our guys are smart enough to realize this is a different team that we're dealing with now.
"This is a team that seldom loses at home against anyone. This is a team that knocked us out of the playoffs up there two years ago. There's tremendous respect for them. It's going to be a battle."
ASHLAND OFFENSE VS. MICHIGAN TECH DEFENSE
For Ashland, junior quarterback Travis Tarnowski has completed 64.2 percent of his passes for 2,389 yards, 25 touchdowns and two interceptions...Tailbacks Vance Settlemire (senior, 573, 6.7), Keishaun Sims (freshman, 523, 7.8) and Andrew Vaughn (sophomore, 402, 6.1) all have at least 400 yards rushing and average at least 6.0 yards per carry...Junior tight end Adam Shaheen has caught 46 passes for 775 yards and 12 touchdowns.
For Michigan Tech, freshman linebacker Marvin Wright leads the defense with 63 total tackles, and has three tackles for loss and three pass breakups...Junior defensive tackle Cayman Berg-Morales leads the team with seven tackles for loss while adding 34 total stops and a forced fumble...Junior defensive back Derek Cingel has a team-high three interceptions as well as 22 total tackles.
ASHLAND DEFENSE VS. MICHIGAN TECH OFFENSE
The Eagle defense is led by senior inside linebacker Brandon Gency, who has 58 total tackles, 2½ sacks, 11½ tackles for loss, two forced fumbles, a fumble-return touchdown, an interception and three pass breakups...Senior inside linebacker Zach Olszewski leads the team with 60 total tackles and has 3½ for loss...Both junior defensive end Austin Utter and senior stud Adam Wallace each have a team-leading five sacks.
The Huskies' offense has senior quarterback Brandon Cowie, who completes 62.9 percent of his passes for 1,489 yards, seven touchdowns and seven interceptions...Junior wide receiver Ian Fischer has 41 catches for 540 yards, and senior wide receiver David Walter has 38 grabs for 503 yards and a touchdown.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Ashland's return game is paced by Sims (30.4-yard kickoff-return average and a touchdown) and junior cornerback Dale Irby (13.7-yard punt-return average and a touchdown)...Junior kicker Aidan Simenc is 6-for-8 on field goals and 37-for-38 on extra points...Senior punter Austin Bruns averages 41.7 yards on 18 punts.
For Tech, junior kicker Josh King is 7-for-8 on field goals and 15-for-17 on extra points...Senior punter Ryan VanGoethem averages 39.2 yards on 38 punts, putting 13 inside the 20-yard line.
Leaders Of The Pack
The 2016 Ashland University captains are Settlemire, Gency, Tarnowski and Wallace - three seniors and a junior.
Tarnowski and Gency were captains in 2015, as well.
Eagles Begin Regional Rankings At No. 4
Ashland sits at No. 4 in the first of three sets of NCAA Division II Super Region 4 rankings, released on Monday (Oct. 24) afternoon.
"You never know what's going to happen," said Owens. "We just have to keep winning. You can't control everything."
Release of the second regional rankings will be Oct. 31, while the third set will go out on Nov. 7. The selection show for the 2016 NCAA Division II playoffs will be Nov. 13 at 5 p.m. at NCAA.com.
The 28-team Division II postseason will begin on Nov. 19, with the national championship game slated for Dec. 17 in Kansas City, Mo. The top seed in each super region gets a first-round bye.
Ashland has made six D-II postseason appearances – 1986, 1997, 2007-08, 2012 and 2015.
FIRST 2016 NCAA DIVISION II SUPER REGION 4 RANKINGS – OCTOBER 24
|
RANK/SCHOOL |
IN-REGION REC. |
D-II REC. |
|
1. Grand Valley State |
8-0 |
8-0 |
|
2. Southwest Baptist |
7-1 |
7-1 |
|
3. Midwestern State |
6-1 |
6-1 |
|
4. ASHLAND |
7-1 |
7-1 |
|
5. Texas A&M Comm. |
6-1 |
6-1 |
|
6. Wayne State |
7-1 |
7-1 |
|
7. Colorado Mines |
6-2 |
6-2 |
|
8. Truman |
6-2 |
6-2 |
|
9. Ferris State |
6-2 |
6-2 |
|
10. Colorado Mesa |
6-2 |
6-2 |
Tailback Trio Turns New Trick In Win At Wesleyan
Owens also is in charge of the Eagles' tailbacks.
One can excuse Owens if he is beaming with pride these days, as his three pupils at the head of the class – Settlemire, Vaughn and Sims – did something at Kentucky Wesleyan no other tailback trio has done in Owens' 13 seasons at Ashland.
In the win, Settlemire (113), Vaughn (107) and Sims (133) all rushed for more than 100 yards. It was the first time in Owens' 139 games with the Eagles that three runners went over the century mark in the same game.
Those three efforts led the way for Ashland to set a new team single-game rushing record of 477 yards, breaking the previous mark of 447 yards at home against Otterbein on Sept. 26, 1970.
Leading the way for all the tailbacks, and keeping Tarnowski upright, is the Eagle offensive line of junior left tackle Damon Stewart, junior left guard Matt Murphy, sophomore center Dominic Giunta, senior right guard Zachary Douglass and sophomore right tackle John Conner.
"If you look back at the...signature wins, it's against the two ranked teams, Ferris and Wayne State," said Owens. "In both those games, that group up front took over, they just took over. And it's what they had to do.
"This will be that kind of game against that kind of opponent where whoever at the end of the day blocks the best and runs the ball the best is going to win up there."
Ashland's offense averaged 262.2 rushing yards in the first three games, then 123.7 yards on the ground in the next three. In back-to-back road wins against Lake Erie and Kentucky Wesleyan, the Eagles have run for 835 yards and 12 touchdowns.
QB1 Still Lighting It Up
While all the rushing yards were being piled up at Kentucky Wesleyan, Eagle junior quarterback Travis Tarnowski was 11-for-17 for 207 yards and three touchdowns. He has thrown 73 consecutive passes without an interception, and in the last three games alone, he has racked up 811 yards and 11 touchdowns in the air.
Tarnowski (16) leads the GLIAC in passing yards (2,389) and touchdown passes (25) through the first eight games of 2016. In the last 13 games, Tarnowski is 290-for-451 (64.3 percent) for 3,968 yards, 42 touchdowns and eight interceptions.
Eagle Defense Isn't Resting
Ashland's defense yielded eight rushing yards to the Panthers in Week 8, and allowed a pair of second-half touchdowns after the game was well in hand. In all, the Eagles recorded four sacks and 15 tackles for loss at Wesleyan.
Through eight weeks, Ashland is second in the GLIAC in scoring defense (15.1 ppg.) and total defense (315.0 ypg.), third in passing defense (186.9 ypg.) and fifth in rushing defense (128.1 ypg.). The Eagles also have racked up 62 tackles for loss, 20 sacks and eight fumble recoveries in 2016.
Bruns In Danger Of Losing A Title?
Bruns is a backup quarterback, backup tight end and starting punter. After the last two weeks, however, that last designation hasn't meant much.
For the second consecutive game, Bruns didn't get off a kick. This also is a first in the Owens era, the Eagles not punting in consecutive contests.
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 35-8 (.814) at home since 2009, and has won 16 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 |
4-0 |
The Eagles have earned a 15-game GLIAC regular-season home winning streak, best in the conference. The GLIAC teams with current winning streaks within the conference at home in the regular season include:
|
SCHOOL |
STREAK |
SCHOOL |
STREAK |
|
Ashland |
15 |
Northwood |
2 |
|
Grand Valley State |
8 |
Findlay |
1 |
|
Wayne State |
8 |
Ohio Dominican |
1 |
|
Ferris State |
2 |
Saginaw Valley State |
1 |
NCAA Division II Rankings Through Week 8
INDIVIDUAL CAREER - ACTIVE
Tarnowski - total offense yards per play - 1st (7.80)
Tarnowski - passing yards per attempt - 3rd (8.29)
Settlemire - yards per carry - 3rd (6.7)
Simenc - field-goal percentage - 3rd (85.7)
Settlemire - total touchdowns - T-5th (40)
Tarnowski - passing efficiency - 7th (152.61)
Tarnowski - passing yards per game - 7th (264.7)
Tarnowski - touchdown passes - 8th (71)
Tarnowski - touchdowns responsible for - 10th (77)
INDIVIDUAL - 2016
Shaheen - receiving touchdowns - T-3rd (12)
Tarnowski - passing efficiency - 4th (174.1)
Tarnowski - passing touchdowns - T-6th (25)
Tarnowski - yards per pass attempt - 7th (9.41)
TEAM - 2016
Third-down conversion percentage - 1st (61.1)
Fewest tackles for loss allowed - 1st (18)
Total offense per game - 2nd (554.4 ypg.)
Fourth-down conversion percentage - 4th (81.8)
Scoring offense per game - 5th (46.0 ppg.)
Fewest penalties per game - T-5th (4.13)
Fewest penalty yards per game - 9th (41.6)
Scoring defense per game - 10th (15.1 ppg.)
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 |
|
10/1 |
at Tiffin |
0:00 |
4:48 |
55:12 |
|
10/8 |
NORTHWOOD |
55:19 |
4:41 |
0:00 |
|
10/15 |
at Lake Erie |
58:53 |
1:07 |
0:00 |
|
10/22 |
at Ky. Wesleyan |
51:22 |
8:38 |
0:00 |
The Notebook
- Sophomore wide receiver Kamaron Green has 33 catches for 432 yards and four touchdowns this season. Those receptions have gone further of late, as he is averaging 21.8 yards on 13 catches (three for scores) over the last four games.
"He's pound for pound the toughest guy on our football team. No one will argue that," Owens said. "He shows up every day, he practices his tail off hard, every day. He's all in."
- In the second and third quarters in 2016, the Eagles have outscored their opponents by an aggregate total of 216-34.
AU
FB/DS