LINK - ASHLAND UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL PAGE
National Signing Day is a time for college football programs to look to the future.
For Ashland University's football team, the immediate future involves the 2018 regular-season schedule, which was released on Wednesday (Feb. 7) afternoon. The 10-game slate is split between five home games and five road games, and comes on the heels of a 2017 campaign in which the Eagles finished 11-2 with a first-round NCAA Division II postseason home win and a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship. The Eagles ended the campaign ranked 10th in the final 2017 American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Division II Coaches' Top 25 poll.
Among the Eagles' 10 opponents in 2018 are a pair of teams who also were in the Top 25 at the end of 2017 and competed in the postseason a year ago – No. 3 Indiana, Pa. in the season-opener on Aug. 30 at 7 p.m. at Jack Miller Stadium/Martinelli Field, and No. 5 Ferris State on the road on Sept. 29.
Five teams with 2017 winning records are on the 2018 Eagle schedule. The 2017 cumulative winning percent of AU's 2018 opponents is .549 (62-51).
"Obviously, a year ago, it was as tough a schedule as we've ever had," said Ashland head coach Lee Owens, starting his 15th season guiding the Eagles in 2018. "We fought our way through it, and I hope we are able to do the same thing this year."
Following the Thursday-night opener against the Crimson Hawks, Ashland will go on the road for back-to-back games with non-conference opponent Ohio Dominican (7-3) on Sept. 8, and Wayne State (5-6) on Oct. 15 at 6 p.m. for the GLIAC opener.
The Eagles' annual Homecoming game is earlier this year, as the 95th Homecoming contest will be Sept. 22 at 1 p.m. vs. Northwood (7-4).
In October, Ashland will be at home for a 7 p.m. game vs. Saginaw Valley State (5-6) on Oct. 6, then have a bye in Week 7. The Eagles will stay at home for an Oct. 20 game vs. Michigan Tech (4-7) at 1 p.m. The month ends with a trip to Davenport (1-10) for the second year in a row on Oct. 27.
The regular season concludes with a Nov. 3 game at Grand Valley State (8-3), then Senior Day at home on Nov. 10 at 1 p.m. vs. Northern Michigan (1-9).
The annual Purple and Gold Spring Game will be Saturday, April 21 at 7 p.m. at Jack Miller Stadium/Martinelli Field, with the Football Alumni and Friends Golf Outing slated for Friday, April 20 at 10 a.m. at Ashland Golf Club.
2018 ASHLAND UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL SCHEDULE
PURPLE AND GOLD SPRING GAME
Saturday, April 21, 7 p.m. – Jack Miller Stadium/Martinelli Field
REGULAR SEASON
|
DATE |
OPPONENT |
TIME |
|
Aug. 30 |
INDIANA, PA. |
7 p.m. |
|
Sept. 8 |
at Ohio Dominican |
TBD |
|
Sept. 15 |
at Wayne State* |
6 p.m. |
|
Sept. 22 |
NORTHWOOD* (HOMECOMING) |
1 p.m. |
|
Sept. 29 |
at Ferris State* |
TBD |
|
Oct. 6 |
SAGINAW VALLEY STATE* |
7 p.m. |
|
Oct. 13 |
OPEN |
|
|
Oct. 20 |
MICHIGAN TECH* |
1 p.m. |
|
Oct. 27 |
at Davenport* |
TBD |
|
Nov. 3 |
at Grand Valley State* |
TBD |
|
Nov. 10 |
NORTHERN MICHIGAN* (SENIOR DAY) |
1 p.m. |
* - GLIAC game
BOLD CAPS DENOTE HOME GAME
AU
FB/DS