LINK - ASHLAND UNIVERSITY FOOTBALL PAGE
Ashland University's football program reached the 500-win milestone on Saturday (Sept. 28) at Northwood.
There are plenty of statistical nuggets that come Eagle football's most recent achievement:
- The majority of those 500 Eagle victories have come since 1959 – 385 wins under only three head coaches (Dr. Fred Martinelli 217 wins from 1959-93, Gary Keller 51 wins from 1994-03 and Lee Owens 117 wins from 2004-current) in the last 61 seasons.
- All-time win No. 100 came on Nov. 6, 1954, a 13-9 decision at Defiance en route to the program's first undefeated season at 7-0 under head coach Robert Brownson.
- Win No. 200 was a 55-0 rout of Northwood on Nov. 11, 1972 at Community Stadium. That was part of Ashland's third undefeated season at 11-0, as the team finished fourth in the NCAA College Division rankings.
- No. 300 came in a 45-0 drubbing of Valparaiso on Sept. 1, 1990, in that season's opening game on the road. The win was the start of a 7-3-1 season, and it was part of a 12-1 all-time record against the Crusaders.
- Ashland's 400th win was a 24-17 decision over Northern Michigan on Oct. 14, 2006 at the Superior Dome in Marquette, Mich. The Eagles ran off 24 unanswered points, and held off the Wildcats' fourth-down conversion at the AU 36 with 3:06 to play.
- Most wins against one opponent? Findlay, 28.
- Most wins in a decade? The current one, 76 and counting.
- Most wins in a state other than Ohio (233)? Michigan, 129.
- Breaking these 500 wins down by national affiliation, Ashland has won 269 games as a member of NCAA Division II (1979-current), 88 in NCAA College Division (1939-58, 1968-72), 61 before NCAA affiliation (1920-38), 52 in NAIA (1959-67) and 30 in NCAA Division III (1973-78).
- In terms of conference affiliation, the Eagles have won 201 games in the Midwest Intercollegiate Football Conference/Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference era (1990-current), 123 as an independent (1920-30, 1966-78), 81 in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference era (1948-65), 68 in the Heartland Collegiate Conference era (1979-89), and 27 in the Ohio Athletic Conference era (1931-47).
- Ashland is the only current member of the GLIAC with at least 500 all-time wins. Ferris State is next on the list at 457.
AU
FB/DS