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Findlay (6-1/5-1) at Ashland (2-6/2-5)
Saturday, Oct. 26, 1 p.m.
Community Stadium
| Scouting Findlay |
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The Oilers were picked 10th in this year’s
GLIAC preseason poll and that surprised some GLIAC insiders
who felt that Findlay was being underestimated.
Nationally-ranked IUP learned all about that on the first week
of the season as the Oilers knocked off that perennial playoff
team, 37-34 in Findlay. Now the Oilers are 5-1 in GLIAC play,
one of three teams tied for second in the league. UF has been
regionally and nationally ranked through the first part of
this season. The only loss the Oilers have suffered came two
weeks ago to nationally-ranked Saginaw Valley State, 69-7.
Last week at Findlay, the Oilers stopped Indianapolis, 14-10.
Offensively, the Oilers feature junior
running back Robert Campbell. He’s second in the GLIAC in
rushing and all-purpose yards and third in scoring. The 6-0,
185-pound Campbell has rushed for 996 yards (4.4 ypc.) with 11
touchdowns. He’s averaging 142.3 ypg., and he cut up Indy
for 122 yards on 35 carries. The Toledo, OH, native has 2,055
yards in his career and as of last week, was third in the
country in rushing.
Senior Jeff Fraser is the quarterback and
he’s led an offense that has taken advantage of just
about every error an opponent has made. The 6-2, 200-pound
Fraser is fourth in the GLIAC in pass efficiency (136.1
rating) and eighth in passing yards per game (167.7). He’s
completed 89 of 147 passes (60.5 percent) for 1,174 yards with
eight touchdowns and seven interceptions. Last week he rushed
for a career-high 60 yards on 11 carries and completed 17 of
28 throws for 207 yards with a touchdown. Findlay is second in
the league in rushing offense (221.1 ypg.), fourth in total
offense (413.1 ypg.) and fifth in scoring offense (26.7 ppg.).
The Findlay defense forced five turnovers
last week (three fumbles, two interceptions), recorded six
sacks and held Indianapolis to 229 yards in total offense.
That kind of defense and the run-oriented offense have kept
the Oilers among the GLIAC leaders in turnover margin. UF is
third in the league (+7) in that category and just as
important, is the GLIAC leader in time of possession (33:14).
Corey Coe, a 6-0, 210-pound junior outside
linebacker, leads Findlay with 57 tackles (22 solo, 8.1 tpg.).
Jackson Harris, a 6-2, 250-pound junior defensive end, is tied
for second in the conference in sacks (7) and is third in
tackles for loss (13-48). Mike Daring, a 6-4, 255-pound senior
defensive tackle, is tied for eight in tackles for loss
(10-25). Middle linebacker Dave Verhoff is another big-play
player. Against Indianapolis, the 5-10, 215-pound senior had
10 tackles, three tackles for loss, one fumble recovery and
1.5 quarterback sacks.
The UF special teams more than hold their
own. The Oilers are the GLIAC leaders in punt return average
(10.1 ypr.). Harry Garland, a 5-10, 165-pound sophomore, is
second in the conference in punt returns (18-186, 10.3 ypr.)
and sixth in kickoff returns (10-244, 24.4 ypr.). Carey Lennox
can’t be overlooked, either. The 6-0, 170-pound junior,
is averaging 22.0 ypr., on kickoffs, 10th in the GLIAC. |
This Week’s Storyline
This week, another battle of state’s rights will be held and
no ancestors of Henry Clay or Civil War re-enactments will be
held.
The battle that will take place this week
occurs on the gridiron where Ashland hosts Findlay in a Great
Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game. These two Ohio
institutions always play spirited games. This year should be no
different – Findlay is third in the league and one of the
biggest surprises not only in the GLIAC, but in the region. This
Saturday is Senior Day at Ashland and the Eagle seniors are
determined to go home a winner in their final game at Community
Stadium.
Eyes and Ears
All Ashland University football games can be heard live on WNCO
(1340 AM). This is the 10th consecutive year WNCO has carried the
games. The broadcast team is comprised of play-by-play man Sam
Renfroe and color commentator Bill Linson. This is Renfroe’s
seventh season doing the games and this is Linson’s second
season behind the microphone.
The Ashland Times-Gazette covers all home games
and selected road games. The AU-Findlay game story will appear in
Monday’s paper. Dusty Sloan will be reporting on the game.
The Mansfield News Journal staffs all AU home games and provides
recaps on all road games. The News Journal will have a game story
in the Sunday edition.
WRDL-FM, 88.9, the campus radio station, will
broadcast the game live and the campus television station, WRDL,
TV-2, will show the game on a tape delay basis.
Extra, Extra
It’s Senior Day at Ashland and that means all senior football
players will be honored prior to the game. Also, the American
Football Coaches Association (AFCA) will sponsor a special
giveaway. All children at the game will receive a free child
identification packet.
As is the case with every AU home game, two
former Eagle football players are brought back to campus as
honorary captains. That duo spends an entire football Saturday
with the Eagles. The two visitors go to team meetings, are
included in the pregame meal and spend the game on the AU
sideline. This week, the Eagles welcome back Jeff Mowrey
(Class of 1995) and Ron Ritner (Class of 1985).
Who’s the Boss?
Ashland’s head coach is Gary Keller. Keller is in his
ninth season as AU’s head coach and brings a 49-43-0 record
into this week’s game. This is Keller’s 20th season with
the Eagles, prior to being named the head coach he was an
assistant coach under Dr. Fred Martinelli. Keller was the
defensive coordinator for nine years before being elevated to the
top spot and as the “D” coordinator, he directed
defenses that led the country in total defense twice and was the
national leader in rush defense twice. As the head coach, he
guided the Eagles to a Midwest Intercollegiate Football Conference
championship and a berth in the NCAA Division II playoffs in 1997.
He was the conference coach of the year in 1997. Keller is a 1973
Bluffton (OH) graduate.
Findlay’s head coach is Dan Simrell. This
is Simrell’s third year at Findlay where he is 11-17.
Overall, this is Simrell’s 11th season as a college head
coach. His career record is 61-54-2.
Football fans in northwestern Ohio remember
Simrell as the head coach at the University of Toledo (1982-89).
He was 50-37-2 with the Rockets and led them to the Mid-American
Conference title in 1984 and a berth in the California Bowl.
Simrell was the MAC coach of the year in 1984. Six times in eight
years as Toledo’s head coach he finished on the plus side of
.500 and twice he won nine games. Before being named UT’s
head coach, Simrell was an assistant there for 11 seasons. He was
the defensive coordinator for nine years. Simrell played football
at Toledo. He is a 1966 UT graduate.
Before returning to northwest Ohio, Simrell was
an assistant coach at West Virginia (1991-98). He served as the
quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator under Don Nelhen.
Ashland-Findlay
The lead in the all-time series belongs to the Eagles, 17-11-4.
These two Ohio schools first met in 1924. Ashland has gone 3-1
against the Oilers since the two became GLIAC lodge brothers in
1998. The Eagles have scored 40 or more points twice and 36 points
in another meeting.
Last year at Donnell Stadium in Findlay, the
teams met on the third weekend of the season and AU was a 36-19
winner. Ashland rushed for 251 yards while collecting 519 yards in
total offense. The Eagles took control of the game early, scoring
the game’s first 22 points to go in front, 22-0 after two
quarters. Senior Marcus Mitchell rushed for 133 yards and two
touchdowns on 16 carries. That was the first 100-yard day of his
career. J.R. McCoy (Unionville Center, OH/Fairbanks) added
83 yards on 23 trips. Wide receiver Erik Coblentz caught five
passes for 115 yards with a 68-yard TD reception. The AU defense
picked off two passes, recovered a pair of fumbles and limited the
Oilers to 44 yards rushing.
Findlay’s last win in the series came at
Community Stadium in 2000, 13-12. The Oilers forced five AU
turnovers and the Eagles’ final five possessions included a
missed field goal and three interceptions. Ashland had just 70
yards passing. This was Simrell’s first victory as the UF
head coach. Findlay went ahead to stay with 4:06 left in the
fourth quarter when quarterback Bryan Hieber found tight end Mark
Inkrott with a 55-yard scoring pass. Inkrott caught five passes
for 89 yards.
Another Look at Last Week
This coming week, all of America will set their clocks back a week
before retiring. Maybe the Eagles should do the opposite right now
and set their timepieces ahead by an hour.
The same problem that’s plagued AU all
year haunted the Eagles last Saturday at the Superior Dome in
Marquette, MI. AU gave up 17 first-quarter points to Northern
Michigan. After that, the Eagles steadied themselves and the ‘Cats
did very little against the Eagles. But there was no way to erase
those first 15 minutes and AU came up on the short end of a 24-14
score. That setback snapped a two-game AU win streak.
AU trailed, 10-0 before the offense ever
touched the ball. NMU took the opening kickoff and scored on Kyle
Marotz’s 45-yard field goal. Then the Wildcats recovered an
onsides kick and running back Terrell Goldsmith scored the first
of his three touchdowns on a 1-yard TD run. Goldsmith had a
39-yard scoring jaunt with 25 seconds left in the opening quarter
to make it 17-0.
From that point on, AU led in time of
possession and ended up outgaining the home team, 260-254. But AU
also had a touchdown called back because of an
illegal-man-downfield penalty and struggled to pick up yards
consistently in short-yardage situations. Two second-quarter field
goals by freshman Austin Wellock (North Canton, OH/Green),
cut the NMU lead to 17-6 at halftime. AU’s other score, a
4-yard run by McCoy with 11:24 left in regulation, made it
24-14.
For the third consecutive week, the Eagles
finished on the plus side in takeaways-giveaways. AU had two
interceptions against the ‘Cats. McCoy finished with
65 yards on 26 carries. Sophomore wide receiver Michael Hull
(Cincinnati, OH/Sycamore) caught a career-best 10 passes for
84 yards. Sophomore quarterback John Szabo (Dayton,
OH/Chaminade-Julienne) completed 24 of 36 passes for 201 yards. On
defense, freshman linebacker Brady Miller (Cincinnati,
OH/Elder) had a team-high nine tackles (six solo), an interception
he returned for 15 yards and a pass breakup. Senior nose tackle
Kevin Lacey (Greenwich, OH/South Central) had two sacks
and has four sacks in the last two games.
Eagle Elite
- Brett Bartlow (West Chester, OH/Lakota
East) – The junior defensive end is second on the team
in sacks (6-25). He had two tackles for loss at Northern
Michigan.
- Toure Carter (Cleveland, OH/Rhoades) –
A junior defensive back, Carter is tied for second in the
GLIAC in passes defensed (eight). He has 32 tackles (20 solo)
and two interceptions.
- Geoff Henry (Medina, OH) – A
senior linebacker, Henry is third on the team in tackles (48/21
solo).
- Michael Hull (Cincinnati, OH/Sycamore) –
The sophomore wideout leads AU in catches (46-485, 10.5.).
He’s fourth in the GLIAC in receptions per game (5.75) and
10th in receiving yards per game (60.6).
- Kevin Lacey (Greenwich, OH/South
Central) – Lacey’s a senior nose tackle. Thanks to
four sacks in the last two games, he’s AU’s sacks
leader with seven. Last week he had seven tackles (five solo)
and four tackles for loss (22 yards). He forced one fumble and
had two sacks for 13 yards in lost real estate.
- J.R. McCoy (Unionville Center,
OH/Fairbanks) – McCoy is AU’s senior tailback. He’s
fifth in the GLIAC in rushing with 688 yards and is averaging
86.0 ypg. With three games left to play, McCoy needs 150 yards
to pass Keith Weaver and become AU’s career rushing leader.
He enters this week’s game with 3,794 yards. Weaver rushed
for 3,943 yards.
- Kevin McMahon (Toledo, OH/St. Francis
DeSales) – A senior wide receiver, McMahon is second on
the team in receptions (39) and leads the Eagles in receiving
yards (559, 14.3 ypc.). McMahon is fifth in the league in
receptions per game (4.88) and sixth in receiving yards per game
(69.9).
- Aaron O’Reilly (Columbus,
OH/DeSales) – A junior strong safety, O’Reilly is
second on the team in tackles (56/35). He has three pass
breakups and two tackles for loss.
- Toby Stepsis (Shelby, OH) – A
senior free safety, Stepsis leads AU in tackles (66/35 solo) and
interceptions (three). At Northern Michigan, he recorded eight
tackles (two solo). Stepsis is 11th in the GLIAC in tackles.
- John Szabo (Dayton,
OH/Chaminade-Julienne) – A sophomore quarterback, Szabo
has completed 137 of 246 passes (55.7 percent) for 1,514 yards.
He has thrown six touchdown passes and has seven interceptions.
Szabo is sixth in the GLIAC in passing yards per game (189.2)
and eighth in total offense (169.6 ypg.).
- Austin Wellock (North Canton, OH/Green) –
Wellock is 13-14 on field goal tries. He’s the GLIAC
leader in field goals, averaging 1.62 fpg. He’s scored 51
points (6.4 ppg.), putting him third in the conference in kick
scoring.
Notes From the Nest
- The Eagles are second in the GLIAC in sacks
(20-113) and sixth in turnover margin (+1).
- AU has 11 interceptions in the past three
games.
- The Eagles have had a running back rush for
100 or more yards against Findlay each of the last four years.
That list includes Marcus Mitchell (16-133, 2001), Roshawn
Parker (22-110, 2000), Paul Bockmore (24-142, 1999) and Don
Church (36-264, 1998).
- Ashland has been outscored, 78-29 in the
first quarter.
- Freshman Austin Wellock enters this
week’s play as the GLIAC leader in field goals. If he holds
that position, Ashland will have had the GLIAC leader in field
goals for four consecutive seasons. Former AU kick Matt Pifer
was conference leader three times.
- A win with this week would leave the Eagles
with a 2-3 record at Community Stadium. AU hasn’t been 1-4
at home since 1995. The last time the Eagles finished 2-3 was in
1996.
The Quotebook
Offensive coordinator Matt Hohman on AU’s
first-quarter troubles.
“When things aren’t
going good, you have to look at everything. What are we doing in
pregame, what are we doing with our early-game calls? Can we do a
better job with our early play calls? You need to look at every
aspect.”
Senior defensive end Dave Catanese (Richmond
Heights, OH) on last week’s loss.
“We came in here with a
lot of momentum. After two wins, we had momentum and we thought we
had a formula to win here. We just didn’t take advantage of
opportunities.”
Head coach Gary Keller on the play of nose
tackle Kevin Lacey.
“I think what’s
happened is he’s just picked up his play. He feels more at
home at the position. I think he wants to accomplish his goals.”
On Deck
AU goes back on the road next week (Nov. 2, 1 p.m.) with a trip to
Indianapolis. |
