Ashland Football Weekly Report
October 19, 2004

Game 9 – Ashland (3-5/2-5 GLIAC) at Wayne State (1-6/1-6)
Saturday, Oct. 23, 2004, Noon
WSU Stadium/Adams Field, Detroit, MI

Weekly Opponents Stats Comparison (PDF)

Normally, reunions take place in July and August when the children are out of school and the picnic season is in full swing. However, that’s not the way of life in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

Ashland and Wayne State will hold a reunion of sorts this week. When AU head coach Lee Owens looks across the field this Saturday, he’ll see one of his former assistant coaches, Paul Winters, looking back at him on the other sideline. This is Owens’ first season at AU after coaching at the University of Akron for nine seasons. A year ago, Winters was the offensive coordinator and running backs coach under Owens with the Zips. Winters was at Akron from 1994-2003.

Obviously, both head coaches know how the other thinks. But, both coaches are working with different personnel. It will be interesting to see how all of this plays out as the Eagles look to build a two-game winning streak.

Sights and Sounds of the Game
All Ashland University football games can be heard live on WNCO (1340 AM). This is the 12th consecutive year the station has served as the home of AU football. Sam Renfroe and Bill Linson will be in the WSU pressbox to call all the action this week.

Ashland Times-Gazette sports editor Dusty Sloan will make the trip to Detroit and provide a full game story in Monday’s paper.

AU football fans who want another look at the Eagles are invited to tune in to the Lee Owens Show. That one-hour program airs every Wednesday at 7 p.m., on WMFD-TV in Mansfield, OH. Jeff Allen serves as the host of the program.

Streaks and Strings
The Eagles haven’t won two consecutive games since the 2002 season when they won back-to-back games against Mercyhurst and Wayne State.

AU senior wide receiver Michael Hull (Cincinnati, OH/Sycamore) has caught at least one pass in 33 consecutive games. Junior linebacker Devin Conwell (Baltimore, MD/Montgomery C.C) has reached double digits in tackles in his last five games. Senior tailback Antwan Hart (Detroit, MI/Erie C.C.) has surpassed 100 yards rushing for four consecutive games and has reached that plateau in seven of eight contests this season.

The Eagle defense has held two of its last three foes under 50 yards rushing. Last week’s 24-0 whitewashing of Hillsdale was AU’s first shutout since the Eagles blanked St. Francis (IL), 28-0 in 1997.

The Series
The Eagles are in front in the all-time series, 15-4. AU won six straight over WSU from 1995-2000. Wayne State has won two of the last three meetings, including last year’s game in Ashland, 29-19. WSU tailback Craig Duppong rushed for 158 yards and his 44-yard run with 4:02 left in regulation put the Warriors in front, 23-17. Carruthers provided the game’s final score when he returned an interception 38 yards for a touchdown. The Eagles threw three interceptions and had a punt blocked. Hart rushed for 113 yards on 25 carries. Wayne State led, 10-3 at halftime and the game was tied, 17-17 with 10 minutes to play in regulation.

AU’s last victory over Wayne State came in 2002 in Detroit, 25-24. Kicker Austin Wellock (North Canton, OH/Green) tied an NCAA Division II single-game record when he kicked six field goals. Wellock also had an extra point, giving him 19 points on the afternoon. Wellock’s field goals came from 28, 35, 32, 37, 31 and 23 yards. Hull had four receptions for 101 yards and wide receiver Kevin McMahon caught six passes for 92 yards. Wayne State had the upper hand in total yardage, 360-277. The Warriors enjoyed a 174-48 spread running the ball.

Series Quiz (Answers at bottom of page, click here if you want them now!)

1. In 2001, this WSU wide receiver had 10 catches for 179 yards and two touchdowns. He later went to camp with the Detroit Lions. Name this receiver.
2. In 1992 and 1993 Ashland recorded consecutive shutouts against Wayne State, winning, 14-0 and 12-0. In 1993, the defense was led by a defensive lineman who had 20.5 sacks and was the Midwest Intercollegiate Football Conference player of the year. Name that player.

Eagle Update
Is the Big D located in Texas, or is it really situated in northeastern Ohio? Last week, the Ashland defense made like the Dallas Doomsday defense of yesteryear, pitching a 24-0 shutout at Hillsdale. The Eagles gave up just 158 yards of total offense and outrushed the visitors, 159-45. Ashland picked off one pass and collected five quarterback sacks. On third down, HC converted four of 16 opportunities.

Conwell spearheaded the defense with 11 tackles, all solo. Sophomore linebacker Allen Lattimore (Dayton, OH/Colonel White) had seven tackles (six solo) and two sacks for 10 yards. Freshman defensive back Thaddeus Walker (Warren, OH/Harding) had four tackles (all solo) and got the first interception of his career. Senior linebacker Chris Campbell (Newark, OH) had four tackles, a pair of tackles for loss (seven yards), one pass breakup and a sack (three yards).

The AU offense did its job by grinding out 17 points and controlling the clock. The Eagles led in time of possession, 36:29-23:31 and that clock advantage allowed the defense to remain fresh. Hart had 36 carries for 114 yards and a touchdown. Sophomore quarterback Nick Strance (Willard, OH) clicked on 14 of 23 passes for 168 yards. Strance threw an 18-yard pass to sophomore wide receiver Bobby Madison (Lorain, OH/Steele) and ran for a 13-yard score.

Hull hauled in five Strance throws for 79 yards. Junior tight end Brian Mong (Columbus, OH/Watterson) had five catches for 58 yards.

The Owens File
The Eagles are under the direction of Lee Owens, who is in his first season with the Eagles. Owens came to Ashland after nine seasons as the head coach at the University of Akron. As a head coach on the college and high school levels, Owens has a career mark of 132-98-2. At Akron, his teams were known for their ability to strike from anywhere on the field. In 2003, the Zips were sixth in the nation in pass offense, ninth in total offense and 11th in scoring. Akron went 7-5 last season.

Prior to coaching at Akron, Owens was an assistant coach at Ohio State (1992-95). He joined the Buckeyes after a successful career on the high school level. Owens’ record on the prep level is 89-32-2. In 1985 at Galion High School he won a state championship and was named the Ohio High School Coach of the Year. Owens also coached at legendary Massillon Washington High School (1988-92) where he was 35-13 in four seasons.

Owens is originally from nearby Mansfield, OH, and Madison High School. He earned his undergraduate degree from Bluffton College in 1977 and his master’s degree from Ashland in 1981.

Noteworthy

• Hart has rushed for 930 yards this season and is in a position to become the first AU player to reach 1,000 yards rushing since J.R. McCoy had 1,415 yards in 2001. Hart is fourth in the GLIAC in rushing and seventh in all-purpose yardage (121.4 ypg.). Hart is 11th on AU’s career rushing list with 1,636 yards.
• Lattimore is first in the conference in sacks (7) and tackles for loss (16).
• Conwell is the GLIAC runnerup in tackles, averaging 11.9 tackles per game. He’s seventh in tackles for loss (9.5).
• Last week’s time of possession figure of 36:29 is a season high for the Eagles.
• Ten of Mong’s 15 catches this season have come in the last three weeks.

Saturday Afternoon Special
The Eagles have improved on numerous fronts from last year, but the one area where improvement is easiest to detect is on special teams.

“We’re working at it, we’re just not as consistent as we need to be,” said Owens.

Until that consistency comes, the Eagles have shown flashes of what the future may hold. Junior Dalorean White (Warrensville Heights, OH/Erie C.C.) is fourth in the GLIAC in kickoff returns (20.2 ypr.) and freshman David Ziegelhofer (Lexington, OH) is seventh in punt return average (7.1 ypr.). Freshman Ray McCombs (Bucyrus, OH/Wynford) is seventh in punting (38.8 ypp.).

The improvement goes beyond just those three, however. As Owens points out, AU is +3 in blocks – AU has blocked four kicks (punts, placements) and had one kick blocked. The Eagles are +80 in what Owens refers to as “hidden yards,” which refers to field position on kickoffs.

The Eagles regularly play regulars on special teams and that’s upgraded the level of play. Conwell, Lattimore and Campbell are all special teamers. While there are plenty of youngsters sprinkled in on the specialty units, the veterans who play special teams bring a sense of importance to that part of the game.

“Our guys are buying into the importance of special teams,” noted Owens. “From the first day of practice we’ve talked about their importance. We’re playing our best guys out there and that may be a bit of a different philosophy.”

Young Stars from Youngstown
Three of AU’s best young players in the secondary hail from the Youngstown, OH, area. True sophomore Chris Holland (Youngstown, OH/Rayen) and true freshmen Thaddeus Walker (Warren, OH/Harding) and Justin Hood (Youngstown, OH/Chaney) look to be on their way as stars of the future. Lately, those three have been receiving the bulk of the playing time along with senior Aaron O’Reilly (Columbus, OH/DeSales).

Secondary coach Steve Clinkscale is a native of Youngstown and played at AU. This is his fourth year on the coaching staff and he’s always recruited his home area.

“It (three Youngstown players in the secondary) didn’t happen on purpose,” laughed Clinkscale. “I think this year there were more prospects, especially Division II players. A lot of years we’d get one player from there, this year we got three (freshman offensive lineman Mike White from Poland, OH is the other).”

Hood made his first start last Saturday and had four tackles. For the year, Holland is fifth on the team in tackles (40/27 solo) with four pass breakups. Hood has 23 tackles (12 solo) and Walker has 22 tackles (17 solo) and a trio of pass breakups.

“Justin and Thaddeus played their best games of the season last week,” Clinkscale said. “These last two weeks they’ve come in and studied film more. They’re studying film better and understanding what teams are trying to do. That allows them to play better.

“Thaddeus is very fast, very quick,” continued Clinkscale. That’s his strong point. He has confident in coverage. Justin plays better every week. He understands what he needs to do and does it.”

On Deck
Next Saturday (Oct. 30) the Eagles play their final home game of the season, hosting Findlay at 1 p.m.

Series Quiz Answers

1. Pierre Brown
2. Bill Royce