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Challenging Start
Awaits 2006 AU Football Team |
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Updated to include additional promotional information Unlike the NFL, the Ashland University football team won’t have the benefit of a four-game preseason slate to work out all the kinks. When the Eagles take the field in 2006, they will have to hit the ground running. Three of Ashland’s first four games in 2006 will come against teams that advanced to the NCAA Division II playoffs and were ranked in the nation’s Top 10. That trio includes Saginaw Valley State (11-2/4th), NCAA Division II national champ Grand Valley State (13-0/1st) and Northwood (9-3/10th). The other game among the first four contests is a home date with longtime rival Hillsdale. AU will open the season at Community Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 2, at 7 p.m., against Saginaw Valley State. The following week, Sept. 9, Ashland will travel to Allendale, MI, for a night game against Grand Valley State. On Saturday, Sept. 16, Hillsdale comes to Community Stadium (7 p.m.) and the following Saturday, Sept. 23, AU calls on Northwood. AU didn’t face Saginaw Valley or Northwood in 2005 when it went 9-2, 8-2 in Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play. The Eagles gave Grand Valley State one of its stiffest tests of the season, losing to the Lakers at Community Stadium, 14-10. Saginaw Valley State and Northwood replace Michigan Tech and Indianapolis on the schedule. The last time AU played Saginaw Valley was in 2003. Northwood and Ashland last met on the gridiron in 2002. AU will play six home games in 2006. In addition to the Saginaw Valley and Hillsdale games, the Eagles host Mercyhurst (Sept. 30, 1 p.m.), Saint Joseph’s (Oct. 7, 1 p.m.), Ferris State (Oct. 21, 1 p.m.) and Findlay (Oct. 28, 1 p.m.). The Saint Joseph’s game is homecoming and it’s the lone game AU plays outside the GLIAC. This is the third consecutive year the Eagles and Pumas have played. The Eagles have won each of the last two years. Both of those games were played on the season’s opening weekend. 2006 Football Schedule |