Diet plans are plentiful in this day and age.
For starters, there is the South Beach Diet.
Then there are nutrition plans that subtract carbohydrates, others that go heavy on fruit.
The Ashland University football team is instituting an all-beef diet and is going to force feed that plan to GLIAC teams over the next 10 weeks.
Saturday (Sept. 4) at AU's Jack Miller Stadium/Martinelli Field at the Dwight Schar Athletic Complex, the Eagles showed where the beef is on its football team. It can be found along the defensive line, which along with sophomore quarterback Taylor Housewright (Ashland, Ohio), led the way in a season-opening, 24-14 non-conference win over Bloomsburg.
This was Ashland's first victory over the Huskies in three tries. Like the previous two games, this contest was nip-and-tuck for 60 minutes. The difference for the Eagles was that in the first two games against the Huskies, they felt they were pushed around in the trenches. That was not the case this time.
The Eagles unveiled their largest defensive line in years and that unit helped the Eagles outgain Bloomsburg, 405-285. That line, which looks like something that would be seen at the Texas State Fair livestock display, includes 6-2, 303-pound freshman defensive tackle Jamie Meder (Parma, Ohio/Valley Forge) and 6-3, 323-pound junior Jeris Pendleton (Chicago, Illinois/Joliet Junior College).
Pendleton had eight tackles (four solo) and 1.5 tackles for loss. Meder had seven tackles (three solo) and both sacks the Eagles had on the afternoon. Those two, along with the rest of the line, neutralized the BU front and let the AU safeties, cornerbacks and linebackers run free and clean to make tackles. Safety Tarell Lewis (Redford, Mich./Bowling Green) had a team-high 11 tackles (five solo) and corner Logan Kerr (Ashland, Ohio) and linebacker Julian Goodwine (Dayton, Ohio/Thurgood Marshall) had 10 stops each. Kerr also had an interception and two pass breakups.
"They've got some big, old boys in there," said Bloomsburg head coach Danny Hale. "I thought we did some nice things up front. It was a seesaw battle. We didn't make a few plays. That's a credit to Coach Rose (AU defensive coordinator Tim). He put in a nice scheme."
"We realized a year ago, it all begins in the middle on defense," remarked AU head coach Lee Owens. "Today, in college football, I think it all starts in the middle. They (new defensive linemen) really notched our defense up."
Both Meder and Pendleton are in their first year at Ashland and as Hale said after the game, the Eagles had an excellent year in recruiting. About the only thing that worked for Bloomsburg was handing the ball to redshirt freshman tailback Franklyn Quiteh. He carried the ball 35 times for 140 yards and a touchdown. Quiteh was replacing Derrick Price, who is suspended indefinitely. Price also missed last year's game with a suspension. He was the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Eastern Division Freshman of the Year in 2008. That year, he rushed for 132 yards against the Eagles.
Quiteh certainly filled in well, but the Eagles made him pay for his yards. A couple of times when he tried to bull through the line, he was stood straight up and knocked back by the Ashland front.
"Once, I hit one of those 300-pounders and reality set in," said Quiteh.
The defensive line was impressive, but on this day, it was forced to share top honors with Housewright. He was making his first collegiate start and had to replace an All-America quarterback in Billy Cundiff. In this game, there was nothing to find fault with as Housewright terrorized the Huskies, with his feet, his arm and his brains.
Housewright was AU's leading rusher with 65 yards. Fifty-three of those yards came on one dash. He completed 16-of-26 passes for 248 yards and two touchdowns. One of those TD strikes was a 96-yarder to wide receiver Joe Horn (Waynesfield, Ohio/Waynesfield-Goshen). That ties the school record for the longest completion in school history. The other 96-yarder came last year when Horn and Cundiff combined for that same yardage against Northwood.
"Billy was an amazing quarterback last year," said Horn. "But I've never thought we had a rookie quarterback in there. We never thought that we had to tone it down for him. He stayed with the game plan, never tried to force anything. He's not a rookie out there."
Housewright's final numbers could have been better. He was the victim, by one count, of five dropped passes.
"I felt we were prepared and ready to go," said Housewright. "What they did on defense is what we thought they would do. "
Asked about the balls that were dropped, Housewright never broke stride. He handled that question just like he did when he scampered through the BU defense.
"They'll play through it," said Housewright. "My receivers make me look good sometimes. You just play through it and stay patient."
"He never lost his composure," said Owens of Housewright. "He managed the game well, made his checks. He just handled it so well. I told someone, 'That's Taylor Housewright. He finds a way to win, to make first downs, to get into the end zone.'"
Bloomsburg grabbed a 3-0 lead at the 10:01 mark of the first quarter when Dan Fisher kicked a 32-yard field goal. AU tied the game, 3-3 on a 34-yard field goal by sophomore Gregg Berkshire (Ashland, Ohio) with 7:04 remaining in the first quarter.
The Eagles took the lead for good, 10-7 with 11:35 to play in the first half when defensive back Ryan Stackhouse (Ashland, Ohio/Youngstown State) blocked a Drew Snyder punt at the BU 3-yardline and defensive back Anthony Capasso (Columbia Station, Ohio/St. Edward) fell on the loose ball in the end zone.
The Huskies closed to within 10-6 when Fisher was on target with a 38-yard field goal attempt with 3:15 left in the first half.
Ashland made the play of the game with 5:53 left in the third quarter on the 96-yard pass completion. That came on a third-and-nine play after two running plays had netted one yard. The play, dubbed, "Z Pin," was the same play that worked against Northwood a year ago. This time, however, Housewright was throwing into a wind that gusted, at times, to 27 miles per hour.
"He just ripped it," exclaimed Owens. "We said, 'Throw it as far as you can and let Joe run into it. I knew it would be there if we could throw it that far."
"It hung up there and gave me some time to get there," Horn said. "It takes a lot of guts to be in the end zone and let it go. You have to hang in there and you have to have a good offensive line. I have the easiest job out there."
That 17-6 deficit put the Huskies in a major hole. Quarterback Pat Carey was making the first start of his BU career and finished 14-of-28 for 150 yards. His longest completion measured 18 yards. The Eagles got constant pressure on the junior and the Huskies could never mount a serious passing attack to go with the hard running of Quiteh. They didn't reach the end zone until 3:33 was left in regulation with Quiteh scoring on a 5-yard run. Quiteh also scored on a running play for the two-point conversion, leaving AU with a 17-14 lead.
That's when Housewright showed his maturity and the AU offensive line demonstrated it still had energy left in its legs. The Eagles embarked on a 13-play, 90-yard drive that consumed 5:14 and ended with Housewright finding H-Back Mike Knueven (Cincinnati, OH/St. Xavier) with a 5-yard scoring pass. The drive included a pair of rushing attempts by defensive lineman Mikel Berry (Upper Arlington, Ohio/Penn State) that gained one yard. Berkshire's PAT made it 24-14 with 51 seconds left. Bloomsburg had nothing left in the tank.
"Two years in a row we played it right to the end and we found a way to lose and they found a way to win," said Owens. "It's a different year, a different team. We figured out a way to get some plays at the end."
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