Walsh (2-4/1-4 GLIAC) at #8 Ashland (6-0/5-0 GLIAC)
Saturday, Oct. 13, 1 p.m., Homecoming
Jack Miller Stadium/Martinelli Field at Dwight Schar Athletic Complex
Sights and Sounds
The Walsh-Ashland game will be broadcast live on WNCO-AM (1340) with Matt Brubaker handling the play-by-play and Don Graham providing the commentary. The game can be heard at wncoam.com. The campus radio station, WRDL-FM (88.9), will also broadcast the game live.
Looking Ahead and Behind
The last time an AU football team began the year 7-0 was in 1991. This AU team has the opportunity to equal that start. Ashland is ranked eighth in this week's AFCA Top 25 poll. That is the highest national ranking the Eagles have ever attained under ninth-year head coach Lee Owens. AU is ranked 12th in this week's d2football.com national poll.
Last Saturday, AU won at Ohio Dominican, 44-21. The Eagles are alone in first place in the GLIAC South Division.
Walsh picked up its first GLIAC win of the season last Saturday when it beat cross-town rival Malone, 34-7. This is the first year Walsh has been a GLIAC member.
Ashland-Walsh
This is the first time AU and Walsh have met on the gridiron.
Ashland Head Coach Lee Owens
Lee Owens is in his ninth season as AU's head coach. He was named to that position in December, 2003. He is the 14th head coach in AU football history.
- Owens is 61-33 at Ashland. He is second in career wins, trailing only Dr. Fred Martinelli (217). Owens is second in career winning percentage (.649) at AU. The only coach he trails is Bob Brownson (.672/1954-57). Martinelli is third (.641/1959-63).
- Owens has guided the Eagles to the NCAA playoffs twice (2007, 2008). He is the only football coach in school history to do that and he is the lone Ashland football coach to win a postseason game (27-16 over Minnesota State, 2008).
- Under Owens, the Eagles have won eight or more games in a season four times and have won nine games twice (9-2/2005, 9-4/2008). He went 5-6 in his first season at Ashland (2004). In the two seasons before he arrived the Eagles won a total of four games.
- Since Owens became the head coach 10 players have been recognized as All-Americans. Last year, defensive lineman Jeris Pendleton was taken in the seventh round of the NFL draft by the Jacksonville Jaguars. He's the first AU player to be drafted since 1972.
- Before arriving at AU, Owens spent nine years as the head coach at the University of Akron. His career record as a college head coach is 101-94. He also served as an assistant coach under John Cooper at Ohio State (1992-95).
- As a high school head coach in Ohio, Owens had an 89-32-2 mark in 11 seasons. His 1985 Galion team won a state title with a 14-0 record. Owens was also the head coach at Massillon Washington (1988-92), Lancaster (1987), Galion (1983-87) and Crestview (1981-82).
- Owens is a 1977 Bluffton College graduate and he earned his master's degree at AU in 1981.
Last Look at Last Week
Thanks in large part to a defense that didn't give an inch in the second half, the Eagles moved to 6-0 last week with a 44-21 victory at Ohio Dominican.
AU trailed, 21-20 at halftime. The Eagles took the lead for good with 12:39 left in the third quarter on a 45-yard touchdown run by sophomore running back Anthony Taylor (Arlington, Va./Washington-Lee). The Eagles scored 14 points in the third quarter and 10 in the fourth quarter. At one point, ODU led, 21-13. Ashland scored the final 31 points in the game. In the second half, Ohio Dominican had one first down and 69 yards of total offense.
Taylor rushed for a career-high 128 yards on 17 carries. This was his second 100-yard effort of the season. Another sophomore running back, Jordan McCune (Bellville, Ohio/Clear Fork), had 115 yards and two touchdowns on 18 trips. This was McCune's second consecutive 100-yard game and the fourth of his career. Taylor averaged 7.5 ypc., and McCune averaged 6.4 ypc. As a team AU rushed for 271 yards and averaged 6.2 ypc.
Senior quarterback Taylor Housewright (Ashland, Ohio) completed a career-high 28 passes in 43 attempts for 285 yards and two touchdowns. Those 43 pass attempts are also a single-game high for Housewright. Eight different players caught at least one pass. Housewright's favorite targets were senior wide receiver Anthony Capasso (Columbia Station, Ohio/St. Edward) and sophomore wide receiver Eric Thompkins (Canton, Ohio/South). Both had eight catches. Capasso had 99 receiving yards and Thompkins had 78 reception yards.
Junior defensive lineman Jamie Meder (Parma, Ohio/Valley Forge) had a team-high eight tackles. Junior defensive back Brian Gamble (Massillon, Ohio/Illinois) had seven tackles (six solo), one tackle for loss and a fumble recovery. Gamble also took some snaps as a wide receiver and caught three passes for 34 yards. The junior caught the first touchdown pass of his Ashland career, a 19-yard bullet from Housewright to close out the first half.
AU led in total yards, 556-278. The Eagles had nearly perfect balance with 271 rushing yards and 285 passing yards. The Eagles were 4-of-5 (80 percent) on fourth down and for the year, are 8-of-13 (62 percent).
NCAA Numbers
Listed below are Ashland's Top 25 rankings in this week's NCAA statistics.
Individual
Category Player Rank Number
Pass Efficiency Housewright 4 168.71
Total Offense Housewright 20 300.17 ypg.
Team
Category Rank Number
Turnover Margin 7 1.33
Pass Efficiency 8 165.86
Scoring Offense 12 40.83 ppg.
Total Offense 13 475.0 ypg.
Scoring Defense 17 16.83 ppg.
Pass Defense 18 170.50 ypg.
Sacks Allowed 24t 1.00
GLIAC Numbers
Housewright is the GLIAC leader in pass efficiency and is tied for first in the conference in touchdown passes (17). He's third in passing yards per game (280.2).
Capasso is tied for fourth in receiving yards per game (81.8) and is third in receptions (33). Thompkins is ninth in receiving yards per game (67.3) and sophomore wideout Dan Piko (Oak Lawn, Ill./Marist Academy) is 13th in receiving yards per game (58.3).
Taylor is 11th in the loop in rushing yards per game (76.5) and McCune is 12th (72.0).
Redshirt freshman kicker Cameron Casey (Rochester, Mich./Adams) is fourth in kick scoring (37 points, 5-for-5 on field goals/22-of-25 on extra points).
Junior linebacker Cody Bloom (Napoleon, Ohio) is 10th in the GLIAC in tackles (53).
As a team, Ashland is first in turnover margin. The Eagles are second in scoring (40.8 ppg.), second in total offense (475.0) and third in passing yards per game (288.3). AU is third in time of possession (32:51), third in third down conversion rate (52 percent) and is tied for second in fourth down conversation rate (62 percent). The Eagles are second in scoring defense (16.8 ppg.) and third in passing yards allowed per game (311.7).
South Beach Style in the Midwest
When the Miami Dolphins put together the only unbeaten season in NFL history, they had a versatile defense that featured excellent depth. Players shuffled in and out of the lineup, but there was never any drop in effectiveness. That unit was tagged, "The No Name Defense."
Each week the Eagles seem to have someone new emerge on defense. That may take away tackles from the better known names at the top of the tackles chart, but it shows how much better AU's depth is on defense this year than in the last several years.
At the beginning of this year, the Eagles knew they had some exceptional core players like Meder, Bloom and Gamble. The questions centered around who would become the supporting players.
"It's always a puzzle," said defensive coordinator Tim Rose. "You have that puzzle every year. I wouldn't say it's harder this year. It's the same thing every year, do you have enough players to make a complete puzzle?"
At this point in the season, only three players are on the field all the time on defense – Bloom, Gamble and cornerback Mike McMillan (Hagerstown, Md./Mendocino College). Defensive back Chris Harvey (Columbus, Ohio/Walnut Ridge) was named this week's Gridiron Club defensive player of the week and he played just half of the 48 snaps in last week's game. What that's meant is that the Eagles always have fresh legs on defense. Players can assume roles, get playing time and no one's stretched to the limit.
"We walk back out there, we're ready to go," said Owens.
Housewright Is Rarely Wrong
Housewright has thrown 283 consecutive passes without an interception. The last time a Housewright pass was picked off was during the third quarter of last season's game at Saginaw Valley State – on Thursday, Oct. 20, 2011.
Housewright is second at AU in career touchdown passes, career yards passing and career completions. He's third in career pass attempts, trailing Billy Cundiff (1,001) and Nick Strance (787). As of this week, Housewright's career completion percentage (64.7) is first, just ahead of Cundiff (64.5).
Housewright's career numbers appear below.
Games Completions Attempts Percent Yards TD Int
33 468 723 64.7 5,918 56 12
Zips and Zags
Owens and Walsh head coach Jim Dennison both served as the head coach at the University of Akron before landing in their present positions. Their tenures came on each side of the Gerry Faust era at Akron.
Dennison coached the Zips from 1973-85 and in 13 seasons went 80-62-2 (.562). He has the most wins of any football coach in school history and was the first coach in school history to win 10 games in a season. When Dennison left the post, Faust took over as the head coach of the Zips.
Faust held that position until the 1995 season when Owens was named the head coach. Owens directed the program through the 2003 season, a stretch of nine seasons. He guided the Zips to their first consecutive winning seasons since the program moved to the Division I-A level. In 2000, Akron won a share of the Mid-American Conference Eastern Division title. Under Owens, the Zips became one of the most explosive offensive teams in the nation. The 2003 team was sixth in the nation in pass offense, ninth in total offense and 11th in scoring.
"We share some common experiences," said Owens. "I knew Jim before that, he'd gone to Walsh when I started at Akron. He coached a lot of the guys, the Akron guys, who I had on my staff at Akron. When I was a high school coach he was at Akron. All the high school coaches in Ohio had great respect for Jim and they still do."
Super Sam
Former AU defensive lineman/outside linebacker Sam Hohler is being inducted into the AU Hall of Fame this Saturday (Oct. 13). Hohler was part of the exceptional AU defenses of the early 1990's. He played on defenses that included Hall-of-Famers Jerry Spatny and Bill Royce.
Hohler's numbers are among the best in Ashland history. He is second in career sacks (35.5) at AU. In 1994 he put together one of the best seasons of any defensive player in school history. Hohler had 144 tackles, which ties him for the third best single-season total at Ashland. Hohler is one of 12 football players in school history to be recognized as a first team All-American (1994). He is one of 14 players in school history to play in the NCAA Division II Snow Bowl/Cactus Bowl Division II all-star game.
At the end of the 1994 season Hohler was named the Midwest Intercollegiate Football Conference (MIFC) defensive lineman of the year.
Hohler is a native of Huron, Ohio. He is a teacher and coach in his hometown where he resides with his wife, Dawn, and their three sons.
Blazing The Trail
Much of AU's success running the ball last week can be traced to the play of offensive tackle Zach Vermillion (Bellefontaine, Ohio) and fullback Steve Nagy (Hudson, Ohio).
Vermillion, a junior left tackle, had one of his best games of the season and was named the Gridiron Club offensive player of the week.
"He played really well," Owens said. "He had a sickness that set him back a little bit. That left side played really well, as well as they've played in a while."
Nagy has received attention for his ability to find the end zone. He has caught a team-high five touchdown passes and he also has two rushing touchdowns. Those are bonuses as far as Owens is concerned.
"The key to the running game was his ability to block the outside 'backer," noted Owens. "I told him, 'We didn't recruit you to catch touchdown passes, we recruited you to block."
Stark Contrast With Stark County Football
Owens was regarded as one of the top high school football coaches in Ohio before he made the move to The Ohio State. He is a former coach at Massillon Washington High School. When it comes to high school football fever, few places in the country can match that town. It's been accepted as fact that Stark County football is a cut above most other parts of the state. This week and next week, the Eagles play Walsh and Malone, the GLIAC schools located in Stark County. Owens calls this the "Stark County swing," and it brings back a lot of memories for him.
"I have the utmost respect and reverence for Stark County football and that's where the majority of their (Walsh) players are from," pointed out Owens. "I don't think there's anywhere in America where football is bigger than Stark County."
Years ago, the book "Friday Night Lights," chronicled life inside Texas high school football. Before author Buzz Bissinger went to the Lone Star State, he explored spending a year in Massillon. As Owens pointed out, football is a 12-month a year deal in Stark County. It's home to the Pro Football Hall of Fame and Canton and Massillon have played host to the state high school playoffs for years.
Full Bloom
Bloom led the Eagles in tackles last season with 109 (53 solo). He's the first AU player to reach the century mark in tackles since safety-linebacker Tom Brenner in 2008 (126). Brenner and Bloom are the only AU players to post 100 tackles in the last seven seasons. The last player to notch consecutive 100-tackle seasons was linebacker-safety Devin Conwell (118/2004, 121/2003).
Listed below are the last five AU players to put together consecutive seasons of 100+ tackles. Tim Houseman was the last player to have three consecutive years of 100+ tackles.
Player Position Tackles/Years
Devin Conwell Linebacker 2004-118, 2003-121
Brock Swonguer Linebacker 2001-106, 2000-102
Chad DiFranco Def. Back 1996-121, 1995-134
Tim Houseman Linebacker 1993-125, 1992-143, 1991-104
Ron Greer Linebacker 1991-135, 1990-138.5
Not So Special Teams
Owens coaches the special teams himself. This past week, he elected not to have any special teams player included on the Gridiron Club player of the week list. That gives a pretty good indication of how the AU head coach thought the specialty units performed.
Here's a stat the AU head coach can't move past. AU's average starting field position on Saturday was its own 20. Ohio Dominican's average starting field position was its own 40. Owens attributes much of the difference there to some less-than-stellar special teams play.
Owens said that he evaluated everything concerning special teams this week, including the personnel groupings. In the past few weeks, AU had taken some of its starters off of special teams. Look for that to change this Saturday.
Gridiron Club Players of the Week
After every game the Eagles win this season, the AU Gridiron Club will honor a player of the game for offense, defense and special teams. This year's recipients can be found below.
Game Offense Defense Special Teams
Indianapolis Housewright Gamble Capasso
Wayne State Thompkins Meder Housewright
Ferris State Housewright Houska Casey
No. Michigan Housewright Harrison McFarlin
Lake Erie McCune Bloom Hagenimana
ODU Vermillion Harvey No Recipient
Yard Markers and Milestones
- Ashland is third in winning percentage among the 21 schools that have played GLIAC football. Grand Valley State (.794./239-60-3) is first, Butler (.750/22-7-1) is second and the Eagles (.593/130-89) are third. Saginaw Valley State (.588/185-111-3) is fourth.
- Doug Geiser is the only assistant coach on the Ashland staff who has been with Owens all nine years the head coach has been at AU.
- AU's all-time record at Jack Miller Stadium/Martinelli Field is 13-4 (.764)
- Last week, Taylor and McCune both rushed for over 100 yards. Before last week, the last time that happened was on Nov. 3, 2007, against Wayne State when Dawon Harvey had 198 yards on 13 carries and Jaman Javey had 121 yards on eight attempts in a 63-42 Ashland win. That's a span of 54 games.
- The Eagles have had 530 or more yards of total offense in three of the last four weeks.
- Over the last two weeks, the Eagles have had seven scoring drives of 80+ yards and 10 drives of 70+ yards.
- The last time AU started a season 7-0 was in 1991. That team won its first seven games. In the first six games, AU defeated Valparaiso (30-7), Ferris State (35-7), California (51-10), Hillsdale (29-7), Wayne State (26-6), Saginaw Valley State (28-6) and Saint Joseph's (9-0). The loss in week eight came at home against Grand Valley State, 38-7.
- The Eagles have a seven-game winning streak on homecoming. The last time AU lost its homecoming game was in 2004, 25-14 to Mercyhurst.
- AU has six players who have reached double digits in catches. A year ago, in 11 games, the Eagles had four players who reached twin figures in receptions.
The Scouting Report – The Walsh Cavaliers
Head Coach – Jim Dennison (18th Season, 117-73 at Walsh,)
Last Year's Record – 5-6
Noteworthy
Here's the welcoming gift the GLIAC gave the Cavs – they played four of their first five games on the road. The good news is that three of the last four games will be played at home...last week the Cavaliers won their first GLIAC game, pounding Malone, 34-7. Walsh recovered three fumbles, picked off two passes and limited the Pioneers to 284 yards of total offense…the Cavs run a multiple offense, but for most of this year, they have lived with their ground game. Walsh averages 153.2 ypg., on the ground and 136.3 ypg., in the air…the Cavs start three redshirt freshmen on the offense line…the Walsh 3-4 defense has been solid, allowing 19.8 ppg…the defense brought back eight starters from last season…Walsh leads the GLIAC in fumble recoveries (nine), is third in sacks (14) and fifth in points allowed per game…the Cavaliers have attempted just two field goals this season…Walsh opened the year with a 40-10 non-conference road win over Kentucky Wesleyan…head coach Jim Dennison is in his 53rd year as a coach/administrator on the college level.
Watch List
The Eagles will need to find a way to contain running back Toba Olarewaju, a 5-10, 200-pound senior from Youngstown, Ohio. Against Malone he rushed for 195 yards and four touchdowns. At Ferris State, he gained 164 yards on 38 carries. Olarewaju has rushed for 562 yards on 132 carries (4.3 ypc./93.7 ypg.). He's also returned 11 kickoffs for 337 yards (30.6 ypr.). Olarewaju is third in the conference in kickoff return average, fifth in touchdowns and eighth in rushing…wide receiver Anthony Schrock, a 6-3, 210-pound sophomore, set a school single-game record for receiving yards (187) at Ohio Dominican. Schrock leads the team with 23 receptions for 491 yards (21.3 ypc.) with three touchdowns and is tied for fourth in the conference in receiving yards per game (81.8)…the starting quarterback is senior Jack Dawson. The 6-2, 191-pound Dawson has completed 37-of-85 passes for 628 yards with three touchdowns and four interceptions…strong safety Sir Taylor, a 6-1, 214-pound senior, has a team-leading 61 tackles (45 solo) and four tackles for loss (15 yards). At Ohio Dominican, Taylor had 18 tackles and a fumble recovery. Taylor is fifth in the GLIAC in tackles per game (10.2)…linebacker Cameron Trudell, a 5-10, 234-pound sophomore, has 38 tackles (16 solo)…outside linebacker Cory Farcas, a 6-2, 225-pound junior, has 38 tackles (19 solo), 3.5 tackles for loss (25 yards) and two interceptions.
Owens on Walsh
"They're opportunistic, they get turnovers. Their defense creates issues for you. They're similar on defense to what we were doing on defense early in my tenure. The reason I used that defense was I didn't like to coach against it. Now I have to coach against it. On offense they won't beat themselves. Everywhere he's (Dennison) ever coached has been like that."
Up Next
The Eagles head to Canton next Saturday (Oct. 20, 7 p.m.) to play Malone. That game will be played at Fawcett Stadium.
AU
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