#17 Ashland (3-0/2-0 GLIAC) at Northern Michigan (1-2/0-2)
Saturday, Sept. 22, 2 p.m.
Superior Dome/Marquette, Mich.
Sights and Sounds
This week's game will be broadcast live on WNCO-AM (1340) with Matt Brubaker on the play-by-play and Don Graham handling the commentary. The game can be heard at wncoam.com.
Looking Ahead and Behind
The Eagles, ranked 17th (AFCA) in the country and tied for first place in the GLIAC South Division, are looking for their first 4-0 start since the 1991 season. Last Saturday night in Big Rapids, Mich., the Eagles held off Ferris State, 47-32. This is the second consecutive week the Eagles have been included in the nation's Top 25. This is also AU's second consecutive road game. This is Ashland's longest trip of the season in miles, but because the Eagles will fly to Marquette, Mich., on Friday afternoon, it will be one of the shortest trips time-wise. The flight takes approximately an hour.
Northern Michigan is looking to rebound from a 47-7 loss at Ohio Dominican last Saturday.
Ashland-Northern Michigan
Ashland is the GLIAC South Division and Northern Michigan is in the North Division. NMU is one of two schools (Michigan Tech is the other) that plays football on Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
- The Eagles hold a 14-6 advantage in the all-time series.
- Ashland has won four of the last five meetings. A year ago in Ashland the Eagles clipped the 'Cats, 45-16.
- Northern Michigan's last victory over AU came in Marquette in 2010, 23-19.
- AU's all-time record in the Superior Dome is 5-5. NMU has won four of the last five meetings in Marquette.
- This series began in 1990 with NMU winning in Ashland, 26-23. That is the only time NMU has won at AU. The 'Cats are 1-9 in Ashland.
- Twice in this series Ashland has put together four-game winning streaks (1991-94, 1996-99). NMU has never won consecutive games against the Eagles.
- AU has scored in double digits in every game but one (lost 20-8 in 1995) in this series.
- AU head coach Lee Owens is 4-2 against Northern Michigan.
- Under Owens, the Eagles have averaged 31.5 ppg., against the Wildcats.
Ashland-Northern Michigan – 2011
The Wildcats came into game ranked 23rd in the country. Ashland was coming off the two longest games in school history (four-overtime game vs. Indianapolis, three-overtime game vs. Hillsdale) and had lost the week before at Hillsdale, 40-34.
The start wasn't promising for the Eagles. NMU led, 13-0 after one quarter. That's when the Eagles shifted into high gear, scoring the game's next 31 points and taking a 31-13 lead with 11:29 left in the third quarter. AU scored 21 points in the third quarter, the Wildcats were held to a field goal in the second half and the Eagles came away with a 45-16 triumph.
Tailback Jordan McCune (Bellville, Ohio/Clear Fork) rushed for a season-high 143 yards with touchdown runs of 6 and 8 yards. Senior tailback D.J. McCoy carried the ball six times for 12 yards and had scoring runs of 1 and 2 yards. The ground game accounted for 255 yards. The Eagles averaged 5.0 ypc. Ashland threw the ball only 12 times. The Eagles forced three fumbles and sacked NMU quarterback Carter Kopach three times. Defensive back Tyler McFarlin (Ashland, Ohio) had 11 tackles (seven solo) and one tackle for loss. Senior defensive lineman Matt Stoinoff had 10 tackles (five solo) and a sack.
The special teams got in on the act, too. Gregg Berkshire punted four times and averaged 47.0 ypp., with a long of 57 yards. One of AU's touchdowns came off of a blocked punt. After the block, special teams whiz Da'Vell Winters recovered the ball in the end zone.
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 58-33 at Ashland. He is second in career wins, trailing only Dr. Fred Martinelli (217). Owens is third in career winning percentage (.637) at AU. The only coaches he trails are Bob Brownson (.672/1954-57) and Martinelli (.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 98-94. 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
The Eagles ran their record to 3-0 with a 47-32 win at Ferris State. This was AU's first road game of the year and if the Eagles had any trepidation about being away from home for the first time it didn't show in the first half when the Eagles jumped in front, 23-0. FSU roared back and closed to within eight points several times in the second half, but AU never gave up the lead.
Senior quarterback Taylor Housewright (Ashland, Ohio) completed 25-of-36 passes for 438 yards and four touchdowns. That completion total is a career high for Housewright. The yardage total is two yards shy of the school, single-game record of 440 yards set by Jeff Leopold in 1999 against Grand Valley State. Housewright's TD passes covered 18, 6, 7 and 12 yards. Housewright shares the school single-game record for TD passes in a game (five) with Billy Cundiff.
Two AU wide receivers had over 100 receiving yards in the game. Sophomore Dan Piko (Oak Lawn, Ill./Marist Academy) caught six passes for 142 yards. That yardage total is a career high and the six catches equals his career high. Piko scored a touchdown on a 43-yard kickoff return. That came in the fourth quarter when he scooped up an onsides kick and raced to paydirt.
Sophomore wide receiver Eric Thompkins (Canton, Ohio/South) had six catches for 120 yards. Both of those figures are career highs. Thompkins has established career highs for catches and yards for two consecutive weeks. Senior wide receiver Anthony Capasso (Columbia Station, Ohio/St. Edward) had five catches for 70 yards and a touchdown.
Freshman fullback Steve Nagy (Hudson, Ohio) scored three touchdowns. He grabbed scoring passes of 18 and 7 yards and scored on a 1-yard run. Nagy leads the Eagles with five touchdowns. Redshirt freshman kicker Cameron Casey (Rochester, Mich./Adams), in his first game handling placements, was two-for-two on field goal tries, connecting from 31 and 21 yards. He was five-for-six on extra point attempts. Casey, who began the year handling kickoffs, was pressed into service on placements when freshman Greg Gallaway (Ashland, Ohio) was sidelined due to an appendectomy.
On defense, junior safety Brian Gamble (Massillon, Ohio/Illinois) had a team-high 13 tackles (nine solo) and one tackle for loss (six yards). Junior linebacker Cody Bloom (Napoleon, Ohio) had 12 tackles (five solo) and sophomore defensive back Chris Harvey (Columbus, Ohio/Walnut Ridge) registered nine tackles (two solo), two tackles for loss (four yards), a forced fumble and a pass breakup.
AU led in total yardage, 537-504. There were no turnovers in the game.
NCAA Numbers
Listed below are Ashland's Top 25 rankings in this week's NCAA statistics.
Individual
Category Player Rank Number
Tackles Bloom T-6 12.33 tpg.
Punting Housewright T-14 42.00 ypp.
Pass Efficiency Housewright 15 166.57
Total Offense Housewright 24 282.00 ypg.
Scoring Nagy T-24 10.0 ppg.
Team
Category Rank Number
Pass Efficiency Def. 12 90.62
Pass Efficiency 17 166.55
Scoring Defense 18 15.33 ppg.
Pass Offense 26 278.33 ypg.
GLIAC Numbers
Housewright is the leading punter (42.0 ypp.) in the conference. He is third in passing yards per game (278.3) and tied for second in touchdown passes (7). Nagy is fourth in scoring (10.0 ppg.) and Capasso is fifth in receiving yards per game (75.3). Piko is seventh in receiving yards per game (72.0) and Thompkins is eighth (69.7) in that category. Sophomore Anthony Taylor (Arlington, Va./Washington-Lee) is eighth in rushing yards per game (71.3). Gamble is tied for 10th in tackles per game (9.3).
Rookie On the Rise
Freshman offensive lineman Jon Cipa (Tallmadge, Ohio) has impressed the coaching staff with his play over the last two weeks. Cipa saw extensive playing time at right guard in the second half last week and should receive snaps this week. Owens compared his zest for the game to that of former AU All-Americans Blake Dickson and Vince Cashdollar.
"He had some rookie jitters," said Owen of Cipa's play at Ferris State. "It wasn't perfect, but we think he'll be a really good player for us."
Job Opening
There's not much that's gone wrong for the Eagles over the last three weeks, but the one area where Owens would like to see more production is in the punt return game. The Eagles have returned five punts and averaged 4.0 ypr. That doesn't bother Owens as much as some shaky plays fielding the ball.
"We haven't done a real good job of fielding punts," admitted Owens. "We let some punts hit the ground. We've muffed a few. It's not a job a lot of people want, they aren't waiting in line."
Seeing A Different Game
Owens is known for his ability to develop quarterbacks and put signal callers in situations where they can thrive. Last week, he watched Housewright carve up a talented Ferris State defense.
"It was Manning-like," gushed Owens. "Not physically, but he looked up and saw what they were doing and got us in the right play. He really did a nice job making the right reads, making suggestions on the sideline. He made some really good checks early in the game. It's probably as good a job as I've watched a college quarterback do for us."
Housewright has completed 60-of-92 passes (65.2 percent) for 835 yards with seven touchdowns and no interceptions. Dating back to last season, Housewright has played six consecutive games without throwing an interception.
In his career, Housewright has completed 373-of-585 passes (63.8 percent) for 4,585 yards. He has 46 touchdown passes and 12 interceptions. At AU, Housewright is second in career TD passes and passing yards and third in career completions.
Health and Welfare
Through three games, the Eagles have been basically ignored by the injury bug. Owens has a few thoughts on AU's increased health.
"We're playing a lot of guys, especially on defense," pointed out the AU head coach. "On special teams we've got 20 guys to run down the field and you can't tell the difference between them."
Owens said he believes the offseason program the Eagles went through was the most rigorous he's observed in his nine years at Ashland. A year ago, the Eagles cut back on their in-season lifting. That's not the case this year.
"We got away from our in-season program and it hurt us," said Owens. "We're lifting three days a week."
There's one other ingredient in all of this, which can't be controlled.
"You've got to be lucky," laughed Owens. "It's not because we haven't played physical."
Full Bloom
Junior linebacker Cody Bloom (Napoleon, Ohio) 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). OhioCollegeFootball.com picked Bloom as its 2012 preseason defensive player of the year and he was tabbed as a preseason honorable mention All-American by Beyond Sports Network. Bloom has a team-high 37 tackles this season.
Meeting Meder
AU defensive lineman Jamie Meder (Parma, Ohio/Valley Forge) is a two-time first team All-GLIAC selection. Meder, a junior, has 16 tackles (eight solo) and 2.5 tackles for loss this season. Meder has 23.5 career tackles for loss. AU's career leader is Allen Lattimore with 38.5.
Mac Attack
A year ago, McCune rushed for a team-high 834 yards. McCune is the first freshman to lead the team in rushing since Paul Bockmore in 1999 (624 yards). His final total is the highest by a rookie since Matt Otero gained 1,030 yards in 1997.
Avoiding Doom In the Dome
Owens believes that Northern Michigan is a completely different team in the Superior Dome than it is when it hits the road. For that reason, he's focused in on NMU's home game against Wisconsin-Lacrosse and not last week's 47-7 loss at Ohio Dominican. That split personality and making a quick adjustment to playing inside can make a trip to NMU a difficult assignment.
"Watching them play in the dome they look like a pretty good football team," commented Owens. "It's a tough environment to play in. There's different light, different footing and a different noise level. On the road, you say the home team has a touchdown advantage. It's probably more up there. There's a lot to be concerned about."
Owens has tried to reduce some of those concerns by having the Eagles fly to Marquette on Friday afternoon. If the Eagles were going by bus, they would be leaving on Thursday and returning sometime Sunday morning. The bus trip can be draining and so can 60 minutes under the Superior Dome roof.
"I think the flight will help us," said Owens. "Now we need to go up there and play four quarters. It's tough to start there and it's tough to finish there, the humidity gets to you."
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. Last week'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
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.
- Last week marked the first time two AU wide receivers had 100+ receiving yards in a game since Nov. 1, 2008, when Joe Horn had 11 catches for 113 yards and Nick Bellanco caught nine passes for 165 yards.
- Piko's kickoff return for a touchdown last week was AU's first since Horn took the opening kickoff back 93 yards for a score against Lake Erie in the final game of the 2010 season. AU won that game, 87-17.
- Dating back to last season, Bloom has reached double digits in tackles in six of the last eight games.
- Under Owens, AU is 4-0 at Ferris State.
- The last time AU started a season 4-0 was in 1991. That team won its first seven games. In the first four games, AU defeated Valparaiso (30-7), Ferris State (35-7), California (51-10) and Hillsdale (29-7).
- AU has scored 91 points in three games. A year ago, AU had 93 points after three weeks, but that included seven overtime sessions. The last time AU had more than 93 points after three weeks was in 2008 when the Eagles scored 114 points in the first three games.
The Scouting Report – The Northern Michigan Wildcats
Head Coach – Chris Ostrowsky (First Year)
Last Year's Record – 4-7/3-7 GLIAC
Noteworthy
The Wildcats were picked seventh out of eight teams in the GLIAC North Division in the GLIAC Coaches' Preseason Poll…NMU's lone win this season came in the second week of the season, 24-6 over Wisconsin-Lacrosse…first year head coach Chris Ostrowsky spent the last two years as the offensive coordinator at NMU. Prior to coming to Northern Michigan, he spent three years as an assistant coach at Northeastern. Osrowsky has spent over 15 years as an assistant coach…the 'Cats have been outscored, 47-14 in the first half and 37-17 in the third quarter…this week is homecoming at NMU…the Wildcats are going with a 4-3 defense after using a 3-4 the last two seasons…on offense, the 'Cats remain committed to the spread offense, which they have run the last three seasons…eight starters return on offense.
Watch List
Defensive tackle Zach Anderson is described by Owens as "a one-man wrecking crew." Anderson has 18 tackles (nine solo), 4.5 tackles for loss (eight yards) and an interception. The 6-4, 278-pound senior is a two-time second team All-GLIAC pick…linebacker Eddie Knoblock, a 6-2, 234-pound senior, has a team-high 28 tackles (15 solo) and 3.5 tackles for loss (13 yards). Knoblock was a first team all-conference choice in 2010, but injuries limited him to two games last season…linebacker Morgan Stenz, a 6-0, 214-pound junior, has 21 tackles (11 solo)...Rockne Belmonte, a 6-1, 214-pound senior, handles the kicking and punting duties. He holds the school record for field goals in a season…Brandon Parson, a 5-11, 179-pound junior, has returned six punts and is averaging 18.5 ypr…Christian Jessie, a 5-9, 165-pound junior, has brought back 11 kickoffs and is averaging 22.9 ypr…Prince Young, a 5-9, 196-pound senior, tailback leads the team in rushing with 265 yards on 72 pops (3.7 ypc.). A year ago he gained 960 yards on 202 carries…wide receiver Julian Gaines can create matchup problems. He's a 6-6, 211-pound sophomore with a team-leading 16 catches for 183 yard (11.4 ypc.)…the NMU starting quarterback is redshirt freshman Ryan Morley. The 5-11, 188-pound Morley has completed 50-of-105 passes (47.6 percent) for 584 yards with one TD and five interceptions.
Owens on Northern Michigan
"It's the same offense with a different quarterback. We have a lot of tape and experience against it. It creates problems. They spread the field and play four and five receivers. They're a little different on defense. It's different than we saw the last two years. It was 3-4 the last two years, more traditional 4-3 now. It's kind of what we've seen the last two weeks."
Up Next
Ashland returns to Jack Miller Stadium/Martinelli Field next Saturday (Sept. 29, 7 p.m.). AU will host Lake Erie in the final home night game of the season.
AU
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