The No. 10-ranked Washburn Ichabods will have the No. 7-ranked Abilene Christian in a top-10 match up in the home opener in Yager Stadium on Saturday night with a 6 p.m. start time. The Ichabods are coming off a 34-29 win over Colorado Mines. The Ichabods are looking to go 2-0 in non-conference play for the third straight season and the fifth time under head coach Craig Schurig.

Ichabods on Radio . . .
The game will be broadcast live on KTPK 106.9 FM The game can also be heard on the internet at www.wusports.com by following the “Live Audio” link under football. Bruce Steinbrock will be the play-by-play voice of the Ichabods and former WU quarterback Mark Elliott will be the color analyst. Jan Lunsford will provide sideline insight for listeners on the field.

The Coaches . . .
Washburn head football coach Craig Schurig was named head coach of the Ichabod football program Dec. 28, 2001. Schurig is 55-37 (.575) in his ninth season as the Ichabod head coach and he is 42-30 (.580) against the MIAA. He has led the Ichabods to two NCAA Playoff appearances in the last five seasons and to the 2005 MIAA Championship as well as six straight winning seasons.
Abilene Christian head coach Chris Thomsen is 32-17 as the Wildcat's head coach. Entering his sixth season on the ACU sidelines, Thomsem has led the Wildcats to the NCAA playoffs in each of the last four seasons. The ACU graduate played tight end for the Wildcats earning second team all-American honors after playing three seasons of football at Texas Christian. He was a 17th-round draft choice by the Oakland A's playing two seasons in their minor league system before playing the lone season for the Wildcats after stepping away from baseball.

Last time out for the Ichabods . . .
(Aug. 28, 2010) GOLDEN, Colo. -- The No. 10 Washburn Ichabods survived five turnovers while racking up 611 yards in total offense in a come-from-behind 34-29 win over Colorado Mines in the season opener. The win was the sixth straight over the Orediggers in the final game in the series.
After the Orediggers jumped out to a 7-0 lead, Washburn quickly knotted the score at 7-7 on a 30-yard touchdown strike from Dane Simoneau to Joe Hastings covering 75 yards in three plays. However 84 seconds later the Orediggers regained the lead with a 75-yard touchdown pass. On the ensuing kickoff, Washburn gave up a team safety as the Orediggers lead grew to 15-7.
On the Ichabods opening drive of the second half, they marched 60 yards in 11 plays capped by a 37-yard field goal by Steve Ivanisevic. The Ichabod defense would then force a three-and-out and would go on an 80-yard drive in six plays capped by a SImoneau to Brody Schuler touchdown pass covering eight yards. The Ichabods would go for two and Cooper carried it over from the left side for the score.
Washburn's defense again forced a punt after three plays and the Ichabods Vershon Moore rushed for 18-yards putting Washburn up 25-15 with 2:41 to go in the third quarter.
The Orediggers scored on their next possession on a 9-yard touchdown pass from Clay Garcia to Jerrod Doucet cutting Washburn's lead to 25-22.
Ivanisevic stretched the lead to six with a 27-yard field goal with 13:34 to go in the game and the Ichabods holding on to a 28-22.
The Orediggers scored on their next possession wrapping up a 64-yard drive in four plays taking a 29-28 lead with 12:02 to go. On the Ichabods' next possession, Simoneau was picked off for the second time on the afternoon, but the Washburn defense held. The Ichabods would take the lead after the change of possession and drive 80 yards on 11 plays putting Washburn up 34-29 with 3:46 to go in the game after the two-point conversion failed.
With the Orediggers looking to go ahead for the game-winning drive, CSM reached the Ichabod 33 before Jahmil Taylor sacked Garcia and the fumble was recovered by Marty Pfannenstiel with 2:13 to go in the game.
Washburn would then run out the clock converting two third down plays to wrap up the game and the five-point victory.
The Washburn defense limited the Orediggers to 323 total yards while holding CSM to nine net rushing yards on 20 attempts.
Michael Hollins led the Ichabods with eight tackles with five solo stops along with two tackles for loss and a sack adding a forced fumble. Jared Brawner finished with seven tackles. Taylor recorded six tackles including a sack and a tackle for loss and Michael Wilhoite had four solo tackles with two sacks for six yards and a forced fumble.
The Ichabods finished with 611 total yards with 300 coming through the air for Simoneau who completed 21 of 28 attempts with two touchdowns and the two picks. His favorite target was Joe Hastings who recorded a career-high 201 yards on 13 receptions becoming the first Ichabod to go over 200 receiving yards since Sam Sissom did against Western Washington on Sept. 9, 2006. The 13 receptions also tied a Washburn single game record matching Ron Hamilton's total from Oct. 11, 1980 against Wayne State (Neb.).
Moore finished with 218 yards on 24 carries and one touchdown. He averaged 9.1 yards per carry during the game. Cooper finished with 81 yards on 16 carries as the Ichabods recorded 50 rushing attempts for 311 net yards averaging 6.2 yards per carry.

About Abilene Christian . . .
The Wildcats are coming off a 9-4 campaign in 2009 and are ranked No. 7 in the country, according to the American Football Coaches' Association NCAA Division II pre-season poll, and No. 4 in the d2football.com preseason media poll. ACU was also picked to finish second in the Lone Star Conference South Division this season. ACU is also No. 14 in The Sporting News and No. 17 by Lindy's magazine.
One of the biggest storylines of the 2009 season for the Wildcats was the quarterback position where Mitchell Gale, Zach Stewart and Clark Harrell all saw action with Stewart starting the first five games of the year and Gale starting each of the final eight games.
But even with just two quarterbacks on the roster who have ever played in a college football game, Thomsen said he's not actively pursuing another quarterback.
Offensively, the Wildcats return three starters on the offensive line (pre-season all-America selections Trevis Turner at tackle and Royland Tubbs at guard and center Matt Webber), and also returning starting running backs Daryl Richardson and Reggie Brown and receivers Edmund Gates and Kendrick Johnson. Tight end Ben Gibbs is expected to start after missing the last couple of games of the season with a broken leg.
New additions expected to contribute to the offense are offensive linemen Richard Cagle (transfer from Vanderbilt), Dylan Blount (transfer from Kilgore College) and redshirt freshman Josh Perez, as well as running back Josh Morgan and redshirt freshman receiver Darian Hogg.
On the defensive side of the ball, junior defensive end Aston Whiteside – a pre-season all-America selection and the LSC South Division Pre-Season Defensive Player of the Year – leads a group that returns the front seven virtually intact. Defensive tackles Mike and Marvin Jones (no relation) also return, and the Wildcats have added transfer tackle Donald Moore from Tyler Junior College. All-conference outside linebacker Fred Thompson will move down to the other defensive end spot after Nick Jones gave up football to concentrate on track and field
The linebacking corps is led by pre-season all-America Kevin Washington and returning starters Courtney Lane and Eric Edwards.
ACU's coaching staff spent most of their summer trying to re-tool a secondary that lost a pair of starters. Returning to start at cornerback is Drew Cuffee, while part-time starter Richard Havins will start at one safety spot. New additions in the secondary are safety Darien Williams (transfer from North Texas); cornerback Kamaron Riely (transfer from Independence Community College after signing with Georgia Tech); cornerback Nate Bailey (transfer from Santa Barbara City College); cornerback David Lamour (transfer from Chaffey College); and safety Korneil Howard (transfer from Harper College).

Last time out for the Wildcats . . .
(Nov. 21, 2009) MARYVILLE, Mo. -- For the second straight season, Northwest Missouri State put an end to Abilene Christian's football season, this time in dominating fashion with a 35-10 victory at Bearcat Stadium in the second round of the NCAA Division II playoffs.
The Bearcats (11-1) advance to the national quarterfinals to play either No. 1 Central Washington or Tarleton State. The Wildcats finish their fourth straight playoff season with a 9-4 record.
Northwest took the opening drive and went 77 yards to a score, a drive capped by an 8-yard run by LaRon Council just 2:14 into the game. ACU answered, though, with a 51-yard drive that was capped by a 29-yard field goal by Morgan Lineberry, cutting the lead to 7-3 with 6:38 left in the first quarter.
On Northwest's ensuing drive, the Bearcats moved from their own 17-yard line to the ACU 49 before Blake Bolles was intercepted at the ACU 28-yard line by Josh Wise. ACU then began to move the ball, pushing down to a first-and-goal at the Northwest 3-yard line after a couple of big third-down conversions.
But on third-and-goal from the 1-yard line, ACU quarterback Mitchell Gale had the ball knocked out of his hand by Willie Horn and Josh Lorenson recovered at the 1-yard line.
After an exchange of punts, Northwest took over at its own 15-yard line with 6:51 left in the first half and holding a precarious 7-3 lead. After a Council run and a Bolles pass to Nick Rhodes moved the ball to the 29, Bolles faked a handoff to Council and kept around left end and went untouched for a 71-yard score that gave the Bearcats the cushion they needed.
ACU had a chance to get on the board again late in the first half, moving from its own 49-yard line after a Fred Thompson interception and driving to the Northwest 23-yard line. But Lineberry missed a 39-yard field goal to keep the halftime score 14-3.
The Wildcats received the opening kickoff, but on the first play, Reggie Brown fumbled and Aldwin Foster-Rettig recovered at the Wildcat 17-yard line. Three plays later, Council scored from 1 yard out to make it 21-3, effectively putting a wrap on the game and the Wildcats' season.
The Bearcats added a couple of more touchdowns before Daryl Richardson scored ACU's only touchdown on a 1-yard run with 2:01 to end the scoring.
Gale finished the game 21 for 33 for 175 yards, while backup Zach Stewart directed the touchdown drive, finishing 3 of 4 for 33 yards. Brown led the Wildcats in rushing with 72 yards on 18 carries.
Northwest's offensive effort was led by receiver Jake Soy, who had seven catches for 141 yards. Bolles completed 15 of 20 passes for 229 yards and one touchdown, but did throw three interceptions. Council finished the game with 87 yards rushing and three touchdowns on 17 carries.
Series Notes . . .
Saturday's meeting will be the first between the two schools.

Washburn Football History . . .
Washburn is 498-545-44 in the 120th year of Ichabod football.

A win for Washburn would . . .
lift the Ichabods to 499-545-44 in their football history … move the Ichabods to 2-0 on the season for the third straight season and for the fifth time under head coach Craig Schurig … make Washburn 1-0 all-time against Abilene Christian … be the seventh straight win in Yager Stadium dating back to the start of the 2009 season … be fourth straight win for the Ichabods dating back to last season … make the Ichabods 6-3 in home openers under Craig Schurig.

A loss for Washburn would . . .
drop the Ichabods to 498-546-44 in their football history … drop the Ichabods to 1-1 on the season … drop the Ichabods to 0-1 all-time against Abilene Christian … drop the Ichabods to 5-4 in home openers under head coach Craig Schurig.

Colorado Mines revisited . . . the win
over the Orediggers lifted the Ichabods to 498-545-44 in the program's history … moved the Ichabods to 1-0 on the season … was the seventh straight win for the Ichabods in the series … lifted head coach Craig Schurig to 6-1 against in alma mater … was the fourth straight win over the Orediggers in Golden … was the third straight season-opening win for the Ichabods and the fifth in the last nine years under Schurig … improved Washburn to 14-4 all-time against Colorado Mines.

The Ichabods in the National Polls . . .
The Ichabods moved up from No. 10 to No. 9 in the AFCA poll which was released on Tuesday this week. The rankings marks the fourth time in school history the Ichabods have been ranked in the top 10 during the regular season in the AFCA Division II Coaches Poll.

Bods and Ends . . .
Mines is just fine - Joe Hastings tied a school record with 13 receptions against the Orediggers tallying 201 receiving yards … Ron Hamilton recorded 13 total catches on Oct. 11, 1980 against Wayne State (Neb.) … each of his three receiving touchdowns have been against Colorado Mines … in the four games he has played against the Orediggers, he has 21 receptions for 359 yards averaging 17.1 yards per catch recording a career-long reception of 49 on Saturday against Mines.

Grounded Orediggers - The Ichabod defense allowed only nine yards net rushing in the win over Colorado Mines … the total was the lowest since the Ichabods held Missouri Southern to 20 yards on 24 carries in a 23-0 win over the Lions on Oct. 4, 2008 in Joplin.