ASHLAND — Another campaign of Ashland University football is upon us and this one begins with a stellar matchup.
The 12th-ranked Eagles kick off the 2023 campaign on Thursday at 7 p.m. with an assignment at 16th-ranked Indiana University Pennsylvania.
Ashland-IUP is one of only two opening-week Top 25 games in Division II, along with No. 3 Grand Valley State at No. 2 Colorado School of Mines.
For AU, this year also brings with it a significant change at the top.
The Eagles will fly under the direction of new coach Doug Geiser. He is only the fourth coach at the school since 1959.
Here is a look at how the previous three – Dr. Fred Martinelli, Gary Keller and Lee Owens – did in their first games leading the Eagles:
Dr. Fred Martinelli Sept. 19, 1959 — 6-6 tie vs. Wooster
Gary Keller Sept. 10, 1994 — 16-14 loss vs. Ferris State
Lee Owens Aug. 28, 2004 — 48-7 win vs. St. Joseph’s
Geiser said he and his charges are ready for the season to begin.
“After 19 days, the guys were ready to break camp,” Geiser said. “You try to be prepared as possible (for the first game), go through all the scenarios, but knowing that something is going to come up that you will … handle with chaos.
“The thing that’s nice is we have a lot of continuity on staff, and there are a lot of holdovers from last year’s team.”
The Eagles return 11 All-Great Midwest players, and have six returning starters on both offense and defense.
In 2022, AU football went 10-2, winning its first outright Great Midwest championship and advancing to the second round of the NCAA Division II playoffs.
This is an immediate rematch of the 2022 second-round Division II postseason game in Pennsylvania, a 19-13 Eagle loss.
This is the first time the Eagles will start a new season against the team which was the last opponent the year before since 1959-60 (Manchester).
In 1959, then-Ashland College ended with a 14-12 home loss to Manchester, but turned around to begin 1960 with a 13-0 road win.
The Eagles will have their home opener on Saturday, Sept. 9 at 7 p.m. against two-time defending national champion Ferris State.
Opposing view
IUP’s big offensive addition for 2023 is redshirt junior quarterback Karst Hunter, a former Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Offensive Freshman of the Year who passed for 33 touchdowns to just 13 interceptions in 2021-22.
Junior wide receiver Hilton Ridley returns after recording 53 catches for 805 yards and eight touchdowns in 2022.
Defensively, the Crimson Hawks have their leading tackler back from a season ago in junior linebacker Drew DiNunzio-Biss, who made 88 total tackles last fall. Junior star Darius Bruce also is back after a team-high four interceptions in 2022.
Sophomore kicker Nick Andrasi made 8-of-9 field goals and had 10 touchbacks on kickoffs as a freshman.
Coach’s corner
For Geiser, after being a player, assistant coach and associate head coach, what will be different prior to the game at IUP?
“To tell you the truth, I haven’t had a chance to think about that,” he said. “I’m assuming at some point, I will take a step back, take a moment and have a moment, ‘Hey, this is actually happening.’
“Getting the opportunity to be the next head coach at Ashland, it’s an honor I can’t even put into words.”
Preseason favorites
Going into 2023, the Eagles are favored to win their second consecutive Great Midwest Athletic Conference.
They were the choice in the 2023 Great Midwest Football Coaches Preseason Poll, released on Aug. 9.
In the now-10-team circuit with the edition of Thomas More, Ashland is the favorite with six first-place votes and 78 voting points. Tiffin is second with three first-place votes and 71 voting points, while Findlay is third with one first-place vote and 64 voting points.
AU team captains
Ashland has five captains heading into the 2023 season – junior quarterback Trevor Bycznski, senior left guard Nehemiah Cannon, senior wide receiver Jake McLoughlin, senior inside linebacker Jackson Myers, and junior cornerback Devin Prude.