Eagle football finishes impressive season with No. 13 national rank
The Eagles conference winning season finishes at a 10-2 overall record
The Eagles fell in Pennsylvania to IUP in the 2022 NCAA playoffs.
December 28, 2022
The Ashland University Eagle football team has surely impressed a lot of its doubters in Head Coach Lee Owens’ final season at the helm.
With the conference championship being taken home to Jack Miller Stadium, a Division II playoff berth, Coach Owens retiring, countless awards being given to team members and even linebacker Michael Ayers declaring for the NFL Draft, this past season is surely one that has stapled itself into the history books.
While the Eagles have been impressive this season, they have countless national rankings to back up their confidence.
Their final season ranking slotted them at No. 13 in the nation. The Eagles appeared in the NCAA Division II playoffs and won their opening round contest, 20-13, against the Notre Dame College Falcons.
The hard-hitting Falcons gave the Eagles a run for their money, as they finished the season with a No. 23 national ranking, but the second round is where the Eagles would meet their toughest opponent of the season.
While the Midwest Region had a handful of eye-catching teams, one of the many standouts would be the University of Indiana-Pennselvinia. The Eagles would fall, 19-13 as the offense spun out and stalemated in the matchup.
With the victory, the University of Indiana-Pennsylvania moved on to the quarterfinals and fell to Shepard, a team that finished No. 6 in the nation.
The Eagles saw their season have countless exciting moments, with a No. 20, No. 12, No. 14, No. 13, No. 12, No. 9, and a No. 6 national ranking.
As they finish the season with the No. 13 ranking, those following the team know the eyes now turn to finding their next Head Coach of the future and keeping a close watch on the Eagle faithful’s next potential NFL player.
The full FINAL list of the 2022-2023 Divison II coaches poll ranking can be found below:
| 1 | Ferris St. (Mich.) (28) | 14-1 | 725 | 5 | D. No. 10 Colorado Mines, 41-14, in championship | Tony Annese |
| 2 | Colorado School of Mines | 13-3 | 690 | 10 | Lost to No. 5 Ferris St. (Mich.), 41-14, in championship | Brandon Moore |
| 3 | Grand Valley St. (Mich.) | 12-1 | 649 | 1 | Lost to No. 5 Ferris St. (Mich.), 24-21, in quarterfinals | Matt Mitchell |
| 4 | West Florida | 12-2 | 622 | 6 | Lost to No. 5 Ferris St. (Mich.), 38-17, in semifinals | Pete Shinnick |
| 5 | Pittsburg St. (Kan.) | 12-1 | 581 | 4 | Lost to No. 5 Ferris St. (Mich.), 17-14, in second round | Brian Wright |
| 6 | Shepherd (W.Va.) | 13-2 | 538 | 11 | Lost to No. 10 Colorado Mines, 44-13, in semifinals | Ernie McCook |
| 7 | Angelo St. (Tex.) | 12-1 | 533 | 2 | Lost to No. 10 Colorado Mines, 42-24, in quarterfinals | Jeff Girsch |
| 8 | Northwest Missouri St. | 10-3 | 495 | 8 | Lost to No. 1 Grand Valley St. (Mich.), 13-8, in second round | Rich Wright |
| 9 | Delta St. (Miss.) | 11-2 | 458 | 9 | Lost to No. 6 West Florida, 38-27, in second round | Todd Cooley |
| 10 | Ouachita Baptist (Ark.) | 11-1 | 408 | 3 | Lost to No. 8 Northwest Missouri St., 47-17, in first round | Todd Knight |
| 11 | Indiana (Pa.) | 10-2 | 394 | 15 | Lost to No. 11 Shepherd (W.Va.), 48-13, in quarterfinals | Paul Tortorella |
| 12 | Benedict (S.C.) | 11-1 | 388 | 7 | Lost to No. 22 Wingate (N.C.), 23-6, in second round | Chennis Berry |
| 13 | Ashland (Ohio) | 10-2 | 372 | 12 | Lost to No. 15 Indiana (Pa.), 19-13, in second round | Lee Owens |
| 14 | Minnesota St. | 10-3 | 341 | 19 | Lost to No. 10 Colorado Mines, 48-45, in second round | Todd Hoffner |
| 15 | Wingate (N.C.) | 11-3 | 331 | 22 | Lost to No. 6 West Florida, 45-14, in quarterfinals | Joe Reich |
| 16 | Slippery Rock (Pa.) | 10-3 | 296 | 20 | Lost to No. 11 Shepherd (W.Va.), 37-27, in second round | Shawn Lutz |
| 17 | Indianapolis (Ind.) | 9-2 | 241 | 13 | Lost to No. 4 Pittsburg St. (Kan.), 35-0, in first round | Chris Keevers |
| 18 | Virginia Union | 9-2 | 197 | 14 | Lost to No. 22 Wingate (N.C.), 32-7, in first round | Alvin Parker |
| 19 | West Georgia | 8-2 | 171 | 16 | DNQ Playoffs | David Dean |
| 20 | Davenport (Mich.) | 8-3 | 166 | 21 | Lost to No. 5 Ferris St. (Mich.), 41-7, in first round | Sparky McEwen |
| 21 | Newberry (S.C.) | 9-2 | 109 | 18 | DNQ Playoffs | Todd Knight |
| 22 | Harding (Ark.) | 9-2 | 103 | 17 | DNQ Playoffs | Paul Simmons |
| 23 | Notre Dame (Ohio) | 9-3 | 94 | 24t | Lost to No. 12 Ashland (Ohio), 20-13, in first round | Garrett Mack |
| 24 | Bemidji St. (Minn.) | 10-3 | 90 | NR | Lost to No. 2 Angelo St. (Tex.), 33-7, in second round | Brent Bolte |
| 25 | Truman St. (Mo.) | 9-2 | 72 | 23 | D. Tiffin (Ohio), 28-27, in America’s Crossroads Bowl | Gregg Nesbitt |
