One of the more scrutinized forms of football analysis in previewing a season is the preseason poll system that is release before the season officially kicks off. 

A preseason poll is more often than not a recreation of the previous season’s final standings. This season’s Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference South Division Preseason Coaches Poll is no exception to that rule. 

Ohio Dominican, the 2013 south division champion, was selected to finish first again. 

They we’re followed by Findlay, who also finished as the division runner-up in 2013. 

Following both of those teams is Ashland University. After a 5-5 season and a third place division finish a year ago, the Eagles were selected by conference coaches to finish in the same position in 2014. 

That’s what Ashland head coach Lee Owens fully expected to happen, but it most certainly doesn’t change his mind about where he thinks his team will finish. 

“It’s a realistic expectation that we are going to win the GLIAC every year,” Owens said. “I believe it, and our players believe it.”

Owens, entering his 11th season as AU’s head coach, might be on to something with that train of thought. 

AU has experienced some mediocre seasons of late, 6-5 in 2009, 6-5 in 2011 season, only to follow those seasons with records of 9-4 in 2010 and a GLIAC championship season of 11-1 in 2012. 

While a 5-5 record in 2013 certainly doesn’t guarantee a first place finish this season, Owens has found in his team in this position before and believes that a trip back to the top can happen again. 

“We’ve stressed this offseason and will stress in camp ‘no toughness, no title.’ The only way we get back to winning a title is playing hard-nosed football that we’ve been known for over the years.”

With training camp underway and the opening game of the season at home against Lake Erie just around the corner, here’s a look at what Owen’s 2014 squad has to offer:

Offense: RB Taylor and other weapons return, but still unproven at QB

Coach Owens will be the first person to tell you the greatest strength of his 2014 team is his plethora of running backs, led by Ashland’s all-time leading rusher Anthony Taylor. 

Just now entering his senior season, Taylor is coming off a record-breaking season where he rushed for 1691 yards on 282 carries and scored 14 touchdowns.

“This has been ‘Tailback U’ ever since the coaching days of Coach Fred Martinelli,” Owens said. “For us to have a player that has broken the AU all-time single season rushing record and the AU career rushing record with one year of eligibility left says a lot about Anthony Taylor.”

Taylor was a first team All-GLIAC selection and was also named to the Daktronics All-Super Region 4 second team. 

Taylor is not the only proven threat in Ashland’s backfield this season. Jordan McCune will return this season after playing just one game a year ago due to injury. McCune ran for 928 yards and 13 TDs in his sophomore season in 2012 and is a two-time honorable mention All-GLIAC recipient. 

Sophmore back Vance Settlemire will also be back for the Eagles as well as junior kick return specialist Michael Taylor. 

Both players provide speed and elusiveness that compliment the power of Taylor and McCune and give coach Owens flexibility in the spread offense.

In addition to the running backs returning, the receiving corps is an experienced group as well. 

Senior Dan Piko led last year’s team with 41 receptions, 623 yds, and 5 TDs.  

Recievers David Soucie (30 catches), Eric Thompkins (12 cathches), Alex Weber (6 catches) and tight end Logan Slavinski (14 catches) are also returning for their senior campaigns. 

Other contributors in the receiving game could include two dynamic young players. 

Redshirt freshmen Kameron Green and true freshmen Chekiah Washington are both athletic assets that could contribute to the passing game this year. 

“We can spread it out and go fast with our receivers,” said Owens, “or we can bunch it up and take our time with our tailbacks. We can do both in the offense we have and we can control the game that way.”

The biggest question surrounding not just the offense but the entire team is at the quarterback position. After the departure of last year’s starting QB Tra’von Chapman, Owens believes he has found his new starting quarterback in redshirt freshman Travis Tarnowski. 

Tarnowski, a North Royalton High School graduate, threw for nearly 6000 yards and had 56 touchdown passes in his career and was the Northeast Ohio Conference’s most valuable player as a senior in 2012. Though Tarnowski did not play last season for AU, he did impress Coach Owens in spring ball by often leading Ashland’s reserves to scores against the Eagle’s first-string defense.

“Travis has won the job,” Owens said. “He has progressed since being redshirted last year both on and off the field to the point where not only myself but also entire the coaching believes in him. And the players believe in him. He has to go get it done on field.”

Owens also believes that while Tarnowski is a talented quarterback that has the tools to be the unquestioned leader of the Eagle’s offense, he doesn’t have to force himself into that role with the weapons and experience he has around him. 

“Our quarterback doesn’t have to throw it 40 times a game,” Owens said. “If he’s efficient throwing it 25 times a game and can get it to one of the tailbacks we have 40 times a game, we’re going to be pretty good.”

In addition, all five of AU’s projected offensive lineman are either juniors or seniors and have either starting or extending playing experience.  

Tarnowski will have some experience behind him in sophomore quarterback Austin Bruns, who was the Eagle’s opening game start in 2013. 

Defense/Special Teams: Former All-American returns; Speed, Speed, Speed

Ashland’s defense led by defensive coordinator Tim Rose has been one of the GLIAC’s toughest defenses in recent years and despite five losses a year ago, the defense still finished a top-three defense in several statistical categories, including second in points per game allowed at 23.4 PPG. 

“We take pride in being a top three defense in points per game, yards per play, and yards per game,” said senior defensive lineman Terrion Saunders. “Before every game, Coach Rose will remind us where we are and how difficult it is to stay there.”

If the Eagles are going to reach those marks again this season, they will have to do it without the services of DL Jamie Meder. Meder was the 2013 GLIAC Defensive Lineman of the Year and was recently signed by the Baltimore Ravens to play at the NFL level. Meder’s role for AU was to attract double-teams, many of which he was still able to beat, and disrupt the run game as well as pressure the quarterback. 

“As a defensive line, [Coach Rose] wants us to be the attackers,” said Saunders. “We won’t be able to replace a guy like Jamie Meder, but as long we do our job our defense is going to be in a position to succeed.”

Replacing a large body like Meder might have to come from a multiple different players on the line. Owens sees as a valuable asset to Coach Rose’s defense this year.

 “It’s going to be more by committee,” said Owens. “It’s deep. There’s no reason we can’t play ten different guys and rotate them in to keep them fresh.”

“We are trying to incorporate more speed on our defense because we don’t have the big guy like Meder,” Saunders said. “Now teams might have an extra blocker, so we need to have some more speed.”

Speed and instincts might be a defining trait of AU’s defense this season, as well as the return of former All-American linebacker Cody Bloom. Bloom missed most of the 2013 season with a foot injury but is now back and healthy for a fifth year. 

He will be joined at linebacker by redshirt sophomore Zach Olszewski, who replaced Bloom as the primary middle linebacker in Coach Rose’s defense in 2013. Senior outside linebacker Chris Harvey returns after leading the team with 88 tackles a season ago. 

The defensive backfield will include several more experienced players, including cornerback James Ester and safeties Eric Schwieterman and Kyle Tomko that was fifth in the GLIAC in passing yards allowed per game in 2013 (224 YPG). 

Overall the experience returning at in this group could prove to create Ashland defense that is a force to be reckoned with.

“The main thing we’re taking from last year is experience,” Saunders said. ”We did a lot of things well last year, we just had a bit more inexperience than we would have liked.”

The kicking game will feature some new names this year. Anthony McCarthy and Aiden Simenc will compete for the field goal specialist. Incoming freshman Scottie Slauterback from Norwalk St. Paul looks to be the favorite to taking over the punting duties. 

As for the return game, Coach Owens sees it as a place where Ashland can flourish and put the offense in a good position to score and even be a point producer for the Eagles this season. In addition to Michael Taylor and Chekiah Washington are both capable of breaking big plays to set up Ashland’s offense. 

Ashland football will have some big questions to answer at the quarterback position as well as on the defensive front if they want to reach the goal of reclaiming a GLIAC title. 

“There’s an excitement, enthusiasm, and commitment on this team to get back to where we were when we competed for a national playoff spot and a conference championship,” said Owens. 

“I have no doubt in my mind that we have the best players in the GLIAC,” Saunders said. “We need to reinforce that and take pride in that and then execute the small things. We have the players. We have the talent. We have the coaching. We just have to execute.”

After all, it’s the games that really matter, not the preseason polls.