After coming off of a 35-10 homecoming win against Northwood on Saturday (Sept. 22), the Ashland University football team is preparing for their toughest game of the year.

The Eagles (2-2) have a chance this Saturday (Sept. 29) to keep their unbeaten GLIAC record alive and make a mark on their season by going toe-to-toe with the No. 4 ranked Ferris State Bulldogs (4-0).

The Bulldogs’ stat sheet says everything about how good of a football team they are: averaging 583.8 yards per game, 49 points per game and more than eight yards per play, their offense is exactly what it seems to be… unstoppable.

“They’re a really good team, I don’t think anybody has taken them into the second half yet,” Ashland head coach Lee Owens said.

The Eagles however, will try to do everything in their power to keep it a close game and play the best football that they can play. After their win against Wayne State and then Northwood, the Eagles have a little bit of their swagger back as the offense is starting to click and find their identity.

Redshirt-freshman quarterback Austin Brenner threw the first two touchdowns of his career on Saturday, both to senior wide receiver Kameron Green. Brenner also threw for 227 yards on Saturday while keeping his completion percentage at 67.1 percent.

This is partly due to the fact that Brenner’s young offensive line consisting of junior left tackle Ryan Maguire, redshirt-freshman center Samson Hairston and true freshmen Alex Maxin (left guard), Trey Madison (right guard) and Gavin Posey (right tackle) are starting to make an identity for themselves as they have only allowed three sacks in the last two games.

“I think after you watch these last couple of weeks, we have a little bit of identity on offense now,” Owens said. “We have a quarterback that moves around pretty good, we got a running game that is pretty solid.”

The Eagles rushing duo of senior Andrew Vaughn and junior Luke Ogi have four rushing touchdowns a piece on the season while rushing for 417 yards and 202 rushing yards on the season, respectively.

The top matchup in this week’s showdown against the Bulldogs will be Ashland’s run defense, ranked 22nd in the nation allowing 99.0 yards per game against Ferris State’s offensive rushing scheme that is the best in the nation at 340.3 yards per game.

Eagles senior defensive end James Prater Jr. and the defensive line along with junior Clay Shreve and the linebacking crew will have to gang up on the Bulldogs rushing offense on Saturday to clog up the middle but keep the outsides contained as well.

On the Bulldogs side of the ball, their offense is well balanced all the way around beginning with junior dual-threat quarterback Jayru Campbell who leads the country in passing efficiency (200.1), has thrown for 850 yards (43 of 71) and nine touchdowns on the season.

Not only can Campbell throw the ball, but as a dual-threat quarterback he can certainly tuck the ball and leave the pocket having led the Bulldogs in rushing as well with 462 yards on 64 carries and eight touchdowns.

“He’s a big, physical guy; he’s quick and he’s fast,” Owens said. “If he’s a big factor they have so many other things they can go to. Part of it is if he is running he also has the ability to throw the ball, and that’s a touch combination to start.”

The Bulldogs rushing tandem is led by tailbacks Marvin Campbell (three touchdowns) and Derrick Portis (two touchdowns) who have racked up 268 yards and 182 yards, respectively.

Campbell also has a few options to throw to with deep ball threats in wide receivers Keyondre Craig (10 receptions for 301 yards, two touchdowns) and Sy Barnett (8 receptions for 223 yards, three touchdowns) who average 30.1 yards per catch and 27.9 yards per catch.

Owens mentioned that the key is to take the quarterback run away first to make the Bulldogs a little more one dimensional.

The Bulldogs defense has 14 players that have recorded at least ten tackles this season and junior defensive end Austin Edwards leads the defense with 25 tackles and 4.5 tackles for loss. Senior defensive back DeShaun Thrower, also a member of Ferris State’s men’s basketball 2017-2018 national championship team, has 16 tackles and one interception on the season.

“We at least have to be sound on the kicking game, hang on to the football and don’t turn it over and eliminate some of these stupid penalties,” Owens said.

Although it does seem to appear that the Bulldogs are unstoppable, there are some faults about the team and games against the Eagles. The stat sheet may draw eyes, but Ferris State’s opponents this year have only combined for four wins so far on the season.

This week the Bulldogs will see an Eagles team that is young but they will be ready to compete in their most prominent game of the season.

The Ashland Eagles are 10-3 all-time in games against Ferris State in Big Rapids, Mi. and are 5-0 on the road there under Owens.

“It’s going to take our best effort,” Owens said. “It’s a tough atmosphere, it’s a big crowd, they have had great success there. But that is one of the places where we play really well.”

The teams are squared away for the Division II game of the week as the Ashland Eagles will travel to Big Rapids, Mi. to take on the No. 4 Ferris State Bulldogs. The game is set to start at 3 p.m. on Saturday (Sept. 29) and can be found online on ESPN3.