16 UIndy Greyhounds at 23 Ashland Eagles
Thursday, Sept. 5, 7 p.m. ET, Ashland, Ohio

ON TAP
For the third consecutive season, UIndy opens its schedule versus a ranked GLIAC opponent, as the No. 16 Greyhounds travel to 23rd-ranked Ashland University for a Thursday night clash. The game marks one of only two top-25 match-ups in Division II this week, with the other also featuring a pair of Super Region Three teams: No. 18 Harding at No. 5 Ouachita Baptist.

HOUNDS vs. EAGLES
Thursday night's contest marks the rekindling of one of UIndy's oldest rivalries. After facing off twice in the 1950s and once again in 1977, UIndy and Ashland locked horns 30 times in the 34 seasons between 1980 and 2013.

Though the Eagles own a 21-12 advantage overall, the Hounds won the most recent meeting, grinding out a 10-9 win in Indianapolis in the 2013 opener. As is the case this season, both teams came into that contest ranked in the preseason top 25, with Ashland at No. 9 and UIndy at No. 19.

The all-time series also features one of the longest games in Greyhound football history. Back in 2011 – UIndy's final season in the GLIAC, the Eagles edged the Hounds, 39-36, in a three-and-a-half hour, quadruple-overtime marathon at Ashland. UIndy kicker Scott Miller drilled a 39-yard field goal – his school-record tying fifth of the game – to put the Greyhounds up 36-33 in the fourth OT period, but the Eagles responded with an eight-yard TD run to escape with the three-point win.

ABOUT ASHLAND
The Eagles return 14 starters – seven offensive, seven defensive – from last year's 6-4 team. Chief among them is sophomore quarterback Austin Brenner, who completed 61 percent of his passes for 1,25 yards in eight games played last season on the way to GLIAC Freshman of the Year honors. The defense features four all-conference performers from 2018, including All-GLIAC first teamer and last year's leading tackler, senior linebacker Clay Shreeve. The Eagles are coached by Lee Owens, who enters his 16th season with a 115-50 (.697) record as the Ashland head man.

ABOUT UINDY
The Greyhounds ran off a double-digit win season in 2018, finishing at 10-2 overall and a perfect 7-0 in conference play. The Hounds hit a number of benchmarks along the way, including notching a sixth GLVC title, a fifth NCAA DII playoff berth and their fifth 10-win campaign in the last seven years. Running back Al McKeller (1,300 yards, 12 TDs) was voted the GLVC Offensive Player of the Year, while incoming-sophomore Toriano Clinton (1,482 all-purpose yards, 13 TDs) was dubbed the league's top freshman.

HISTORIC WIN
UIndy's 2018 postseason trip yielded the program's second-ever playoff win. The Greyhounds downed 19th-ranked Fort Hays State in the first round after putting up 21 fourth-quarter points in a 38-27 comeback victory. The go-ahead score came when senior QB Jake Purichia found a streaking Daveon Bell with a 76-yard TD pass – the team's longest of the year – to put UIndy up 31-24 with 11 minutes to go. Fort Hays trimmed the margin to four with a 40-yard field goal with 3:44 left, but the Hounds would later seal it with a 22-yard pick-six by senior cornerback Robert Williams.

UIndy's only previous playoff win came versus No. 8 Midwestern State in a 31-14 opening-round final in 2012, the Hounds' Division II postseason debut.

RANK & FILE
The Hounds capped the 2018 season by being voted the No. 11 team the final AFCA Division II Coaches Poll, setting a program record for highest position in the final rankings. UIndy topped its previous best of 13th, set just 12 months prior. With the Hounds' current residence at No. 16 in the AFCA preseason poll, UIndy extended its school record to 25 consecutive appearances in the top 25 dating back to September of 2017.

SCHEDULE OVERVIEW
Normally accustomed to a full 11-game schedule, UIndy will have only 10 games on its regular-season slate for a second straight year, something that hadn't occurred since 1992. The bye comes in week 7, sandwiched between home games versus Quincy (Oct. 12) and Missouri S&T (Oct. 26).

After this week's battle at Ashland, the Hounds host reigning G-MAC champ and 2018 playoff-participant Hillsdale in the home opener Saturday, Sept. 14. Seven straight conference games follow, including a Homecoming match-up against Southwest Baptist on Sept. 28 and a road tilt versus GLVC-newcomer Lindenwood Nov. 2. The Greyhounds wrap up the regular season by hosting non-conference Lake Erie for Senior Day on Nov. 16.

SECURITY MEASURES
The 2018 Greyhounds tied for fifth in DII with 10 turnovers lost all season. That number included just three interceptions, setting new school and conference records for fewest INTs in a single year.

UIndy has consistently taken care of the ball throughout recent years, ranking in the top 10 in Division II in fewest turnovers in five of the last eight seasons. In fact, the Hounds set the DII record for fewest giveaways in a season with six in 2011, a record since tied (Fort Lewis, 2015) but still unbroken.

A NEW ERA
The UIndy football program said goodbye to its beloved head coach during the off-season, as Bob Bartolomeo – aka "Coach Bart" – announced his retirement last December. In his nine seasons as the Greyhound patriarch, Bartolomeo racked up a 79-26 (.752) overall record, four GLVC Coach of the Year nods, six GLVC titles, five NCAA postseason berths and two playoff wins. He left with the program's second-highest career winning percentage and third-most career wins.

Enter Chris Keevers, longtime UIndy assistant. The Indianapolis native was named the successor to his former mentor, earning his first NCAA head coaching job. He spent the previous 25 years as an assistant coach at UIndy, including the last nine seasons as the Greyhound defensive coordinator. He has been a part of 164 wins while occupying various positions on the UIndy staff, more than any other coach (head or assistant) in program history.