By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
The Turnpike Tussle is a big game no matter when it's played.
But the fact that Thursday's 7 p.m. Washburn-Emporia State showdown at Welch Stadium is the 2024 season-opener for both schools adds a little extra lustre to the 120th meeting between the two rivals.
Craig Schurig, the winningest football coach in Washburn University history, will begin his 23rd season Thursday night at Emporia State. [File photo/TSN]
"You could play anyone on opening night and you're excited, but Emporia adds excitement and then Emporia's a good football team and they return a lot from last year's team that was one of the best in the conference so you're also anxious for that, too,'' Washburn coach Craig Schurig said. "You put all those things together and it certainly adds to the enthusiasm and that's what these guys want to be involved in so this is exactly what you want.''
Washburn senior defensive back Caeden Spencer agreed that playing the Hornets in the opener adds a different aspect to the rivalry.
"It does feel a little weird,'' Spencer said. "Usually it's midseason -- Week 5, Week 6 -- but starting out with them first it's a pretty exciting first game for us.
"I don't think that there's really a better way to start than to have them first. I haven't beaten Emporia yet in my career and this is the final one, so we've got to get it done.''
Emporia State coach Garin Higgins said that ESU-WU is a highligh no matter when the game is played.
"Whether it's the first game of the year or the 10th game of the year it's still the same,'' Higgins said. "At the beginning of the year, the first game, you're going to get a lot of college students all coming back and they're looking for something to do, 'Well go to the game on Thursday night.' I think there's little added excitement there.
"I like it and I think it's good for Division II football.''
Washburn will open its 134th season of football and will be looking to bounce back from a injury-ravaged 2-9 campaign last fall while Emporia is playing its 126th season and coming off a 9-3 record.
"We know we've got a standard here at Washburn and what we put on tape last year was a lot of time just bad football and that's not how Washburn plays, that's not how we play,'' Spencer said. "So that's been our main motivation is not doing what we did last year and really playing how we're supposed to and doing our jobs and being disciplined and just playing football the right way.''
Washburn and Emporia State have faced off four times in the first game of the season, with Thursday's the first opening-game matchup between the Ichabods and Hornets since Sept. 10, 1966 when the Hornets won 14-0 in Emporia. ESU holds a 2-1-1 edge in season-openers against WU.
The Ichabods return two All-MIAA performers in sophomore receiver/return specialist D.J. Bell, who was second-team All-MIAA as a return specialist and an honorable mention selection as a wide receiver along with senior defensive linemen Chase McCoy.
Bell led the Ichabods in all-purpose yards, averaging 120.3 yards per game, and averaged 23.1 yards per kickoff return on 24 attempts including a 100-yard return against Missouri Southern. The true freshman led the Ichabods in receiving yards with 44 catches and 563 yards, adding five touchdowns while averaging 12.8 yards per catch and 51.2 yards per game.
McCoy, had 21 tackles with six solo stops, adding five tackles for loss for 29 yards and 3.5 sacks for 25 yards with a fumble recovery.
Washburn sophomore quarterback Sam Van Dyne passed for 2,002 yards and 15 touchdowns as a freshman. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
Sophomore quarterback Sam Van Dyne, who started the final nine games of the '23 season, passed for 2,002 yards and 15 touchdowns.
Schurig said he feels good about how preseason camp has gone for the Ichabods.
"I really liked camp,'' Schurig said. "Typically sometimes you're like, 'Well, it's getting kind of long,' but I felt like with the energy of this group all the practices were pretty good to be honest. I'm sure we had a couple that were like, 'We could have gotten more done,' but overall the guys have really gone at it well.
"I think the fact that we were getting ready to play a rival the first game adds to it, so I think the sense of urgency was definitely there.''
Of the 22 position players that started the Heritage Bowl, Emporia State is set to return 10 players on offense, highlighted by All-American receiver Tyler Kahmann and seven on defense, including All-MIAA defensive back Jaaron Joseph.
Kahmann had 101 receptions for 1,234 yards and 20 touchdowns last season.
Junior Gunnar Gundy, an Oklahoma State transfer, has been named the starting quarterback for the Hornets.
Washburn was tabbed ninth in both the MIAA Coaches and MIAA Preseason Media polls while Emporia State was picked fourth in the coaches poll and sixth by the media.
"We're returning 10 guys on offense from the bowl game and seven guys on defense and I think the whole locker room has got a winning mentality and a lot of big goals that we hope to achieve,'' Kahmann said. "We're expecting to win and you can feel it. You can feel it in the weight room and you can feel it in the locker room that we're very motivated and very excited because we've got expectations to win.''
After opening fall camp early this month, Schurig said it's time for the Ichabods to play a game.
"We felt like that about midway through last week,'' Schurig said. "We were like, 'Hey, we need to play,' and obviously you feel like we need to still cover some things, but we're ready to play and the guys were in good shape, they reported in really good condition, so we feel good about that.''
Kahmann said that opening with Washburn is a good way to start the season.
"It's definitely weird but I think it will be a lot of fun and it's going to be exciting because it's a Thursday night game and it's the Turnpike Tussle so there should be a lot of people there and a really good atmosphere,'' Kahmann said.
Emporia State has won three straight games in the Washburn series and leads 60-53-6 overall.
After an off week the Ichabods will begin their '24 home slate at Yager Stadium on Sept. 14, facing Colorado Mines in a non-conference game, before returning to MIAA play against Pittsburg State on Sept. 21 at Yager Stadium.
