Complete Game Notes
Game 1: Lincoln (3-8 in 2018) at Washburn (5-6 in 2018)
Date/Time: Thursday, Sept. 5 - 6:00 p.m.
Location: Topeka, Kan.
Stadium (Capacity): Yager Stadium (7,200)
Tickets: Available at Site
Streaming - http://www.themiaanetwork.com/
Audio - Available on Facebook
Audiocast - https://www.facebook.com/BlueTigerAthletics/
Live Stats - https://wusports.com/sidearmstats/football/
Series - Washburn leads, 6-0

THE KICKOFF 
A new era of Lincoln University football begins in Topeka, Kan. on Thursday (Sept. 5) when the Blue Tigers play Washburn in a 6:00 p.m. CDT contest. Lincoln is making its football return to the MIAA after a five-year absence, and Malik Hoskins in his third year with the program and first as the team's interim head coach.

The Blue Tigers enjoyed their most successful year as an associate member of the GLVC in their final season in the league, as Lincoln went 3-8 with wins on the road, at home and at a neutral site. Washburn went 5-6 during the 2018 season, with a 3-3 record in home games.

Lincoln fans have two ways to catch the action on Thursday. Washburn will be streaming the game on the MIAA Network at www.themiaanetwork.com. Lincoln radio broadcaster James Stanley will also be doing an audiocast from Topeka on Facebook Live.

QUICK HITS 
- Lincoln and Washburn will meet for the seventh time on Thursday, with WU having won each of the last six games. The teams first met in 1989, and last met in 2013.

- The Blue Tigers will try to win a season opener for the second-straight year, as Lincoln defeated Lane, 10-7, in the first game of the 2018 campaign on a neutral field. A victory over the Ichabods would be LU's first season-opening win in a true road game since beating Langston, 35-32, in the first contest of 2015.

- This will be Lincoln's first game as a football-playing member of the MIAA since 2013. The Blue Tigers won their final two conference games in their last stint in the MIAA, beating Northeastern State, 42-33, and Southwest Baptist, 51-28. Both of those games were played at Dwight T. Reed Stadium.

- This will be the first time LU has opened a season vs. a league opponent since 2013, when Lindenwood edged the Blue Tigers, 24-22, in St. Charles, Mo.

- Starting with Thursday's game at Washburn, Lincoln will play 11-straight conference games to begin the 2019 campaign. The only non-conference game will be the St. Louis Heritage Football Classic against Kentucky State in the Dome at America's Center on Nov. 23.

- The Blue Tigers enter the 2019 season with an all-time record of 260-454-25.

- Malik Hoskins was named the interim head coach of the Blue Tigers in May 2019 and enters the week with an LU record of 0-0 and an overall record of 3-7.

- After a five-year absence, Lincoln has returned to the MIAA for its 24th season as a football-playing member. The Blue Tigers, who were an associate member of the GLVC from 2014-18, previously played in the MIAA from 1970-89 and from 2011-13. The MIAA is the fifth different conference in which the Blue Tigers have been a member, joining the Midwest Athletic Association, the Great Lakes Football Conference, the Central States Football League and the GLVC.

- This is the 89th season of Lincoln football. The Blue Tigers first fielded a team in 1920 and played every year until 1943, when Lincoln took a year off due to World War II. LU then played each season from 1944-1989. The football program was disbanded at that point, but was brought back in 2000.

BLUE TIGERS TO WATCH
OFFENSE - Chancellor Johnson, a redshirt on the LU football team a year ago, will take over the reins as Lincoln's starting quarterback. Most of the receivers are also new, while Hosea Franklin is the Blue Tigers' top-returning rusher after averaging 4.3 yards per carry and 54.0 yards per game in 2018. Veterans Elex Harris, Jr. and Dre'Shon Alston also return on offense for LU, as does Cyril Spells, who started all 11 games at center a year ago.

DEFENSE - Lincoln fielded one of the GLVC's best defenses a year ago, holding opposing teams to under 200 passing yards per game while allowing just a 40-percent success rate on third downs. Hasan Muhammed-Rogers, who also made plays on offense and on special teams, is Lincoln's top-returning defender, as he made 57 tackles and broke up three passes in 2018. Chavon Gross, who had 4.5 tackles for loss and 40 total takedowns, joins Vonvtavious Thacker, who made 43 tackles, as two other players to keep an eye on during the 2019 campaign. Also back are disruptive pass rushers Quan Mason and JaJuan Chambers, who combined to post 4.5 sacks and nine tackles for a loss as well as 13 hurries. Lincoln also returns six other players who saw significant time in the defensive rotation in 2018. That includes Micah Scott and Antonio Watts, each of whom made 23 tackles, with Scott also posting three tackles for loss. Michael Smith, who tallied a sack and a hurry, also returns for the Blue Tigers.

SPECIAL TEAMS - The LU special teams will have a new look in 2019, with all three positions in the kicking game manned by new players. Javier Moreno, a freshman originally from Spain, will be Lincoln's place kicker. Josh Zakavec, a junior transfer, will serve as the long snapper, and Reagan Harrell, another freshman, will be the punter. Hasan Muhammad-Rogers was one of the GLVC leaders in kick returns after averaging 23.1 yards per return, and is expected to handle both kickoff and punt returns in 2019. As a unit last season, the Blue Tigers averaged 55.0 yards on kickoffs and 35.2 yards on punts, as well as 19.4 yards on kick returns.

WASHBURN AT A GLANCE
Mitch Schurig threw for 1,904 yards with 17 touchdowns against nine interceptions as WU's starter a year ago and returns to lead the Ichabods in 2019. Will Evans (4.4 ypc.) and Hunter Browning (4.2 ypc.) are the top-returners in the running game, and Curtis Whitten, who had a team-high three rushing TDs in 2018, is also back this season. Although the Ichabods lost their top receiving threat in James Brania-Hopp, who had over 1,000 yards on 62 grabs with nine scores, Washburn does bring back Austen Hubert, who had three touchdown catches last season.

Washburn returns 18 starters, more than any other MIAA program, but will enter the year without its top-three tacklers from 2018. Landen Urban, who had 43 tackles, including six tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks, is WU's top returner on the defensive side of the ball. Alvin Houston (4.5 tackles for loss), Brooks Peavler (34 tackles) and Garrett Barnett-Kruger (29 tackles) are also back to lead the defense in 2019. As a team, WU had 13 interceptions and five fumble recoveries last season while breaking up 38 additional passes.

The Ichabods will enter the year with a new kicker in Kameron Lake and a new punter in Lane Spiker after Perry Schmiedeler, who handled both responsibilities in 2018, graduated. The Ichabods do bring back a dangerous punt returner in James Letcher, Jr., who averaged 11.7 yards on 10 returns last season. Letcher, a receiver who had 133 yards and a touchdown on 10 grabs in 2018, will also be the team's holder.

THE COACHES
Malik Hoskins was elevated to the position of interim head coach after spending the past two seasons serving as Lincoln's offensive coordinator. This is Hoskins' second stint as an interim head coach, as he held that title at Lane in 2015. Before coming to Lincoln, Hoskins coached at Bacone, where he worked with six offensive players who earned some form of all-conference recognition. In 2018, Hoskins was selected to attend the NCAA/NFL Coaches Academy due to his commitment to player development.

Craig Schurig is entering his 18th season as the head coach at Washburn, and has guided the Ichabods to three NCAA Division II playoff appearances and the 2005 MIAA championship. Schurig, who enters the season with 115 career victories, has also directed Washburn to four bowl appearances with three wins in those games. Schurig is only the fifth MIAA coach with 100-plus wins. 

NOT A FAN OF TURNOVERS: LU's offense did a good job of holding onto the ball in 2018, finishing top-20 in NCAA Division II in both turnovers lost and interceptions thrown. In the latter category, Lincoln ended the season ranked sixth in Division II after throwing only four picks last season. The Blue Tigers also finished 18th in the country with only 13 turnovers lost on the year.

ALL-CONFERENCE:  Lincoln returns a pair of players who earned All-GLVC recognition for their stellar play in 2018. Hasan Muhammed-Rogers, a playmaker who also helped the Blue Tigers on both offense and special teams, was an All-GLVC second team selection at defensive back, as he had 57 tackles while breaking up three passes. Chavon Gross, meanwhile, was named to the all-league team as an honorable mention at defensive back after breaking up 10 passes, notching 4.5 tackles for loss and 40 total takedowns.

FIRST DEFENSE:  LU particularly excelled in the first quarter of games last year, as the Blue Tigers shut out opponents four times in the opening stanza in 2018. In eight of Lincoln's 11 games, the Blue Tigers allowed seven points or fewer in the first quarter and either led or were tied at the end of the first period six times.

SHOW ME FOOTBALL:  This year's schedule will be a favorable one in terms of travel for Lincoln, as only three of LU's 12 games will take place outside of Missouri. Two of those games, at Pittsburg State and at Washburn, will be less than a 3.5-hour drive for the Blue Tigers. Lincoln will have two true road games in the show-me state, against Central Missouri and Northwest Missouri, and will end the year by playing a neutral site contest against Kentucky State in the St. Louis Football Heritage Classic.

RETURNING DIVIDENDS:  Hasan Muhammed-Rogers earned all-conference recognition for his play on the defensive side of the ball, but he was just as much of a threat offensively in 2018. The rising senior was particularly sharp on special teams, ranking 45th in Division II in combined kick return yardage with 581, and 99th in DII in kickoff return average (20.8). Muhammed-Rogers also completed a pass and ran for 22 yards.

GET THE QB:  Lincoln was aggressive on defense in 2019, breaking up 36 passes while recording 43 quarterback hurries. That paid off to the tune of 50 tackles for a loss of 183 yards and 12 sacks as well as five interceptions. It also helped the Blue Tigers finish 58th in the country in passing yards allowed (196.5) and 64th in the nation in first downs allowed (205).

BALL CONTROL:  The Blue Tigers have been good at controlling the clock the past two years. In 2018, Lincoln finished third in the GLVC and 27th in NCAA Division II in time of possession, holding onto the ball for an average of 32 minutes per game. LU was even better in 2017, rating second in the GLVC and 21st nationally (32:08).

ANYTIME, ANY PLACE:  Lincoln was the only GLVC program to record home, road and neutral site wins in 2018. The Blue Tigers opened the year with a win over Lane in Memphis, Tenn., and beat Southwest Baptist later in first month of the season. The most notable win of the year came in October at William Jewell, however, as the Blue Tigers earned their first road conference win since 1975 with a 23-14 victory.

ON THE AIR:  Blue Tiger football is back on KJLU, as all six of Lincoln's home games will be broadcast this year. LU fans will also be listen to four of the Blue Tigers' five road games online, as Lincoln play-by-play announcer James Stanley will provide an audiocast for the games at Washburn, Pittsburg State, Northwest Missouri and Central Missouri. The Washburn game on Sept. 5 will be available on Facebook Live, while information will come later this year as how to Blue Tiger fans can listen to the other three contests.

IT'S A CLASSIC:  Tickets are now on sale for the St. Louis Heritage Football Classic, a game at the Dome at America's Center between Lincoln and Kentucky State. Visit www.lubluetigers.com/shfc2019 to reserve your seats for the Nov. 23 match-up of HBCUs.

GEAR UP FOR THE GAME:  LU fans can get everything they need for the game at www.BlueTigersStore.com, the official online store for LU athletics. Everything from jerseys to office supplies can be found on the site, with a portion of all sales going to benefit Lincoln athletics.

UP NEXT:  Lincoln opens its 2019 home slate by hosting Missouri Southern next Thursday (Sept. 12) for a 6:00 p.m. CDT contest at Dwight T. Reed Stadium.