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The Tiger football team, fresh off a 38-21 road win at Central Oklahoma last Saturday, takes on 12th ranked Washburn University on Saturday (Oct. 29) in Topeka. Game time is set for 1 pm at Yager Stadium. The Tigers enter the game at 3-5 overall and 2-4 in the MIAA, while Washburn is coming off its first loss of the season, now 7-1 overall and 5-1 in the MIAA.

Fort Hays State produced its best performance in terms of yards on offense this year last week with 523 total yards against Central Oklahoma. The 38 points was also a season high. The offense had been sputtering, failing to reach 300 yards of total offense in the three previous contests. Fort Hays State scored four of its five touchdowns from more than 35 yards out (rushing touchdowns of 60 and 74 yards, and passing touchdowns of 36 and 49 yards).

Washburn reached No. 3 in the nation last week before suffering its first loss of the season at then No. 6 ranked Northwest Missouri State. The loss put Pittsburg State in the driver's seat for the conference title race, as PSU is the only remaining unbeaten team in the MIAA at 7-0 and 8-0 overall. The Gorillas take over the No. 3 national ranking this week, while the Ichabods fell all the way to No. 12. With its win over Washburn, Northwest Missouri State moved up to No. 4 in the country.

Washburn leads the long-time series history with FHSU, 38-24-3. The Ichabods have won four of the five meetings between the schools since FHSU joined the MIAA in 2006. Washburn has won the last two meetings.

Anthony Sheppard posted his best offensive performance of the season at quarterback last week, throwing for 227 yards and two touchdowns and rushing for 93 yards and one touchdown. He had 320 total yards of offense in the game. Edward Smith produced the best rushing performance of his young career with 163 yards on just 14 carries last week, which included a 74-yard touchdown run. Anthony Smith posted his first-ever 100+ yard receiving game with 112 yards on five catches.

Alex Whitehill continues to lead NCAA Division II in tackles with 119, despite a season-low seven at Central Oklahoma last week. He is averaging 14.9 tackles per game. Whitehill is just 31 tackles shy of the FHSU single-season record of 150, set by Junior Hartig in 1979. Dustin Bailey owns the NCAA Division II record at FHSU with 140 in 1992. If Whitehill continues his pace, he has a great shot at ecplising both records with three games to go.

Ethan Kosjer remains one of the top punters in the country. He is ranked fourth in Division II in yards per punt (43.9). Kosjer has a chance to break the single-season record for punting average and career punting average, each held by Adam Ryan, as he is currently ahead of both marks with three games remaining in his career.

Washburn's strength is its passing game, led by quarterback Dane Simoneau. The Ichabods average 335.5 passing yards per game, which is fourth in the nation. They are seventh in the nation in total offense at 494.3 yards per game.