Football Picked to Finish Fourth
Findlay, OH – The University of Findlay football team has been picked fourth in the South Division of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference as the league office unveiled their annual preseason poll on Aug. 3.
The Oilers received 13 points in the poll while Ashland, who claimed the top spot in the South Division, had 25 points.
Findlay finished last season with a 6-5 record, which included a 5-5 mark in conference play. They return four players who earned honorable-mention all-GLIAC last season.
On offense, junior Rhys Gervais looks to put together another stellar year after making waves as the starting quarterback in his first season. Last year, Gervais set school records for completions in a season (228), passing attempts in a season (362), passing yards in a season (3,353), total offense in a season (3,439) and passing touchdowns in a season (33). His passing yards and passing yards per game were good for the best in the GLIAC.
Senior wide receiver Dylan Blunk, a Findlay, Ohio native, will look to improve on an impressive junior campaign where he made 65 catches for 839 yards, both the best on the squad last season. Blunk currently has 97 catches in his career, just 39 receptions shy of cracking the top five at UF.
On the defensive side of the ball, senior Anthony Linnear and sophomore Chiebuka Chukwuneke combined for 144 tackles, 18 percent of the team's total of 809 tackles. Linnear had a pair of sacks and four tackles for loss while Chukwuneke also had two sacks and tallied five-and-a-half tackles for loss. Chukwuneke also led the team with three forced fumbles, one of which he returned for a touchdown, and was tops on the squad with ten pass breakups.
The Oilers begin their season on Saturday, Sep. 3 at 7:00 pm at Donnell Stadium. That game will be played against the Cardinals of Saginaw Valley State University.