IUP opens the 2025 football season tonight vs Ashland. Read Matt Burglund’s preview here and take a look at the game notes from the IUP athletic department.
• IUP has won nine of their last ten season opener games.
• IUP has won all five matchups against Ashland dating back to 2017. Four of the five contests were within one possession.
• IUP returns 13 total starters from last season, four offensive starters and nine defensive playmakers.
• Out of the 13 returnees, four players were All- PSAC selections in the 2024 season. One First Team honoree (Massey) and three Second Team honorees (Younger, Frazier, Andrasi).
• IUP welcomes Frank Cignetti Jr. as their new offensive coordinator in a run-heavy offense that averaged 27.3 PPG and 156.1 rushing YPG last season.
• Graduate quarterback transferring from Findlay, Matthew Rueve will make his first start with the Crimson Hawks.
• Tortorella and the Crimson Hawks seek to get back into the postseason after missing the playoffs for two consecutive seasons.
• Leading the team in rushing yards in the 2024 season, JD Younger returns to IUP’s dangerous backfield.
• The most recent matchup between the two schools was in 2024 which saw the IUP defense shut out Ashland for three quarters and only surrending ten points in total. IUP scored 13 points in the first half and a touchdown reception from Maurice Massey quieted the crowd at Jack Miller Field.
• Ashland boasted a top five G-MAC offense in the 2024 season. Averaging 25.4 PPG and 353.5 YPG.
• Ashland head coach Doug Geiser is in his third season with the program. Geiser has logged two nine-win seasons with the program.
• Ashland’s defense is built on key disruptive plays. The Eagles sacked opposing quarterbacks an average of 2.33 times per game, which ranked first in the G-MAC and seventh in Division II. Ashland also grabbed 14 interceptions throughout the 2024 season.
IT’S IN THE GENES
IUP Transfer quarterback Matthew Rueve has a long line of quarterbacks in his bloodline, most notably his COUSIN, former NFL quarterback Matthew Hasselbeck. Rueve followed in his uncle’s footsteps to Boston College to start his collegiate career after being a three-star recruit and the No. 1 pro-style passing prospect in the Ohio Class of 2020. Rueve’s cousin and Matt’s son, Henry Hasselbeck, is a quarterback on the UCLA roster. Rueve spent last season at the University of Findlay and was named second-team all-conference while passing for 2,646 yards and 26 touchdowns in his lone season as an Oiler.
FAMILIAR FACES
IUP offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti Jr. recruited Rueve to start his collegiate career at Boston College. The quarterback spent two seasons in Cignetti’s offense before Junior moved on to take the OC job at the University of Pittsburgh. The duo will look to cook up some magic on the field named after Cignetti’s father and IUP great, Frank Cignetti Sr.
BEGINNING OF THE YEAR BOUT
The Eagles and Crimson Hawks have played each other in the season opener five times since 2017. IUP has won all five matchups against Ashland under Coach Paul Tortorella, outscoring the Eagles 108-80 over the five meetings since 2017. The Eagles were ranked in the preseason top 25 in three of the four previous matchups. The smallest margin for the Hawks was three points in 2017. IUP averages just over 21 points per game in matchups against Ashland, with the highest scoring output coming in the 2017 victory, when they scored 26 points.
SWEET HOME MILLER STADIUM
IUP will have six home games in the 2025 regular season, the most since the 2023 season. The Hawks will look to do better in their own confines in 2025, as the team went just 3-3 in 2023 en route to a 6-4 season. Overall, IUP has won 32 of its 43 home games under Tortorella.
NEW FACES MAKING BIG IMPACTS
Along with Rueve, wide receiver Devin Whitlock, and Safety David Awuah will look to be mainstays on their sides of the ball this season. Whitlock, a spring transfer from the University of Pittsburgh, was a standout at Belle Vernon Area in the WPIAL. Awuah, from Eastern Pennsylvania, led PSAC foe Seton Hill with five interceptions in 2025. Awuah also arrived in Indiana in the spring.
RUNNING BACK, THE RUNNING BACK
The backfield duo of JD Younger and transfer Tavion Banks will look to be one of the most dangerous two-headed monsters in the PSAC, as Younger was second-team all-PSAC last season. At the same time, Banks spent his time at the FCS level, playing at the University of Maine. IUP is looking for its first 1,000-yard season since 2017. In that season, the Crimson Hawks had two 1,000-yard rushers in Samir Bullock and Justice Evans. The Hawks will look to establish the running game early, as the team is 52-9 when having a 100-yard rusher in a game.
PSAC PRESEASON POLLS
The Crimson Hawks were picked to finish second in the PSAC West Preseason Poll, receiving three first-place votes, one less than the favorite, and nationally ranked Slippery Rock. The teams will meet each other in Slippery Rock, Pa., on October 18. Kutztown was picked to finish at the top of the PSAC East, receiving seven of the eight first-place votes. IUP is scheduled to take on Kutztown in the last game of the season. The State Game will be played in the East this season, as it rotates every year between the East and West.
IT’S RUEVE TIME
Matthew Rueve will play his first game as an IUP player against Ashland. He will aim to surpass the last of the IUP quarterback debuts from recent years. The most recent was Karst Hutner in 2023. Hunter went 13-for-22 with three touchdowns and 261 yards. Rueve is the sixth IUP transfer quarterback to make his debut since the 2019 season.
Recent IUP QB Debuts
IUP QB Opponent Comp/Att Pct. TD-Int Yards
Karst Hunter Ashland – 2023 13/22 59.0 3-2 261
Mak Sexton East Stroudsburg – 2022 26/36 72.2 3-2 360
Javon Davis Kutztown – 2021 20/30 66.7 2-0 204
Harry Woodbery Mercyhurst – 2021 15/22 68.1 4-0 146
Quinton Maxwell New Haven – 2019 13/21 61.9 1-3 163
IUP IS PSAC WEST’s WINNINGEST TEAM SINCE 2011
Since 2011, IUP has had the most overall wins (104) of any team in the PSAC Western Division. The program has a record of 104- 33 (.759) during that span with a 68-24 (.739) divisional record, five West shared or outright regular season titles and a trio of conference championships (2012, 2017, 2022).
ASHLAND AT A GLANCE *COURTESY OF ASHLAND ATHLETICS*
EAGLES QB BATTLE
The top two players on the Eagle quarterback depth chart are redshirt senior Cameron Blair and redshirt sophomore Drew Novak.
“I think we’re solid there,” said Ashland head coach Doug Geiser. “It’s been a very spirited competition.”
Blair has been AU’s No. 2 quarterback in 2023 and 2024, while also punting, and started the last two games of 2021 as a true freshman. Novak has yet to see any varsity collegiate action.
SETTING UP FOR RUNNING SUCCESS
With all five starting offensive linemen, the starting tight end and fullback, and the top two tailbacks returning in 2025 (see depth chart on page 14), a running game which posted 500 yards and nine touchdowns in the last three games last fall could very well pick up where it left off.
“I would like to be balanced,” admitted Geiser. “It’s being able to attack somebody with a run or pass threat out of every formation or every situation. I think we made some strides since last year, coming out of the spring. And it’s continued out of camp.
“I measure the run game in run efficiency, not yards per With all five starting offensive linemen, the starting tight end and fullback, and the top two tailbacks returning in 2025 (see depth chart on page 14), a running game which posted 500 yards and nine touchdowns in the last three games last fall could very well pick up where it left off.
“I would like to be balanced,” admitted Geiser. “It’s being able to attack somebody with a run or pass threat out of every formation or every situation. I think we made some strides since last year, coming out of the spring. And it’s continued out of camp.
“I measure the run game in run efficiency, not yards per carry. I think that’s a little more accurate depiction.”
ASHLAND’S DEFENSE
Ashland’s defense will boast one of the top defensive ends in the region in senior Michael Shimek, one of the top 1-2 linebacker tandems in the region in junior Ben Holzopfel and sophomore Jack Talkington, and the team’s second-leading tackler last fall in junior safety E.J. Teah.
There will be, however, many new faces on defense which will look to keep coordinator Tim Rose’s unit going strong.
“We like our young guys, but they’re guys that people wouldn’t know their names yet,” Geiser said. “The good news is they’ve had a year to soak and develop. That will definitely be a key.
“We’re fortunate enough to add somebody of the ilk of an Izzy Vasquez and a D.J. Butler. They’re going to step right in right away.”
