Opening Week: Notre Dame College football, ranked No. 10 in NCAA Division II, will travel to Ashland University, on Sept. 1, for a 6 p.m. kickoff.

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Records: Notre Dame finished the 2021 season with an 11-2 record, while going 9-1 in the Mountain East Conference (MEC). The Falcons defeated two nationally ranked teams last season, defeating No. 23 Frostburg State in the regular season and No. 19 Slippery Rock in the First Round of the Playoffs. The Falcons clinched their fourth consecutive MEC Title, winning two conference championships in a calendar year, after playing a shortened season in the spring of 2021. The program has now won at least one NCAA Playoff game every season since 2018. Ashland went 5-5, overall, last season and 4-3 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference. The Eagles won three of their final four games.

Coaches Corner: Garrett Mack enters his first season as head coach of the Falcons. He had been on the staff the past two seasons. Lee Owens has been at Ashland since 2004. In those 18 seasons, he has a record of 127-59 on the sideline.

Rankings: In the latest polls, Notre Dame is ranked No. 10 in the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Division II preseason top 25 and No. 11 in the D2Football.com preseason top 25. Notre Dame has been ranked in a national poll every week since Sept. 24, 2018 and they have been inside the top-15 of the AFCA poll every week since Oct. 15, 2018. This is the 33rd consecutive week inside the AFCA and D2Football top 25. NDC was also placed at the top of the MEC Preseason Poll with 119 points and 10 first-place votes. Ashland received 22 votes in the AFCA preseason top 25.

Series History: Notre Dame and Ashland have met twice, officially. In 2009, the first year of the football program at NDC, the Falcons and AU played each other in NDC's club season. They met in 2012, NDC's first season as a member of the NCAA Division II, and Ashland won 65-0. That season, both teams were in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC). In the fall of 2021, the two teams opened the campaign with an incredible game. The teams were tied at 14 heading to the locker rooms at halftime. AU and NDC combined for 28 points and four touchdowns in the third stanza. NDC tied the game at 35 with 5:50 left in regulation. Chris Brimm found Devanaire Conliffe to win, 42-35, in overtime.

Noting the Falcons: The MEC began in 2013, and Notre Dame is the first football program to win four consecutive rings. They are the second team in the conference to win four total. Shepherd took the MEC title in 2013 and 2015-2017.

In 2021, the Falcons led the country in defensive takeaways (36) and interceptions (21). Second in defensive touchdowns (6), third in turnover margin (+1.54), fourth in sacks allowed per game (0.62), fifth in fumbles recovered (15), sixth in offense (40.6) and seventh red zone offense success (91.2). Antoine Holloway II was tied for seventh in interceptions (6). On the offensive side, Brimm ranked 9th in yards per pass (8.9), 11th in pass TDs (31), 12th in pass efficiency (162.4) and 14th in points responsible for (210).

Nineteen players were given all-conference yearly awards in 2021. LB Guam Lee became the first player in program history to earn Defensive Player of the Year. Joining Lee on the First Team list was QB Chris Brimm, WR Devanaire Conliffe, OL Nick Beans, OL Brandon Nicholson, DL Noah Harris-Lyles, DL Jack Kosko, LB Nate Moore, S Antoine Holloway and CB Bryce Sheppert. On Second Team, RB Tyris Dickerson was joined by TE CJ Kiss, OL Jimmy Burchett, OL Mike Kyle, LB Dylan Spaeth, S Ron Salters, P Dom Buttazzoni and K Tanner Harding. OL Adam Riegler took Honorable Menion, as did Bryce Sheppert, as a returner. It marked the Falcons' fourth consecutive season with at least 16 players on the all-conference teams. Brimm, Beans, Kosko, Moore, Holloway, Dickerson, Kiss, Buttazzoni and Riegler return in 2022.

As the starting quarterback since 2018, Chris Brimm has played in 45 games, winning 40 of them. In recent Division II history, Minnesota Duluth's Chase Vogler owns the most victories in a career with 46. At the Division I level, Kellen Moore had 50 at Boise State. Brimm is now the career leader at NDC in passing yards (9,147), completion percentage (60.1), passing touchdowns (89), pass efficiency (148.9), average yards per pass (8) and yards per completion (13.4). He is also top three with 1,140 pass attempts (2nd), 685 completions (2nd), 203.3 pass yards per game (2nd), 5,172 total offensive yards (3rd) and 212.1 total yards per game (3rd). He is second, one behind Malik Grove, with 98 touchdowns responsible for. Last season, he threw 31 touchdowns, including two games of five passing touchdowns. He limited the turnovers with six interceptions.

Noting the Eagles: Ashland is a veteran team with 17 upperclassmen listed as starters on their first depth chart. Austin Brenner will be back under center and will also help out on special teams as the starting punter. Ashland football finished last season 5-5, extending their streak of at least a .500 record to 14 consecutive seasons. Ashland returns seven starters on offense and six starters on defense, including the reigning Great Midwest Athletic Conference (GMAC) Defensive Player fo the Year Michael Ayers. In a tight GMAC preseason poll, Ashland was third with 52 points, just four behind first place Findlay, along with two first-place votes. Last season, NDC was No. 9 in the AFCA Preseason Poll, while Ashland was receiving votes. This season, NDC is No. 10, while Ashland is receiving votes.