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Illinois Wesleyan 2005 Preseason Fact Sheet (pdf)
August 10
Following a 3-7 season in 2005, the Illinois Wesleyan football team was picked to finish sixth in the annual College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin preseason football coaches poll. Wheaton (11-2 in 2004) was the choice to win the league with 43 points, including two first place votes, while Carthage and North Central each tallied 40 points with two and three first place votes respectively. Augustana was predicted fourth with 35 points, including one first place vote, followed by Millikin, IWU, Elmhurst and North Park. The Titans, with senior captain Damon Banks open their season at home with a 1 p.m. game against Simpson on Sept. 3. The Storm ended their season with a 5-5 mark, including a 13-7 win over IWU on Sept. 4 in Indianola, Iowa. The Titans return 32 lettermen including quarterback Tom Kudyba, running back Marcus Dunlop, linebacker Damon Banks, and Eric Esch, a first team Division III All-American on the sixth annual squad chosen by D3football.com and a preseason All-American this year. A return specialist, Esch was second in the national D-III statistics with a 20.6 punt return average and brought back two for touchdowns.
July 19
Illinois Wesleyan junior return specialist Eric Esch (Bloomington, Ill., HS) has been chosen to the first team of the preseason Division III All-American squads named by D3football.com.
Last season Esch finished second in the national Division III statistics with a 20.6 punt return average and brought back two for touchdowns. His 80-yard punt return for a TD against Chicago on Sept. 25 is tied for the third longest in school history.
Esch, who is also a defensive back for IWU, was a first team all-College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin selection and was twice chosen as the CCIW “Special Teams Player of the Week:
He was a D3football.com first team All-American as a return specialist last season and was chosen to the second team of the Division III all-North Region squad by Don Hansen’s Football Gazette.
The Titans (3-7 in 2004) open their season at home Sept. 3 against Simpson.
May 29
The Illinois Wesleyan football team earned what head coach Norm Eash hopes is the first of many wins of the 2005 season in a 35-10 victory over the La Courneuve Flash on Sunday, May 29 in Paris, France. For a complete game and France trip story, click here.
The Titans opened the scoring in the first quarter when Bo Osburn intercepted a pass from Brandon Shaver and returned it 78 yards to the Flash 5. On the next play, Marcus Dunlop ran the ball in the end zone. A long Flash punt on their next possession pinned the Titans on their own 5 and two plays later Dunlop was tackled in the end zone for a safety.
Tom Kudyba ran in on two yard quarterback draw to start the second half scoring, but the Flash scored on a 59 yard interception return by Patrick Coulon, converted a pass for the extra point and closed the gap to 13-10 at the half.
Kudyba, who was chosen as the game's ”MVP,” had a sluggish start at quarterback, going only 6 of 15 for 87 yards and 3 interceptions in the first half, but he closed well, running for another TD from 15 yards out to begin the fourth quarter and completing a 10 yard pass to Nick Iovino to open the game up, 29-10. Kudyba was 11 of 24 for 144 yards and his favorite receiver was tight end Brock Klein, who made four grabs for 65 yards.
The Titans' final score came when Osburn returned his second interception 39 yards for a TD.
Dunlop finished with 101 yards rushing on 21 carries, Kudyba ran for 25 yards on 6 carries and Matt Maxwell had 23 yards on six carries as IWU amassed 162 rushing yards.
LaCourneuve Flash managed only 55 rushing yards and 83 passing yards.
