Last year’s homecoming football opponent will be coming to Yager Stadium for the Ichabods season opener Thursday, Sept. 4.

Washburn defeated Lindenwood 44-35 in 2013, but the first game of a season is always nerve-wracking. Head coach Craig Schurig said the team began to combat specifically Lindenwood’s offense and defense last week.

“Their offense and defense is a lot different than ours, so we had to kind of switch pages and try to prepare for them based on what they did last year,” said Schurig.

Schurig said Lindenwood is a fast team, which he sees as the greatest concern. They tend to run plays around the edge, but Schurig believes his team has speed as well and can match Lindenwood.

Controlling the ball and keeping it out of the hands of Lindenwood’s offense as much as possible was something Schurig mentioned as a focus point. Execution on offense was the other key point, which Schurig said is always something that causes some nervousness for the first game. As far as the game plan on offense, Washburn is relatively balanced in terms of running and passing, but Schurig wants to establish a strong running game if possible.

“If we can establish the run, that’s a big plus, but if teams are bent on stopping it, we’ll try to throw over the top of them,” said Schurig.

Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 4 at Yager Stadium.