MARQUETTE, Mich. - The Northern Michigan University Football team will be on the road this weekend, heading down to Allendale for a Saturday night GLIAC matchup against No. 2 Grand Valley State at 7 p.m.
The Wildcats (0-5) will look to earn its first victory of the season, while the Lakers (5-0) enter the matchup as the No. 2 ranked team in the latest AFCA D2 Coaches Poll.
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Saturday, October 12 - vs Grand Valley State at 7 p.m. ET.
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A Word from Shane Richardson
"... you've got to execute, and you've got to continue to find ways to battle back and forth and [continue] finding a way to be more productive and just be more persistent."
Last Time Out
Northern Michigan fell to Saginaw Valley State last Saturday afternoon to begin conference play, 63-14.
Northern got a first half touchdown from
Jahi Wood, the first of his career, but surrendered 35 points in the 2nd quarter to trail 42-7 at halftime.
A blocked punt from the Wildcats set them up deep in Cardinal territory to start the third quarter and NMU capitalized on another first career touchdown rush, this time from
Vince Martin. The Cardinals answered with three long touchdowns of 38 yards, 54 yards, and 62 yards to finish the game.
The Cardinals outgained the Wildcats 486-183.
Michael Love broke the 100-yard threshold receiving for the second consecutive game, leading all players with 103 receiving yards on six catches.
Mitch Larkin led all players with eight tackles.
Cat Nips
- The Green and Gold field one of the youngest teams in the nation, with 42 of 96 (43.8%) of the roster consisting of first-year players. Underclassmen makeup 68 of the 96 (70.8%) roster spots.
- Freshman Jahi Wood (313) is fourth in the conference in rushing while Elizin Rouse (156) and Nico Lukkarinen (141) are also inside the top-20. Lukkarinen's 3 TD runs rank tied for fourth in the conference. The Wildcats have the 5th best rushing attack in the league at 137.6 yards/game.
- Mitch Larkin is currently second in the GLIAC with 40 tackles. Larkin paced the conference last season with 118.
- Michael Love is tied for 2nd in the conference with 4 TD catches this season. His two touchdown catches against UW-La Crosse marked the first time a Wildcat receiver found the endzone twice in a game since September 24, 2022 when Wyatt Davis went for two scores on Homecoming in a 42-14 win over Post. He is fourth in the GLIAC with 341 receiving yards.
- NMU's 269 yards on the ground at UW-La Crosse earlier this year marked its best ground effort since the 2018 season.
- Michael Karlen is 4-4 on FG's and 10-10 on PAT's so far this season.
A Look at Grand Valley State
The Lakers enter the weekend ranked #2 in the latest AFCA D2 Coaches Poll. GVSU is coming off of a 24-7 GLIAC-opening victory at Davenport in which no points were scored in the second half.
Grand Valley ranks third in the country in rushing yards/game (304.6), fourth in scoring defense (9.6), fifth in 3rd down conversion percentage (53.5%), seventh in total offense (483.0), ninth in rushing defense (72.4), and 10th in total defense (234.4).
On offense, Khalil Eichelberger has run for 487 yards, averaging 6.7 per carry, and five of the 16 rushing scores for the Lakers this year. Kenneth Moore (296 yards, 4 TD's) and QB Avery Moore (235 yards, 3 TD's) have also played a major role in the potent ground attack. Through the air, Moore has thrown for 610 yards, 4 TD's, and no interceptions.
