MARQUETTE, Mich. - Football season has arrived. The Northern Michigan Football team is ready to open up a new season as they will host the Minnesota State Moorhead Dragons in the Superior Dome for Thursday Night Football on August 28 at 6 p.m.

The Wildcats are eager and hungry to start the season strong. Meanwhile, the Dragons enter the new campaign with high expectations after a 6-5 record in 2024. 


Follow The Action
Follow @NMU_Football and @NMU_Wildcats on X (formerly known as Twitter) for updates leading up to and during the game. 

Thursday, August 28 - vs. Minnesota State Moorhead at 6 p.m. ET
Tickets  |  Live Stats  |  Watch  |  Listen


A Word from Shane Richardson
"When you go into game one with nine months without playing an opponent, you have to do a goob job at keeping the message and focus. You have to keep young guys in the moment and focused on the simple things and the guys have done a good job at that this camp and they're ready to play."




Previewing a New Season
Unlike 2024 in which the Green and Gold played its first three games in three different states, the Wildcats will stay within the Michigan boundaries for 10 of 11 games this season, only traveling out of state for a midseason trip to Roosevelt (Chicago). 

Under third-year head coach Shane Richardson, the Wildcats are eager to start a new campaign strong, and this season presents as good an opportunity as any. 

Northern returns three All-GLIAC Second Teamers in RB Jahi Wood, OL Daniel Babcock, and LB Jax Hertel. In total, the 'Cats return 30 lettermen, with more than half of those being starters a season ago. Wood will lead a running back room that accounted for more than 70% of the offense last season and was third across the GLIAC in 2024, averaging 177.9 yards/game. Wood (668 yards), Vince Martin (346), and Nico Lukkarinen (258) all finished inside the top-20 in the conference and will be accompanied by redshirt freshman Noah Dobert, who scored three TD's against Minnesota Duluth in the spring game, as well as Tucker Welch and freshman Tyler Van Sluys to make for a deep and talented backfield.

Defensively, Hertel finished inside the GLIAC's top-10 with 40 solo tackles last season. Joining Hertel is senior Mitch Larkin, who paced the conference in tackles in 2023 with 118 total tackles. The pair will bring loads of experience and athleticism to patrol the middle of the field. 

2025 marks the 50th anniversary season of NMU's historic National Championship title in 1975 led by QB Steve Mariucci. NMU will host a weekend celebration from October 9-11. 


More Wildcats to Watch 
DB Xavier Martinez - The 6'1 sophomore defensive back played in all 11 games as a freshman and led the Wildcats with 5 pass breakups. He finished 2024 with 21 tackles, 18 of those coming solo.

LB Jaylen Houston - An athletic LB/DB, Houston joins NMU as a transfer from Eastern Kentucky where he played in 20 games over 3 seasons. 

WR Isaac Olson - The 6'2 sophomore wideout will lead a new-look receiver room this season. As a freshman, Olson played in all 11 games, finishing second on the team with 8 receptions for 97 yards.

K/P Michael Karlen - Karlen will look to take over both kicking and punting duties as a senior. He finished 2024 8-10 on FG's, 20-21 on PAT's, and averaged 38.7 yards/punt. 


A Look at Minnesota State Moorhead
Members of the NSIC, the Dragons have been picked to finish 7th in their conference. MSUM went 6-5 in 2024,  with four come-from-behind victories to its credit. 

In stark contrast to NMU, MSUM is a pass-heaving team, with a whopping 90% of their yards coming through the air. Senior QB Jack Strand was named the NSIC North Division Preseason Offensive Player of the Year and to the D2Football.com Elite 100 Watch List. Last season, Strand passed for 3,431 yards, good for 4th in Division II. He completed 61% of his pass attempts while accumulating 32 TD passes. Strand's top target, Brady Perryman, was also named to the D2Football.com Elite 100 Watch List heading into 2025. Last year, he racked up 56 receptions for 792 yards and 14 TD's for All-NSIC First Team honors. 

On the defensive side, senior LB Tate Gustafson was also labeled as a NSIC Player to Watch following a season with 43 tackles, 19 solo stops, and an interception.


The Series
This will be the first all-time meeting between the two schools. 


2025 GLIAC Football Preseason Poll
1. Ferris State, 47 (6)
2. Grand Valley State, 41 (1)
3. Saginaw Valley State, 38 (1)
4. Davenport, 31
5. Michigan Tech, 28
6. Wayne State, 16
7. Roosevelt, 12
8. Northern Michigan, 11