MARQUETTE, Mich. – The Northern Michigan football team is set to return to Minnesota for the second time this season as they will take on the St. Thomas Tommies on Saturday, September 12th at 2 p.m. ET.

The Wildcats dropped their home opener to the Tiffin Dragons 35-7 last Saturday. Northern had multiple strong sequences throughout the game, including the majority of the first half, where the game remained within seven points until a late Tiffin touchdown with just 14 seconds left in the half. 

The game against St. Thomas can be watched live on Midco Sports Plus or listened to on 100.3 The Point, with Casey Ford on the call. 


Follow The Action
Follow @NMU_Football on Instagram and X for updates leading up to and during the game.  


A Word from Coach Janus
"We're getting improvement where we need to. I thought our defense took some major strides. I thought Coach Bright had a tremendous game plan, especially right off the bat to stall their strong running game. We're taking another step forward this week, and we will keep working towards putting it all together."



Last Time Out
NMU fell to Tiffin 35-7 at home last Saturday.

The Wildcats' defense played stout in a scoreless first quarter, holding Tiffin to just 58 yards. The Dragons then exploded for 213 yards and three scores in the second quarter to take a 21-7 lead at halftime before adding two more touchdowns in the second half.

Noah Dobert scored NMU's lone touchdown on an 11-yard run in the second quarter. He carried 18 times for 113 yards, accounting for more than half of the Wildcats' 222 yards of total offense. Liam Oczkowski added 53 rushing yards.

Tiffin quarterback Kyle Antoine threw for 267 yards and two touchdowns, leading the Dragons to 454 yards of total offense.

Defensively, Xavier Wade forced a fumble, while Jace Miller recorded three pass breakups. The Wildcats also held Tiffin to 0-3 on fourth-down attempts.


2026 Season Overview
NMU returns many of its starters from a year ago, including linebacker Jax Hertel and running back Noah Dobert, both of whom were named to the D2Football.com Elite 100 watchlist for this season. Both were also First-Team All-GLIAC last season, while Dobert rewrote the record books for NMU on the ground and was named a D2CCA Second Team All-American.

Dobert, a sophomore from Dearborn, Michigan, put together one of the best rushing seasons in program history in 2025, finishing with 1,656 yards and 15 touchdowns. Both totals established new NMU single-season records, while his 150.5 rushing yards per game ranked third nationally. He also averaged 6.3 yards per carry and finished among the national leaders in total rushing yards. Dobert's record-setting season included a 406-yard, four-touchdown performance against Wayne State, setting a new NMU single-game rushing record. He was named D2Football.com National Offensive Player of the Week following the performance and also earned GLIAC Offensive Back of the Year and D2CCA All-Super Region 3 First Team honors.

Hertel, a senior from Walworth, Wisconsin, returns after leading the Wildcats with 101 tackles in 2025, a total that ranked third in the GLIAC. His 14.5 tackles for loss led the conference, while he also recorded three quarterback hits, six pass breakups, a forced fumble, and a pick-six. Hertel started all 11 games and earned D2CCA All-Super Region 3 First Team honors after anchoring the Northern Michigan defense throughout the season.

NMU also returns multiple second-teamers and honorable mentions, including fifth-year offensive lineman Daniel Babcock (Second-Team All-GLIAC), fifth-year defensive lineman Jake Price (Honorable Mention All-GLIAC), and sophomore defensive back Murphy Monreal (Honorable Mention All-GLIAC).


New Faces
NMU is in its first season under Matt Janus. He finished 45-14 at UW-La Crosse, including consecutive WIAC titles in 2023 and 2024. In 2023, the team was undefeated in conference play and made the NCAA DIII Quarterfinals.

Janus brought in two coordinators with Division I experience: Ryan Bright (defense) and Boomer Roepke (offense). Bright has coached as a defensive analyst at Wisconsin and also worked with linebackers at Stanford. He was most recently at Arkansas, where he took over as interim linebackers coach midway through the season. Roepke worked as a graduate assistant at USC, then at Iowa State as a graduate assistant working with special teams and quarterbacks. More recently, he was head coach at the University of Northwestern-St. Paul, where he helped lead the program to undefeated UMAC conference championships in 2022 and 2024, along with two NCAA Division III playoff appearances. This past season, he served in a multitude of roles, including interim head coach and offensive coordinator.

NMU also added coaches from across the country as assistants, many of whom won conference titles or had other significant success in their previous coaching positions. It's clear NMU prioritized bringing a winning mentality to the program, along with coaches who excelled from JUCO all the way to Division I levels.

In addition, the Wildcats brought in several high-impact transfers, including OL Mitch Verstegen from Indiana, DB LeeJohn Majerus and DL Jace Miller from Western Illinois, DL Daniel Simon from Lindenwood, LB Logan McGraw from Wayne State, and JUCO QB Liam Oczkowski.


A Look At St. Thomas 
In a tightly contested preseason poll, FCS DI St. Thomas was picked to finish third in the Pioneer Football League, including one first-place vote. They were just three points behind projected league champion San Diego. Last season, the Tommies finished 7-5, including a 5-3 conference record. 

So far this season, St. Thomas is 1-1 with a win over Winona State and a loss to North Dakota. In the game against Winona State, the Tommies showcased their stout defense, winning 15-9 and holding WSU to just 116 yards passing. The Tommies showed dual-threat ability on offense as Anthony Policare passed for 166 yards and a touchdown and was their leading rusher with 73 yards. Defensively, the Tommies had an interception and three sacks on the day. 

St. Thomas was then defeated 62-26 by top-10 opponent North Dakota in Fargo. The Tommies used two quarterbacks who were both held under 130 passing yards. On the ground, the Tommies managed just 70 yards on 27 carries. They recorded multiple interceptions, including a pick-six, and a forced fumble. 


The Series
Northern dropped the sole game of the series, 20-7 at the Superior Dome last year. In that game, Northern had 166 rushing yards total and 133 passing yards. Sebastian Boyea, Trevor Theurkauf, and Isaac Olson all had over 40 receiving yards. The game remained 7-7 until the 4th quarter, when St. Thomas scored two late touchdowns to secure the win.