UP Gazette

The Northern Michigan University football team is preparing for a challenging road game against Ferris State, the top-ranked team in the nation. The matchup is scheduled for Saturday, November 1, with kickoff at 1 p.m. in Big Rapids.

Northern Michigan enters the contest after a loss to rival Michigan Tech, where they were defeated 56-17. Despite accumulating 345 yards of total offense—270 of which came on the ground—the Wildcats could not recover from an early deficit, trailing 21-3 at halftime.

Head coach Shane Richardson addressed the team's mindset going into this weekend's game: "To me, it's just how can we get back to some of the things that we hold close to the program, how we've really invested in our process, and get back to being true to ourselves in terms of Wildcat football."

In their last outing against Michigan Tech, quarterback Trevor Theuerkauf led NMU’s rushing attack with 106 yards and also threw for 75 yards. Receiver Ian Engstrem caught four passes and scored his first career touchdown late in the game.

Looking ahead to Ferris State, Northern will face a defense that has allowed only 12.3 points per game to conference opponents this season. NMU currently averages 261.1 rushing yards per game—eighth nationally and second in their conference—with running back Noah Dobert ranking second in GLIAC rushing with 890 yards and an average of 111.3 yards per game. Theuerkauf is coming off his best rushing performance so far this season.

Defensively, NMU aims to improve after giving up significant yardage against Michigan Tech. Jax Hertel, Mitch Larkin, and Jhermari Mabry are expected to lead efforts on the defensive line as opponents have averaged 136.3 rushing yards per game against them this year.

Ferris State features quarterback Wyatt Bower, who averages nearly 183 passing yards per game and has thrown for 17 touchdowns without an interception while also contributing almost 75 rushing yards each contest. Among his targets is junior receiver Taariik Brett—recently named GLIAC Offensive Player of the Week following a four-touchdown performance—who leads Bulldog receivers with nearly 40 receiving yards per game.

On defense, Ferris State is led by defensive back Ahlston Ware (37 tackles; two interceptions) and lineman Kailib Davis (five sacks). As a group, Ferris State ranks among the top ten nationally in several categories including total defense (257.5 ypg), rushing defense (63.9 ypg), scoring defense, and turnover margin.