The Panther football team will be playing their final home game of 2021 at noon on Saturday against No. 1 Ferris State.

OPENING DRIVE
● The Panthers will be playing a No. 1 nationally ranked team for the first time on Saturday against Ferris State. This will be the second meeting this season between the teams who played a non-conference game back on Sept. 25 in Big Rapids.
● This will be the fifth meeting between the teams and the Bulldogs have a 4-0 lead. When the Panthers have played the Bulldogs each of those matchups have been when Ferris State is nationally-ranked. The first meeting was 2017 when the 12th-ranked Bulldogs won 26-0. In 2018, second-ranked FSU won 41-17. In 2019, again second-ranked FSU won 35-7. Back on Sept. 25, the Bulldogs were ranked No. 3 (AFCA) and won 38-0.
● Ferris State pulled ahead in the second half in Big Rapids in their 38-0 win earlier this season. It was a scoreless tie for the first 27 minutes. The Panther defense recorded four sacks for a loss of 27 yards. Brendan Boman and D.J. Turner each had two sacks. Liam Cavanaugh led the defense with a career-high 15 tackles including eight solo stops. Ferris State went 8-for-16 on third down while Davenport was 3-for-15. FSU converted 5-of-5 in the red zone and DU did not reach the red zone.
● Ferris State has achieved the No. 1 ranking for the first time in program history and vaulted to that spot after the team's victory at Grand Valley State. The Bulldogs have won 36 straight regular season games dating back to 2017 and 29 straight GLIAC victories. Ferris State improved to 8-0, 5-0 GLIAC last week with a 44-24 home win over Northern Michigan. Senior quarterback Jared Bernhardt ran for a game-high 163 yards and three scores while completing 10-of-14 passes for 154 yards in the win. The Bulldogs compiled 572 yards of total offense, including 374 rushing yards on 47 attempts. Tyler Minor had a 100-yard game on the ground with 120 yards. Ferris State can clinch at least a share of a third-straight GLIAC Championship with a victory over the Panthers. 

DAVENPORT NOTEBOOK
● The Panthers will be playing in their final home game of the 2021 season and it will be senior day for 14 players. The following will be dressing at home for the last time: Jaylan Brown, Leon Crawford, Kendall Sawyer, Jaelon Gordon, Patrick McMahon, Melvin Sylvester, Tariq Thurman, Amir Postley, Anthony Scott, Shain Shannon, Jake Whitehead, Seth Acda, Myles Goulbourne, and Gourney Sloan.    
● Here are some career numbers for this year's senior class:
Brown - 12 games, 17 tackles, 2 TFL, 3 PBU
Crawford - 32 games, 21 tackles
Sawyer - 19 games, 31 tackles, 8 PBU, 8 kick returns for 149 yards
Gordon - 15 games, seven tackles, half tackle for loss
McMahon - 37 games, 94 tackles, 16 TFL (5th all-time), 4 sacks, 3 FR, 2 FF
Thurman - 21 games, 32 tackles, 5.5 TFL, 4 sacks, 1 FR, 1 FF
Postley - 6 games, 14 tackles, 3 TFL
Scott - 14 games played on offensive line
Shannon - 34 games played on offensive line (most by OL)
Whitehead - 8 games played on offensive line
Acda - 21 games, 817 rushing yards (2nd all-time), 2 TD, 14 catches for 73 yards
Goulbourne - 20 games, 23 receptions for 214 yards
Sloan - 39 games, 57 receptions (4th all-time) for 521 yards (5th all-time), 1 TD 

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