Game 10: #18 Davenport (8-1, 4-1 GLIAC) vs. #1 Grand Valley State (10-0, 5-0 GLIAC)
Date: Saturday, Nov. 12
Kickoff: 12:00 p.m. ET
Location: Caledonia, Mich.
Stadium: Farmers Insurance Athletic Complex
Surface: Artificial Turf
Tickets: Hometown Ticketing
Live Stats: dupanthers.com |
Live Stats
Live Video: FloSports
Radio: Magic 104.9 FM (Grand Rapids)
Announcers: Rick Berkey (play-by-play), Bill Rohn (analyst)
Pregame Show: Begins at 11:15 a.m.
All-Time Series: DU trails 4-0
Series in Caledonia: GVSU leads 1-0
Last Meeting: GVSU 42-0 (2021)
Current Series Streak: GVSU (W-4)
OPENING DRIVE
● The Davenport football team will look to take down the top-ranked Grand Valley State Lakers in the regular season finale on Saturday at noon. The game will be Senior Day and Veterans Day and will be a top-25 battle for the second week in a row. The team will recognize 19 student-athletes playing in a Panther uniform for the final time in Caledonia during pre-game festivities.
● The Panthers are looking to reverse their fortunes against the Lakers who own a 4-0 series advantage. This is the first meeting in Caledonia since the 2018 season and that matchup has been the only one at DU in the series. DU lost 19-14 back on October 20, 2018 and the Lakers needed a go-ahead touchdown with 1:36 left in the contest to sneak out the win. The two teams met in the regular season finale last season in Allendale with GVSU winning 42-0. Davenport was using their fifth quarterback of the season as
Luke Niepoth got his first start. The Panthers ran 43 run plays and just six pass plays in the game. Cade Peterson threw for 134 yards and three scores for the Lakers. Bryce Young-Walls carried six times for 119 yards and a score.
Jalen Robinson recorded 15 tackles for the Panthers including eight solo hits.
● Grand Valley State occupies the No. 1 spot in this week's Super Region 3 rankings while Davenport is No. 5 for the second week despite last week's defeat at Ferris State. The Bulldogs moved up to No. 2 this week from No. 3. The region is the toughest in the Division II landscape and the Panthers are hopeful to make an appearance in the NCAA playoffs for the first time. Davenport has played one of the toughest schedules in Division II this season. They will have played the sixth-toughest schedule once the ball is kicked off against Grand Valley State. The Panthers are hoping to pull off the upset and create a three-way tie for the GLIAC championship. It would be the first for the Panthers while Grand Valley State is looking for their first conference crown since 2016.
DAVENPORT NOTEBOOK
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Sy Barnett was named the GLIAC Special Teams Player of the Week for the second time this season at Ferris State and DU has won this award four times this season in total. Barnett also won the honor in the season-opening victory at Truman State. He averaged 44 yards on six punts, including a school record 87-yard boot in the first quarter with his toes on his own goal line. He pinned two punts inside the 20-yard line and his 87-yarder was the fourth punt of over 50 yards this season. Barnett also caught six passes for 70 yards against his former team in Big Rapids and became the single-season record holder in receptions (45) and receiving yards (619) at Davenport.
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Caleef Jenkins comes into the regular season finale with 508 rushing yards and needs 74 yards to become the single-season rushing yardage record holder. He also has 116 carries and needs 16 more to eclipse that single-season mark from Seth Acda in 2018.
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Jason Whittaker became the single-season record holder in pass attempts (279), completions (156), passing yards (2,037), and touchdowns (25) this season and hit those attempts and completions numbers at Ferris State going 18-of-31 for 159 yards and threw a third-quarter touchdown pass to
Roy Livingstone. Whittaker currently ranks first in the GLIAC in passing TD's, passing yards, and passing yards per game (228.2).
● The Davenport defense had a season-high five sacks against Ferris State for a loss of 37 yards.
Austin Alward had three tackles for loss including two sacks for a loss of 13 yards. Alward ranks third in the GLIAC and 21st in Division II in tackles for loss per game.
● The defense has been very disruptive and one telling stat is that they rank third in Division II this season with 25 takeaways. They are also 11th nationally in passing yards allowed (154.2) and 15th in pass efficiency defense (103.6).
