It's time for Panther football! Toe meets leather at high noon on Saturday as Davenport (1-0) welcomes Northern Michigan (1-1) to Farmers Insurance Athletic Complex in Caledonia, Mich.

OPENING DRIVE
● It was quite a season debut on Sept. 3 as the Panthers picked up a 20-19 win at Truman State against the preseason No. 2 team in the GLVC and a Bulldog squad that was receiving votes in the top 25 poll after a 9-3 season in 2021. 
● For the second straight season, Davenport will be playing Northern Michigan twice in a season with today's game serving as the non-conference affair. Each team won on their home field as the Wildcats won 20-14 in the non-conference game on Sept. 18 followed by an 18-13 DU win on Oct. 9.
● Davenport after a bye week will be playing in their home opener against the Wildcats. DU has a 2-3 record in home openers and will get a lot of home cooking as today's game starts a stretch of five home games in six weeks.
● Davenport has a 2-0 record at home against the Wildcats. Last year's 18-13 win was a homecoming victory with the defense holding NMU to 10 first downs and just 201 yards of total offense. DU rolled up 303 total yards including 163 on the ground. Bryan Pleque booted three field goals for the Panthers. The other win was Sept. 29, 2018 in an overtime thriller won 31-30. DU outscored NMU 15-0 in the fourth quarter to force overtime. Nate Couturier had a 25-yard touchdown catch from Haiden Majewski in overtime. NMU got a touchdown but failed on the two-point conversion.
● The Wildcats have a pair of games under their belt this season with a 31-24 loss to McKendree on Sept. 1 followed by a 13-10 win over Division III Wis.-Oshkosh on Sept. 10. This will be the first road game of the season for the Wildcats. Daniel Riser had a pair of field goals for a 3-0 lead in the first quarter and then the deciding points on a 25-yarder with 14:30 left in the fourth quarter. Zach Keen also had a 43-yard touchdown pass to Kenyon'Ta Skinner at the 9:06 mark of the second quarter. NMU finished with 386 total yards as Drake Davis was 19-of-23 passing for 194 yards.

DAVENPORT NOTEBOOK
● Sy Barnett had a great debut for the Panthers in their 20-19 win at Truman State. The Ferris State transfer won the GLIAC Special Teams Player of the Week award after punting three times for a 48.3 yard average including a 75-yard boot to set a school record. He also had a pair of kickoffs and returned two punts for 22 yards. In addition, Barnett made a big impact in the passing game with nine catches for 99 yards and two touchdowns. He caught a four-yard score on the first drive of the season and then had a five-yard, game-winning catch from Jason Whittaker with 2:11 left in the game.
● The Panther defense stepped up in the one-point victory at Truman State. A year ago, they gave up 218 rushing yards and four scores on the ground to the Bulldogs. On Sept. 3, they limited the Bulldogs to 87 rushing yards and just one score on 40 carries (2.2 yards per rush). They also forced three turnovers including a fumble that set up their game-winning drive and also a Darrin Cotton interception to seal the win. The Bulldogs were also just 7-of-18 on third down.
● Protecting the quarterback was also a key to victory against TSU. Davenport finished with five sacks for a loss of 34 yards while a newly-built offensive line for the Panthers gave up just one sack for a loss of five yards.
● If week one is any indiction, the Panthers may have solved their up-and-down quarterback situtation. Johnny Saavedra, a graduate transfer from Concordia-St. Paul, got the start and finished 16-of-29 for 200 yards and a score. Jason Whittaker, a graduate transfer from Northwestern, led the team on the game-winning drive and finished 6-of-9 for 43 yards and a score. The passing game really showed improvement as newcomer Preston Smith caught six passes for 105 yards. He is the first 100-yard receiver since Amonte Phillips had 119 receiving yards on Oct. 2, 2021 against Michigan Tech.

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